2024 featured weather, policy and the return of the flu

Weather was again a constant in rural America in 2024.

First a snowy start led to what has become a traditional spring event - severe weather. 

A doorbell camera captured the precise moment a tornado hit a home in Portage, Michigan. Storms hit across the country that week in May adding to planting delays for some and erasing widespread drought conditions for others. 

Once the crop was in the ground, the skies opened up in June, leaving behind more than 10 inches of rain in areas of Minnesota, South Dakota and Iowa – washing out roads and fields and capping potential on what’s become a major corn producing area.  

Ideal growing conditions across much of the Grain Belt lasted for much of the summer. High temperatures and wildfires also played out across the country in their traditional summer patterns. 

By late August, the rains stopped, drought conditions returned, again limiting record yield potential, just weeks before harvest. 

Hurricane season hit hard in September with Francine, Helene and Milton doing major damage.

Helene cut off much of North Carolina from the region with rains, killing more than 200, damaging infrastructure that will take years to repair and lives upended in the near term. 

Cotton producers were devastated - some losing half their crop. Even at the end of the year, their farms were still dealing with the impact.

Chris Hopkins, Georgia Farmer: "Well, our harvest has been much slower as the cotton has been blown over and blown down and we're having to cut paths in the fields and clean up around the fields just to get in and do the harvest and that's slowed our process down. 

Disease was also a fight for producers across the country. 

Avian influenza or bird flu migrated from infecting mostly poultry to other livestock.

The outbreak ratcheted up so quickly and widely a state of emergency was issued in December for the state of California and the dairy industry.

In Louisiana, a farm worker is thought to be the first severe human case. The infected person had underlying medical problems, was over 65 and had also been in contact with sick and dead birds.

The poultry industry, still recovering from previous outbreaks, saw output reduced, sending fewer eggs to the grocery store, driving up prices in an already impacted industry by inflation.    

The year started with optimism of passing a farm bill, but the House and Senate failed to agree on a new piece of legislation. An extension was approved in late December.

2024 was a presidential election year. 

Joe Biden dropped out of the race vaulting Kamala Harris to the nomination. 

Donald Trump and JD Vance won both the popular and electoral votes. 

Republicans swept the White House, Congress and the Senate, setting up a big year for the right in 2025 even if the two chambers have razor thin majorities. 

The lame duck session did provide drama in getting a budget extension passed. A bipartisan deal failed the first vote, but a smaller version was approved the Friday before Christmas. 

Contact: Paul.Yeager@iowapbs.org