La Niña is officially in effect as of last week. While the U.S. Climate Prediction Center (CPC) announced last month the onset of the weather phenomenon, it wasn’t until this past week the Australian Bureau of Meteorology made the declaration. Models suggest La Niña will be short lived, only sticking around through late summer or early fall of 2022. La Niña effects are seen nearly worldwide. For the U.S., expect a hotter and drier southern part of the country with a colder north-central and wetter eastern half of the Midwest. Ag production competitors Argentina and Brazil are expected to see drier conditions, broken up by the occasional scattered shower. Australia will see better rainfall chances and has already seen increased precipitation this year.

Come spring, U.S. farmers who have seen drought conditions or too much precipitation can expect those conditions to continue for the most part. Read more on La Niña here.