Cloud Seeding Web
|  Video
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| Charles Koch |
| 9/1/2009 |
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| Drought and hail are a farmer`s worst nightmare during the growing season, especially across western areas of the state where these problems occur more frequently than farther to the east. That`s why the North Dakota Atmospheric Resource Board has been conducting experiments to not only increase rainfall, but suppress hail as well. It sounds like something straight out of science fiction, using airplanes to seed clouds with tiny particles to change the weather. But that`s exactly what the Atmospheric Resource Board has been doing across western North Dakota for over 50 years, and a new study says it`s paying off. "We`re able to increase rainfall from about 5 to 10 percent. The other is to reduce damaging hail. Our studies that we have, that have also been done, looking at the hail suppression benefits find we`re able to reduce crop hail damage by about 45 percent," says Darin Langerud, Director of the North Dakota Atmospheric Resource Board. Economists at N-D-S-U estimate that increased crop production due to increased rainfall from the program adds 8.4 to $16 million of product per year. Add that to the estimated $3.7 million of crops saved due to hail suppression and you get a direct economic impact of $12 to $20 million per year. Wayne Mrnak, the Bowman County chair of the Weather Modification program and farmer, is seeing the benefits of the program in his fields. "I think the biggest benefits we see is in hail suppression. I think as time goes on the rain enhancement is getting better with the technology," says Mrnak. Those improvements have led to higher crop yields and have created a huge return on investment for participants in the program. "For every dollar invested in the program on an annual basis, about $16 to $26 come back in return in increased production of those crops," says Langerud. The cost of the program is paid partially by the state with the participating county picking up the rest of the tab. Although the program appears to be successful, expansion is not planned at this time. For more information on the cloud seeding program, visit the ND State Water Commission`s website at www.swc.nd.gov and click on "Atmospheric Resources." |
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