Crop production variability in North and South America forced by life-cycles of the El Niño Southern Oscillation

•ENSO poses a risk to agriculture that is correlated across hemispheres.•ENSO life-cycles force production anomalies that follow a multi-year evolution.•ENSO accounts for ∼72, 30 and 57% of maize, soy and wheat production variability.•ENSO-induced yield anomalies are not static in time, and have changed in Brazil.•Increases in the frequency of crop harvesting have increased ENSO-induced anomalies.