WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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By Nathaniel Weinzapfel
Introduction:
First held in 1970 and recently reaching its 50th year anniversary, Earth Day is an annual holiday held to demonstrate support for environmental protection and celebrate life on our planet, with over a billion people participating in related events worldwide. This holiday has recently been extended to encompass all of April, in what has been aptly named Earth Month. In celebration of Earth Month there have been a series of news stories that began last week focusing on how Indiana is likely to be affected by climate change. Researchers have rigorously studied what Indiana’s future will entail, and these stories have covered the likely outcomes and provided some context. This is the third part of the series focusing on how Indiana’s agricultural sector and Hoosier farmers are preparing for climate change, with a featured interview with Professor Landon Yoder, an assistant professor at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University.
WRTV Indianapolis News Reports Segment:
Take a look at the heat that we’re seeing in the forecast that we will continue to see today. triple digit heat we’ve seen seven days so far this summer, and that triple digit heat will continue possibly into some areas for today. Alright, so yesterday one on one that is record breaking heat a record set back in 1887. So a 125 year old record was broken yesterday…
Eventually a high of 93. It’ll be a steam bath out there with heat index values that will range anywhere from 105 to maybe even 110 degrees at times throughout the course of the afternoon and into the early evening hours…
Farmers tell me it is a dire year for apples, pears, plums, basically any tree fruit and there are a lot of Apple farmers right in our state. Some say this year. They’ve lost everything….
Crops & Livestock:
As any person living in Indiana has known for the last few years, our summers have been getting warmer. The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report has found that the average worldwide temperatures will likely exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius in 20 years. The number of days above 90 degrees Fahrenheit will become increasingly common in Indiana, with a possibility of two and half months of summer being at or higher than 90 degrees. Evidently, every year it seems that our local news stations are reporting on the latest heatwave to hit the state, often warning Hoosiers to keep cool and stay safe. One group of people who are being hurt particularly hard by the warm temperatures are the farmers of Indiana.
According to the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, Indiana is ranked 10th in the nation in our total agricultural production, with quite a lot of diversity in the sector, ranging from pumpkins to turkeys and apples to popcorn. Someone who knows quite a bit about Indiana Agriculture is Indiana University Assistant Professor Landon Yoder, who has spent many years researching the intersection between agricultural production and climate change, specifically how farm management practices impact water quality and crop output. His expertise has aided in the promotion of conservation practices in many farming communities to better maintain crops and livestock in response to abnormal weather related events. Professor Yoder provides background on farming in Indiana over time and how farmers are experiencing climate change:
“So I think our farm sector has been pretty similar for a while over decades. There are responses to climate change. So you know, corn, soybean, and wheat, winter wheat tend to be the three biggest row crops. And then you’re looking at a lot of hog farms and particularly concentrated animal feeding operations along with that. So that approach to farming has been around for decades, going back to the 1970s, where there was a big push the USDA Secretary at the time, under Nixon said, you know, we want farmers to get big or get out. So the idea was to look for economies of scale to help make farming more profitable and also to drive exports. So we have that system still in place. The way in which farmers, especially real crop farmers are experiencing climate change, is you have more variability in weather. So you have longer dry spells that can cause weathering of crops that they are not getting enough water. And we’re having roughly the same amount of rainfall over the course of the growing season as before. But we’re getting a lot of that earlier in the spring. So we’re getting a higher concentration of rainfall, when we don’t want it because we want to be able to get out into the field and to plant the crops. And then during the summer, we’re getting heavier events, but fewer of those events. So wherever before you might have had a half inch over a week, you might get it where you have two inches in a day. Depending on the type of tilling system you’re using, you might get a lot of soil erosion because of that amount of intensity from the rainfall.”
These initial consequences of climate change have started to affect the yearly plans for farmers across the state. Unexpected warm temperatures and unanticipated rainfall can throw farmers off of their calendar and disrupt the growing cycles. When it comes to warmer temperatures, Professor Yoder illustrated how certain crops and livestock will be impacted:
“So in some instances, increasing temperatures can actually lead to some increases in crop yields. So soybeans are predicted, I believe, to have slight increases in their yields because you have potentially better growing conditions for them. Corn is predicted to decrease in yields because of the high in particular nighttime temperatures, which means that corn has to adjust by using more of its energy to cool down at night. And so that’s going to slow down its growth. So those are a couple of big trade offs. Where you have other livestock, for instance, you know, high heat days, days, over 85 degrees are likely to increase. That stresses livestock, because that’s just like us, it’s just very hard to withstand really hot heat for a long time. And so that can reduce the potential to benefit from livestock agriculture.”
A study done by the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment has supported Professor Yoder’s findings. Observations have shown that QUOTE “Indiana corn yields are reduced by about 2 percent for every 1 degree Fahrenheit increase in overnight temperatures during July” UNQUOTE. While 2% does not seem that high, for farmers with tens of thousands of acres, that is a lot of crops potentially lost. Another key finding from the assessment was that Indiana livestock will be less likely to eat food and become less fertile. Overall, there seems to be a seismic shift happening for the agricultural sector due to climate change.
The Farmer Aspect:
All of these findings have raised concerns not just for the crops and livestock, but for farmers themselves as well. Professor Yoder commented on how farmworkers are going to have to adjust to hot summer temperatures:
“Farmworkers, if they’re going to be outside, you know, especially for vegetable operations. That’s a risk. Heat stress is a risk that’s already causing problems in many places in the world. And if you have a heatwave, during the summer, when you’ve got to be outside during work, you’re probably not going to be able to get as much work done. Or you’re going to shift your hours to work in the evening or late into the night. Farmers who are using better equipment are probably not going to be affected personally, because you know, the big combines are air conditioned. And so you have some climate controls already there.”
It appears that for larger farms, the heat risk can be avoided, but otherwise there is a threat with the warming temperatures. With this in mind, it is important to understand how farmers feel about and are responding to climate change. In his experience communicating with farmers about the topic, Professor Yoder provided some insight as to the current sentiments in the agricultural world:
“Certainly I think farmers are very aware that there is a discussion about climate change, and they see the changes in weather extremes happening whether or not they’re going to attribute that to human made climate change. And so, functionally, you know, fundamentally, they’re going to have to adapt in the same way, whether or not they’re there, whatever they’re calling it. My sense is that there is some change and acceptance in terms of thinking about calling it climate change, and what that means for their operations.”
The Government Response:
Politics in Indiana is another major factor that can influence the actions of farmers and generate a movement in the rural areas to properly address some of the effects of climate change. The Statehouse has sought to help farmers before. Last year, the Indiana House passed a bill that provided funds to farmers who were impacted by grain mill closures. Similarly, another bill was passed that helped landowners receive proper compensation if a city or county invoked eminent domain and took areas of cropland. Even U.S. Senator Mike Braun took action at the national level to help farmers benefit from movements that encourage them to not farm for a season in order to improve the carbon in the soil. This storing of carbon, called carbon sequestration, helps reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Professor Yoder explains more:
“You know, Senator Braun has introduced legislation to try and develop the carbon market, voluntary carbon market nationally, especially for farmers and for private forest owners to be able to benefit from carbon sequestration efforts. And then the state legislators have introduced legislation to do the same thing in Indiana, although I don’t believe that has passed yet.”
Besides these actions, there are many more steps that the government could take to encourage farmers to prepare for climate change. With his background in land use conservation, Professor Yoder described why cover crops should be supported by the agricultural sector and the state government.
“One of the biggest things that could be done relatively quickly, would be to incentivize farm or cover crop adoption. So cover crops are typically a non-cash crop that you plant after harvest, and even terminate before you start planning your cash crop in the spring. And what cover crops do is firstly, prevent soil erosion, but they also help have a root system in the soil over the offseason, which can help with microbial activity in the ground. And that can also be beneficial for soil health, and improve water moisture retention during droughts and water infiltration during heavy events. So there’s some debate as to whether or not cover crops harm or help cash crop yields. It seems that over a few years, it does help yield or at least doesn’t have a negative effect on cash crop yields. But you’re also sequestering some carbon by having a cover crop rolling the ground that you’ve been terminating, but leaving on top of the soil as you plant your cash crop over it. So that has a lot of potential. And to have short term benefits, because it can help farms adapt at least real crop farms to increasing precipitation as well as increasing temperatures. But it also has the potential to be beneficial, especially if there is some bigger movement towards voluntary carbon markets in the future as an additional source of revenue for farms. And while I haven’t touched on this, it will also allow an additional crop to take up nutrients that are still in the soil following harvest. And that means reducing the amount of nutrients and particularly nitrates that can wind up in our waterways.”
When it comes to Indiana and the resulting effects of climate change, one of the areas most likely to be impacted are the rural communities throughout the state. Through efforts such as cover crops adoption, which helps keep carbon in the soil, the effects of climate change could be reduced. Farmers are likely to be hit hard due to changing seasonal patterns that can cause the timing of precipitation and overall cause warmer temperatures during the summer, so actions such as carbon sequestration are needed. Despite the fears and worries of climate change, the state government and farmers themselves have begun to take meaningful steps to prepare for the future. Understanding how climate change will impact many of our fellow Hoosiers is an effective tool to help convey the reasons why sustainable and achievable adjustments should be made to become more environmentally friendly and prepare the state for climate change.
Tomorrow, join us as we discuss how the severe weather that impacts Indiana that is associated with climate change could be different as we continue on through this century.
