How climate change is affecting 11 American crops - Entrepreneur Generations

Consumers may see climate change as a nebulous concept with far-off effects, but those in the agriculture industry are already seeing big changes. "Warmer temperatures are extending growing seasons in some areas and sending a host of new pests into others. Some fields are parched with drought, others so flooded that they swallow tractors," Kim Severson reports for The New York Times. "Decades-long patterns of frost, heat and rain — never entirely predictable but once reliable enough — have broken down."

Small climate shifts that nudge growing seasons even a few weeks earlier or later can disrupt supply chains, schedules for farm workers, and natural processes like honeybee pollination. And though higher temperatures make it possible to grow crops in once unsuitable areas, that heat also hurts crops in traditional growing areas, Severson reports.

Here are 11 common food crops from all over the country that are seeing big changes because of climate change, Severson reports:

1. Tart cherries have long been grown in northern Michigan, since growers have been able to rely on long, cold winters and slow, cool springs so the trees don't bloom until the threat of a late freeze has passed. But warmer temperatures have caused two total crop failures in the past decade; the last one before then was in 1945. Increasingly violent spring storms have damaged tart cherries with hail and winds. The climate shift has also brought an invasive fruit fly that has been ruining cherries.
2. Organic raspberries from New York State are endangered because of the same issue in northern Michigan: too-warm winters that don't kill off fruit flies and other pests. Organic crops are especially vulnerable to such pests since farmers can't use commercial pesticides. The area has also been seeing either way too much rain (which causes fungus on the fruit) or not enough (which means the fruit doesn't grow).
3. Watermelon farmers in Florida say they're planting and harvesting crops earlier. Though customers are happy to have ripe melons earlier in the year, but harvesting earlier means they're competing with late-winter melon crops from Mexico. That means American farmers may not be able to find enough Mexican laborers to pick crops, especially with tighter immigration restrictions in place.
4. Chickpeas are doing well in Montana because of climate change. The average annual temperature has increased 2.4 degrees in the past century, but average rainfall has stayed about the same. That makes chickpeas a good bet, since they require less water than other cereal grains and also improve the soil, However, chickpea growers face stiff competition against global growers. 
5. Wild blueberries are a rockstar in Maine agriculture, but a longer growing season, warmer summers, erratic frosts, increasing fruit flies, and more frequent droughts are threatening the crop.
6. Organic heirloom popcorn has been a reliable crop in Iowa for decades, but increasing flooding, tornadoes and other unpredictable weather are making the crop much harder to grow.
7. Peaches in Georgia and South Carolina are threatened by increasingly warm winters. Without a certain amount of consistently cold weather, the buds are weak and make poor fruit. Also, too-warm winters make trees bud early, which can decimate the crop when a frost happens afterward. A warm winter in 2017 killed almost 85% of Georgia's peach crop.
8. Organic apples in Washington are suffering from hotter spring weather, since such weather increases diseases like fire blight. Hotter temperatures can also cause apples to sunburn.
9. Golden kiwi fruit in Texas are well-suited to heat and humidity, but also require a certain amount of predictably cold weather to thrive. Erratic spring freezes threaten that. 
10. Artichokes in California depend on cool, cloudy weather fed by the Pacific Ocean in the spring. But warming oceans have made that weather less common, and warmer weather in general means more pests. A new artichoke cultivar has been developed that grows in the desert heat near Coachella, but farmers say the changes increase the price of production, and therefore the price to consumers.
11. Rice is a notoriously thirsty crop, but decreasing rain in Arkansas, where almost half the nation's supply is grown, are drying out rice farms. Also, the underwater aquifers that help water the fields are drying out. And higher temps alter the starch content in rice, making it stickier and more brittle.

from The Rural Blog http://bit.ly/2UTHQk3 How climate change is affecting 11 American crops - Entrepreneur Generations

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