By Baylee Sweitzer for Kent State News Lab.
Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan reporting for the Kent State-Ohio News Connection Collaboration.

Kris Swartz had a better growing season this year than he expected. He planted later than usual in the spring because it rained a lot, but dry weather in August and September gave his crops more time to grow and catch up with the lost time from spring.

Swartz, who grows corn, wheat and soybeans on his farm in Wood County near Toledo, said the weather patterns he deals with today are different from 30 years ago when he started out.

"When we were younger, we had more field days to get into the fields in the spring, and in the fall," Swartz said. "Now, we have these really tight windows."

Over the summer, mini droughts and intense thunderstorms frequented Ohio, leaving farmers like Swartz worried about the seasons to come. These volatile weather conditions are due to climate change. For Ohio farmers, they bring dynamic and extreme levels of precipitation and higher temperatures - but also the possibility of longer growing seasons.

More rainfall, including more intense storms

In a perfect season, Swartz would start planting corn the last week of April and finish planting by May 15. Harvesting would start by the last week of September and typically finish by late November. But changing weather patterns are making those start and end dates less predictable.

For example, in the spring of 2019, many Ohio farmers were rained out of their fields almost entirely. There were just over three days that were suitable for fieldwork from April 22 through May 12, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's weekly Crop Progress and Condition Report for Ohio and the Great Lakes region.

"A majority of farmers didn't even get their crops planted because they could never get into the fields," said Robyn Wilson, a professor in Ohio State's School of Environment and Natural Resources. Wilson studies how farmers make decisions based on the different possibilities that climate change brings.

"It never dried out enough until it was too late to plant. And if it gets too late in the season, there's no point in planting because it's not worth their time or money to even plant anything because there wasn't enough growing season left," she said.

Generally, Ohio will experience more rainfall and the events will be more extreme as climate change progresses. "On average, throughout the year, we'll have more inches of rain, but we're also going to have bigger single rainfall events where you get like an inch or more of rain in one event," Wilson said.

Rising temperatures extend the growing season, but rainfall complicates the timeline

If farmers plant too early in the spring, they risk drowning their crops in the rain or the soil becoming too compact and clay-like to sustain their crops. With rising temperatures causing the soil to thaw earlier and freeze later in the year, farmers could consider planting later in the season if they're rained out in the spring.

But that's a gamble, too, because the soil can still frost early in the fall. Sometimes it is financially smarter for farmers to report a failed crop and collect crop insurance instead.

"We're not always going to know with certainty when the spring planting date will be or when the fall harvesting date will be," Wilson said. "We won't know for sure when all that rain is coming. There's a good chance that rain will come in these big events in the spring and fall."

This year, if a farmer planted late in the spring, the warm and dry weather in the fall meant there was still money to be made.

Hotter temperatures can harm crop yields, according to a 2016 Environmental Protection Agency report. "The warmer weather can e a problem," Wilson said, "but it also can be a good thing. It can lengthen the growing season, and maybe you have opportunities to even double crop."

Double cropping is when farmers plant and harvest two crops in a calendar year, such as winter wheat in the spring and soybeans closer to the fall. This could become more feasible if the growing season lengthens.

Heavier rainfall, higher temps create more agricultural runoff

In addition to affecting farmers' crops, heavier prolonged rainfall and higher temperatures can also harm Ohio's water quality. The heavy rain can cause agricultural runoff, which can damage lakes and waterways.

"We get these big rain events in the spring which flushes nutrients and soil off the fields and it ends up downstream in our water bodies like Lake Erie, which is a problem for water quality," Wilson said.

Increased levels of nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizer and manure can stimulate harmful algal blooms in lakes and rivers. Longer, hotter summers can also fuel growth for these algal blooms because the water is warmer. The algae release toxins that can contaminate drinking water, causing illnesses for animals and humans that consume it.

On August 2, 2014, a toxic algal bloom on Lake Erie caused Toledo to issue a "Do Not Drink" advisory that lasted for three days. The bloom caused unsafe levels of the algal toxin microcystin, a potent liver toxin and possible carcinogen, in the drinking water plant's treated water.

To help manage agricultural runoff, Swartz works with H2Ohio, a state-run program intended, in part, to improve water quality across 14 counties that make up the Maumee River Watershed.

Farmers working with H2Ohio create a nutrient management plan to increase soil and water quality. H2Ohio then gives the farmers money to implement the management practices. There are more than one million acres enrolled in the program.

"You can do cover crops, you can do subsurface placement of a fertilizer, you can do some manure practices," Swartz said. "Generally, the payment that we get on these H2Ohio practices just about pays for the cost of the extra work or the extra equipment."

Agricultural runoff in waterways can be reduced with these practices, but climate change in Ohio will continue to challenge its farmers as the state continues to become warmer and wetter.

"Rain is intense now. It's not good for us. It's not good for water quality. It's not good for anybody," Swartz said.

Baylee Sweitzer wrote this article for Kent State News Lab. This story was originally published by the Kent State NewsLab, a collaborative newsroom staffed by Kent State students.


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Advocates for a fair, sustainable, and healthy food system have released a report showing that nearly all of the corn seed in Iowa is controlled by just four companies.

Economists say concentrations that large can lead to market manipulation.

Farm Action's report shows nearly 90% of the corn seed in Iowa is controlled by Corteva and Bayer. AgReliant and Syngenta control the rest.

Farm Action President Angela Huffman said that kind of control and concentration is happening all the way from seeds to the consumer's plate, and she warns it makes market conditions ripe for abuse.

"This is the scenario in almost every sector of the food supply chain," said Huffman. "Seeds, fertilizer, farm equipment - beef, pork, and poultry processing - and retail groceries. Every one of those sectors I just named has upwards of 60%, to even 85%, of those markets controlled by four corporations."

The same type of consolidation is happening in ag operations where livestock are raised in large confinements - and manure runoff is known to damage the air, ground, and surface water in rural Iowa.

Operators have said they're always looking for more efficient and environmentally friendly ways to raise livestock.

Huffman argued that monopolies like this can lead to collusion, price fixing, and other types of market manipulation.

She and other advocates have called on lawmakers in Congress to address the issue in the pending Farm Bill.

"We're calling on the government to reclaim its role as an enforcer of our antitrust laws, and break up these dominant corporations," said Huffman, "in order to free our economy to start working for the people who are producing, processing and distributing our food."

The current Farm Bill, which was supposed to expire in September of last year, has been extended - but debate still hasn't started on a new version.




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A federal bill could spell trouble for New York farmers.

The Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression Act would remove local and state governments' power to enact policies affecting farms. Studies show it could spell the end for more than 1,000 public health, safety and welfare laws.

Michael Chameides, a member of the Columbia County Board of Supervisors, said farmers do not want such vital farm laws terminated.

"There's a real urgency to pass a robust Farm Bill that really does support rural communities and support farmers and support people all around the country to get healthy, safe and affordable food," Chameides contended. "There's lots of reasons for Congress to take action to support farmers and the EATS Act is not it."

The measure began as a way to counter the animal welfare laws enacted through California's Proposition 12. The National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court about Proposition 12. After the court rejected it, several Republican governors sent a letter to Congressional lawmakers urging the reintroduction of the act.

Recently, the Columbia County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution opposing the EATS Act.

Some lawmakers want to put elements of the act into the Farm Bill. But Chameides noted what farmers really need is access to land, loans and support from the federal government through the Farm Bill. He argued the bill's effects on New York would mean repealing laws ranging from controlling invasive species to animal welfare.

"Rolling those laws back you might see the spread of either diseases or invasive species which are going to have both public health impacts," Chameides pointed out. "But also that it could impact the viability of certain kinds of farming."

Chameides noted regional response laws are important because of the rapid and often unpredictable nature of certain invasive species and the spread of disease. He added passing the act could upend states' rights.

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The growing season is winding down in New Mexico and experts want to make sure the people preserving green chile for the colder months are doing it right.

Amber Benson, Bernalillo County extension agent, said four food preservation techniques will be highlighted during online training workshops next month for the native New Mexico chile. They include drying, freezing, freeze-drying and pressure-cooking. She noted the presentations are free and participants may attend one or all.

"There's an increasing interest in home food preservation, with the cost of food, and during COVID we learned that our food supply chain obviously had some weak points," Benson recounted. "It's just a really great way for people to empower themselves over their own food."

She explained freeze-drying dehydrates food by freezing it and is different from older methods of food preservation. New Mexico State University will hold online training workshops on four Tuesday mornings in October. Capacity is limited to 50 people per session and advance registration is required.

Benson noted green chile can refer both to a plant and a prepared dish, which can vary in consistency from a thick, pork-laden stew to salsa. The series of classes on green chile preservation is the first of its kind, with extension agents in five different counties participating.

"Particularly in New Mexico, we're buying roasted green chile most of the time," Benson observed. "People need to know, 'Oh, do we take the tops off? Do we keep the seeds in? Will it get hotter over time?' People have tons of questions about freezing and drying, so we'll definitely cover both of those."

She added several extension offices across the state have freeze dryers available for the public to use. Last year, New Mexico lawmakers and the governor attracted loads of national attention for approving legislation that declared the smell of roasting green chile the state's aroma, the first state in the nation to adopt an official aroma.


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