skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Climate Change Challenges Ohio Farmers

play audio
Play

Wednesday, March 8, 2023   

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.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021