This is a pretty cool write up from NBC4i.com about researchers at The Ohio State University are studying how Ohio farmers adapt to the climate impacts in the eastern portion of the Corn Belt.
Historic flooding in the spring in 2019 across a swath of the Midwest led to a record number of prevented plantings. Farmers who participate receive crop insurance benefits as compensation for costs accrued in getting crops ready for the growing season.
Nearly 20 million acres of cropland went unplanted in 2019 in the midsection of the country, including 11.4 million acres of corn and 4.5 million acres of soybeans.
In Ohio, prevented planting affected virtually all major crops, totaling 1.6 million acres, second only to South Dakota (3.9 million acres). Hardest hit was northwestern Ohio, where persistent rain and flooded fields thwarted even late plantings in June and early July.
Harsh weather wreaks havoc on Ohio’s $125 billion agricultural economy.
“We worry about what kind of fluctuations over a shorter period of time, so farmers are very concerned about too much rain in the spring and the fall when they need to be in the field, and not enough rain in the summer when they want their crops to be growing,” Wilson said.
The OSU team created a series of videos that take into account a significant increase in annual precipitation in a warmer world that affect the growing season, and how to navigate crop insurance policies in a more extreme climate, especially larger farmers. The project aims to model climate change impacts and adaptation strategies for farmers focused on resilience and sustainability.
Ohio Farmers Adapt to Climate Change was originally published on mycolumbuspower.com
