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| Art Cullen |
Storm Lake Times Pilot
Midwestern farming challenges the environment. "That's the key message on agriculture from the fourth National Climate Assessment, much like the third assessment issued four years ago by the leading climate scientists. The assessment is much the same as the third assessment issued four years ago by the leading climate scientists. Absent a breakthrough, corn yields are expected to decline by 25% or more in southern Iowa. In southern Missouri, extreme heat might prevent growing corn at all.
"What's shocking is not the report itself — we digested the key message several years ago, and have been reporting on it regularly — but that we have done so little to move in the face of imminent danger. . . . Already, climate catastrophe is changing economies and communities on the Great Plains during a relentless drought. The assessment documents the decline of the Ogallala Aquifer underlying the great cattle herds of Texas, Kanas and Oklahoma and the migration of livestock north.
"It also highlights how some producers are adapting: Iowa State University reports that planting 10% of a field in native grass strips can reduce nitrogen outflow by 90% plus conserve precious water-storing soil. Farmers would do more if they had the means and the landlord went along. Incentives have not caught up to the solution.
"You don't see many native grass strips around here, or even winter rye planted as a cover crop. That's because there's no money in it. That's one small slice of the climate picture, but it adds up. We are making some progress (genetic improvements in row crops for drought resistance are simply amazing, for example), but not enough. The farmer does not control gas prices. Woe unto the president, as Joe Biden acutely understands, who lets gasoline sell for more than $4 per gallon.
"Each of us recoils when prices go up at the pump. Politicians just extended the farm bill with its miserly allocations for livestock disease (and climate mitigation) research because the House of Representatives is dysfunctional. What farmer wants to sacrifice himself at the altar of bankruptcy so the Raccoon River is not rife with nitrate?
"The Biden Administration has tried to roll out a 'climate-smart' agriculture program that funnels money through agribusiness. . . It takes time, but we're simply not seeing the changes on the ground. We sense a lot of interest and even enthusiasm as the Practical Farmers of Iowa garner more attention for sustainable agriculture. Yet, over the span of the past four years, the pace has not been fast enough.
"Most Iowans, indeed most farmers and rural residents, are convinced of climate change and the dangers of derechos, droughts and floods. It is well past time to move beyond exhortation and toward real action that can actually enhance our prosperity. There is strong demand for affordable electric vehicles. Where are they? Why is there no battery plant along the Mississippi River? The Department of Agriculture has doled out millions and millions to agribusinesses to get cover crops going, so why do we see nothing?
"Why are there no pilot projects for biomass conversion to hydrogen fuel cells in Northwest Iowa, where the ethanol flows? There's plenty of room in the Dakotas for solar arrays and few trees or buildings to block the sun. They are not there. True, we're just getting started. But you could say we have had ample warning.
"The bird flu wiped out 5 million layers at Rembrandt in 2015, and we still don't know what hit us. That's the astonishing news from the latest National Climate Assessment. We trust we will be better organized four years from now. Nature is demanding it in the here and now."
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