SVM_Todays Farm_051221

WEDNESDAY MAY 12, 2021

A SPECIAL SECTION OF SAUK VALLEY MEDIA

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SHAW MEDIA Sauk Valley Media/ SaukValley.com • Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Today’s Farm

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Sauk Valley Media/ SaukValley.com • Wednesday, May 12, 2021

SHAW MEDIA

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TODAY’S FARM

Change is in the air Illinois report reveals a climate in crisis, and a stark future for farmers; but it’s not too late to do something about it – if we act now

BY TOM C. DORAN

Shaw Media AgriNews Publications CHICAGO – Talk about climate change has been heating up recently, but farmers have been talking about it for years.

Now, they have a report that backs up what they’ve already known for some time: If something isn’t done about it, climate change could topple one of the central pillars of Illinois’ economy.

The first Illinois-specific assessment on the predicted effects of climate change on agriculture, hydrology, human health and native ecosystems was released April 20 by The Nature Conservancy, and it paints a stark picture of the changes in store for Illinois.

CHANGE cont’d on page 31

The Associated Press

The favorable climate that Illinois farmers depend on is already, and will continue to be, impacted by climate change,” said Jim Angel, who served as Illinois state climatologist for 34 years. “When you talk to farmers, they’re well aware of the impacts of climate change that have been occurring at the farm level for many years now.”

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TODAY’S FARM While the cause of climate change can be debated, its effects are undeniable – and it’s more than just the mercury going up a degree or two.

“Climate change is a lot more than just temperature change. It really is about extreme weather, and that’s what really has an impact on humanity,” said Donald Wuebbles, University of Illinois professor of atmospheric science, who, along with three others, led the assessment. “Illinois is already experiencing societal impacts to changing climate, and as climate change progresses and temperatures continue to rise, the impacts are expected to increase over time.”

That’s bad news for the people who feed the world.

“Agriculture is the central pillar of our economy, and it’s a dominant part of the landscape,” said Jim Angel, who helped lead the assessment with Wuebbles and served as Illinois state climatologist for 34 years. “So, Illinois’ fertile soils ... and the favorable climate make it uniquely qualified to be the major agriculture producer in the Midwest, especially with corn and soybeans.”

“Yet, the favorable climate that Illinois farmers depend on is already, and

will continue to be, impacted by climate change. When you talk to farmers, they’re well aware of the impacts of climate change that have been occurring at the farm level for many years now.

“Farmers are already affected by trends toward the overall weather conditions and in particular heavy rain events that are causing flooding, soil erosion and nutrient losses. And the other shoe to drop is the impact of the much warmer temperatures expected by the mid to late century.”

The report is the culmination of in-depth analysis by the four people who led the assessment – Wuebbles and Angel; Karen Petersen, The Nature Conservancy climate change project manager; and Maria Lemke, The Nature Conservancy director of conservation science; along with 41 contributing scientists from universities and U.S. agencies.

“Our goal for this assessment was to analyze the peer-reviewed literature and to assess the state of the knowledge regarding the current and projected impacts of climate change in Illinois,” Wuebbles said.

Among the report’s findings …

The average daily temperature has

increased by 1 degree to 2 degrees in most areas, and nighttime temperatures have risen about three times the rate of daytime temperatures over the past 120 years.

Precipitation has increased 5% to 20%, varying across the state, and the number of days with at least 2 inches of rain has increased by 40% over the past 120 years.

By the end of the century, unprecedented warming of 4 degrees to 14 degrees is likely, depending on overall greenhouse gas emissions levels, accompanied by large increases in extremely high temperatures, more intense storms and notably higher annual precipitation totals.

By 2050, Illinois could see an increase of 40 to 55 days each year where the daily temperature exceeds 86 degrees, which triggers heat stress in numerous livestock species.

By the end of the century, total annual precipitation is projected to increase by 2% to 10%.

Hotter summer temperatures will mean longer, more severe droughts.

Flooding from streams and rivers has increased and likely will become more common, particularly on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers.

Higher temperatures and increased precip-

itation are likely to reduce soil organic matter, affecting the fertility and water-holding capacity of Illinois soils.

Increased intensity of precipitation events is likely to lead to increased erosion if soils are not protected.

Heat and water stress are likely to reduce corn yields by mid-century, depending on investments made today in agricultural technology and adaptive management, and livestock will face growing threats related to heat, reduced forage quality and increased disease.

Warmer temperatures will make certain fruits, vegetables and nuts unable to thrive in Illinois, while expanding ranges for others.

Weeds, pests and diseases are expected to worsen because of warmer winters, increased spring precipitation and higher temperatures.

“Illinois farmers are used to dealing with changes in the weather, but climate change will bring more extreme variability and create new risks for the agricultural sector,” Lemke said.

“The findings in this report highlight the need to develop creative solutions that can help reduce those risks.

Many strategies already exist that farmers can use to adapt to future changes.”

CHANGE cont’d on page 32

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CHANGE cont’d from page 30

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Sauk Valley Media/ SaukValley.com • Wednesday, May 12, 2021

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TODAY’S FARM CHANGE cont’d from page 31

Solutions The agricultural sector can increase investment in research, technology and adaptive management solutions now to build resilience to the impacts of climate change.

Farmers can implement in-field and edge-of-field practices to improve soil health, increase water retention and reduce erosion and runoff.

Farmers can also take important steps to reduce their own emissions by improving on-farm energy efficiency, adopting cover crops and reducing fertilizer use, among other actions.

Knowledge is power While existing knowledge on the impacts of climate change in Illinois provides an excellent foundation and a clear call to action, additional research would be beneficial to further refine the projections. Among the topics researchers need to dig deeper into …

Agriculture: Research is needed to better understand how plants will respond to new stresses, such as higher carbon dioxide levels and longer droughts, under different man-

agement practices. It would also be helpful to further explore the impact of climate change on insects, microorganisms and weeds, both helpful and harmful, and to improve data on the soil carbon sequestration potential of conservation agricultural practices.

Social science research is needed to improve our understanding of the vulnerability of rural communities, strategies to enhance adaptive capacity and resilience, and barriers to adoption of new strategies.

Improved climate modeling: Higher-resolution models would provide more robust simulations of heat waves, severe thunderstorms and extreme precipitation.

Water resources and flooding: Managing drinking and irrigation water supplies is critical in a changing climate, and large-scale water projects take a long time to build.

Strategies to combine conventional water infrastructure with green infrastructure could ease flooding risks.

Human health: Social science research is critical to improve understanding of the vulnerability of rural and urban communities; develop strategies to help people adapt to a changing climate and improve adoption of health communication strate-

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gies. The relationship between climate change and mental health is a burgeoning field of research that needs continued support.

Ecosystems: Research is needed on how plants and animals cope with heavier precipitation and higher temperatures, to inform natural resource management decisions. In particular, studies are needed to improve ecosystem restoration efforts, which can help lessen the effects of climate change.

“What we found was that in Illinois there is rapid change already happening in weather patterns that are transforming our entire state from cities to our rural communities and is likely to affect all aspects of life in Illinois, including human health, farming and the economy,” said Michelle Carr, The Nature Conservancy in Illinois director.

“Most importantly, the assessment reveals how this crisis in Illinois is critical, but how decisive actions and policies can still prevent our state from forever being altered and that is if we act now.”

Tom C. Doran can be reached at 815780-7894 or tdoran@shawmedia.com.

Follow him on Twitter at: @AgNews_ Doran.

COMMENTARY

Every day is Earth Day for farmers

BY KATIE ZELECHOWSKI Illinois Farm Bureau

If you’ve ever budgeted your finances, you know there are a lot of factors to consider when balancing your income and expenses. Over time, many of those factors will change and you’ll need to recalculate and reorganize your priorities based on what’s available.

Southwest Illinois farmer Richard Guebert Jr. says farmers manage the needs of their soil, crops and animals in similar ways. The decisions they make regarding the use of their land, water and other natural resources directly affect the food, fuel and fiber they produce.

EARTH DAY cont’d on page 33

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TODAY’S FARM Guebert serves as president of the Illinois Farm Bureau, the largest farming organization in the state. In a recent column released to coincide with Earth Day on April 22, he shared information about how environmental stewardship influences Illinois farmers’ decisions.

How do farmers manage natural resources on the farm?

We are blessed to have some of the most fertile soils right here in Illinois.

Thanks to the high productivity of our land, farmers can raise a lot of different crops and animals on their farms. But keeping the soil healthy can be difficult, especially since most of what’s grown on the farm is influenced by the weather.

Just like other farmers in the state, managing the health of my soil and crops while protecting the integrity of those resources for the future are top priorities for me.

Before planting each spring, I work with a crop specialist to assess the soil nutrients on my farm. Based on soil samples collected from different areas of each field, the crop specialist prescribes specific amounts of nutrients I should apply to each field

based on what’s needed for crops to grow. That information is plugged into the technology on my tractor and nutrients are precisely applied to each part of the field.

Richard This precision Guebert Jr. cuts down on cost for the farmer and is better for the environment. From the variety of seeds planted to types of nutrients and fertilizers applied, farmers make decisions like these every day to maximize their production while protecting our natural resources.

What does your farm look like and how does it compare to a typical Illinois farm?

I raise corn, soybeans, and wheat on my farm in Randolph County.

Some of our land has been farmed by my family for generations. In many ways, my farm is similar to others in Illinois because a majority of farms are family owned and operated and because corn and soybeans are the most popular crops in our state.

Illinois farmers also raise a wide variety of livestock including pork, beef, dairy and poultry. We grow a lot

of different specialty crops, like horseradish, pumpkins and Christmas trees.

How does agriculture impact Illinois?

In Illinois, nearly a half-million jobs are supported by agriculture and related industries. We have tremendous assets in Illinois such as rich soils, river and rail transportation, many food manufacturing companies located in the Chicago metropolitan area.

Another way agriculture impacts our state is through biofuel production. The corn used to produce ethanol and the soybeans used for biodiesel are a more carbon-friendly alternative to gasoline and diesel fuel. The biofuels industry as a whole also adds jobs to our state and promotes a healthy economy.

How do Illinois farmers celebrate Earth Day? From the food you purchase at the grocery store or local farmers market, to the fuel you fill your car with and clothes on your back, agriculture is all around you. As the heart of agriculture production, Illinois farmers will celebrate Earth Day like they always do – by managing our natural resources to produce the products American families need most.

Matt Hermes

SOLUTIONS

Climate-friendly strategies can help the land, as well as farmers’ bottom line LISA SCHULTE MOORE

Iowa State University, via The Associated Press Agriculture has not been a central part of U.S. climate policy in the past, even though climate change is altering weather patterns that farmers rely on.

Now, however, President Joe Biden has directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to develop a climate-smart agriculture and forestry strategy.

As a scientist focusing on agricultural land use and adviser to several farm organizations, I have the privilege of working alongside farmers who have figured out how to do just that. I am enthusiastic about farmer-led solutions to climate change. What does this look like?

STRATEGIES cont’d on page 34

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EARTH DAY cont’d from page 32

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TODAY’S FARM STRATEGIES cont’d from page 33

Restore strips of native plants

Plants remove carbon from the atmosphere as they grow, and soil can soak up carbon and store it. These abilities are key to climate solutions that crop farmers can readily deploy today.

Seeding narrow strips of land within and around crop fields with native plants is an effective and affordable way to make farming more cliLisa Schulte mate-friendly. Iowa Moore State University’s STRIPS (Science-based Trials of Rowcrops Integrated with Prairie Strips) Project has shown that this technique reduces erosion and nutrient loss from soil and supports birds and insects.

Prairie strips can reduce emissions of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas 298 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Nitrous oxide emissions vary widely across agricultural landscapes and over time, but the largest contributions are associated with poorly drained croplands.

Nitrous oxide forms under anaero-

bic conditions – environments without oxygen, such as low-lying wet areas of farm fields, where it is produced by soil microbes. The easiest way to keep it from forming is to avoid fertilizing these areas, which amounts to feeding the microbes.

Prairie strips help reduce nitrous oxide emissions by soaking up nitrogen fertilizer that runs off of adjacent cropland. They also can store carbon in soil in two ways: by trapping sediment moving down slopes, and by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and storing this carbon in plant roots and soil.

Prairie strips are among the least expensive conservation practices available to farmers. This is especially true if the land they occupy is enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, which pays farmers to take environmentally sensitive land out of production and conserve it for other purposes.

Installing prairie strips has qualified for Conservation Reserve Program funding since 2019. Colleagues and I estimate that via this route, they cost $8 yearly per acre of cropland treated.

On April 21, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the agency will expand Conservation Reserve Program enrollment and offer

higher payment rates for participating. The department is also creating a new Climate-Smart Practice Incentive to promote strategies that sequester carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. I hope this measure will promote national awareness of prairie strips, which today are known mainly in Iowa and neighboring states.

Turn soggy spots into wetlands

Since nitrous oxide emissions come mainly from wet zones, letting these areas remain as wetlands is another climate-smart strategy. Soggy areas tend to yield poorly in most years, and farmers rarely recoup their investment in cropping them. However, wetlands can be troublesome to farm around, which is why many farmers try to drain and farm through them.

But healthy wetlands also provide benefits: They sequester carbon, store and filter water and provide crucial habitat for mammals, birds, frogs and other organisms. The Agriculture Department’s new Climate-Smart Practice Incentive will support wetland restoration on agricultural lands.

Another USDA initiative, the Farmable Wetland Program, pays farmers to take previously farmed wetlands and buffer areas out of production for 10 or more years. Enrollment is cur-

rently capped at 1 million acres. A climate-smart agricultural policy could expand the program by removing the acreage cap and boosting incentive payments.

Promote perennial crops

All crops are not equal when it comes to mitigating climate change and conserving the environment.

Perennials – including various types of grasses, shrubs and trees – provide more ecological benefits than annual crops such as corn, wheat and soybeans. But they receive less government support.

Just like annual garden plants, annual crops must be replanted every year. Perennial crops live for multiple seasons, so raising them requires fewer climate-warming inputs, such as fertilizer and fuel to power tractors.

These crops develop deep roots that soak up water in soggy spots and help stabilize soil on sloping land.

Many fruits, vegetables and forage crops are perennials. Examples include apples, alfalfa, grapes and asparagus.

Researchers are working to develop perennial versions of grains, legumes and oilseeds such as sunflowers.

STRATEGIES cont’d on page 35

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Outlook improving after a tough few years

BY SCOTT MCFETRIDGE Associated Press

MADRID, Iowa (AP) — In 43 years of farming, Morey Hill has seen crop-destroying weather, rock-bottom prices, trade fights and surges in government aid, but not until last year had he endured it all in one season.

Now, as Hill and other farmers begin planting the nation’s dominant crops of corn and soybeans, they’re dealing with another shift — the stron-

STRATEGIES cont’d from page 34 There are many opportunities to expand cultivation of perennial crops.

Grasses and forbs – flowering plants with stems and leaves, such as bee balm – are less expensive to establish and grow than woody crops like willow, and offer farmers more management flexibility.

I direct a transdisciplinary team called C-Change, funded by the USDA, that is working with farmers to create and expand market-based value chains for perennial grasses. We are helping farmers plant mixtures of native perennial grasses and forbs to build soil health where it has been eroded and protect environmentally sensitive areas.

The grasses can ultimately be harvested and processed in biodigesters – devices that break down organic materials to produce energy – along with manure or food waste. This cycle will yield electricity or biomethane from renewable sources that can displace fossil-based energy sources on or off of farms. It also will produce liquid and

gest prices in years and a chance to put much of the recent stomach-churning uncertainty behind them. The return to something more akin to normal will be a welcome change from the last two seasons that likely will be remembered as among the most unusual in U.S. agricultural history.

“It will be nice to get out there and feel good about what you’re doing,” said Hill, who farms 400 acres near the small Iowa community of Madrid. “I don’t have a black cloud hanging over me.”

It’s hard to overstate how bizarre the past two seasons have been for farmers, who for the previous six years had repeatedly produced

near-record harvests but saw little profit because commodity prices were so low. The situation worsened after then-President Donald Trump launched a trade war with China that reduced demand and lowered prices, but Trump then blunted the impact with $16 billion in agricultural aid.

Last spring, farmers’ hopes for a more normal season were initially wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic, which disrupted domestic markets, slowed shipping to other countries and devastated demand for corn-based ethanol as people stopped driving. Hundreds of Midwest farmers last August also were hit by a devastat-

ing wind storm, called a derecho, that flattened 850,000 acres of crops, including 90% of Hill’s corn and soybean crop.

The federal government then offset those hits with $50 billion in various kinds of aid to farmers plus crop insurance payments.

That massive infusion of aid continued even as U.S. agricultural exports recovered midway through the year, eventually soaring to $146 billion, the second highest export total ever, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The main reason was big increases in exports of soybeans, corn and pork to China.

solid materials that can be used as organic fertilizers, along with other valuable products.

Replacing fertilizer made from synthetic nitrogen is important for the climate because making it consumes enormous quantities of natural gas and releases methane into the atmosphere. Methane is another powerful greenhouse gas, 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Biodigestion is widely used in Europe but underdeveloped in the U.S. We expect that the value chain we’re creating will embed it in a larger cycle that creates a market for protective perennial crops, reduces fossil fuel use and returns carbon to the soil.

The Agriculture Department’s Rural Energy for America Program provides grants and loans that can be used to support biodigester construction on farms. Expanding this program, which currently is funded at $50 million yearly through 2022, and making biodigesters a priority, is another climate-friendly opportunity.

When I think of climate-smart agriculture, I picture farmlands with lots of perennial vegetation smartly integrated as prairie strips, wetlands and crops.

Federal policies and programs that can make such landscapes a reality are already in place. With concerted efforts and investments, they could be expanded to achieve a pace and scale

that will help address climate change.

Editor’s note: This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. The original article appears at https://tinyurl. com/hmm23da8

BETTER DAYS cont’d on page 36

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Farmers finally see better days ahead

Sauk Valley Media/ SaukValley.com • Wednesday, May 12, 2021

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TODAY’S FARM BETTER DAYS cont’d from page 35 “So 2020 ended up being the best of both worlds,” said Scott Irwin, a University of Illinois agricultural economist. “Huge government payment and unexpectedly high grain prices.”

The USDA has forecast that those agricultural exports will remain strong later this year, and coupled with greater demand for livestock feed and ethanol, corn prices have roughly doubled from just over $3 a bushel in spring 2020 to about $6 a bushel now, the highest price in eight years.

Thanks to that good news and continued low interest rates, the value of farmland continued a long-term increase.

“All this great news, it makes me nervous,” said Wayne Humphreys, a farmer from Columbus Junction, who laughed as he contrasted the last two years with current trends.

Despite the positive signs, income actually could drop this year for some farmers because the federal government doesn’t plan to continue the billions of dollars in special payments that offset tariffs and coronavirus problems, though generous programs like subsidized crop insurance will

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

In 43 years of farming, Morey Hill, pictured here April 16 on his farm near Madrid, Iowa, has seen crop-destroying weather, rock-bottom prices, trade fights and surges in government aid, but not until last year had he endured it all in one season. Now, though, Hill and his fellow farmers are finally seeing signs of stability after the recent stomach-churning uncertainty. “It will be nice to get out there and feel good about what you’re doing,” he said. continue.

That means that even with strong prices, USDA Chief Economist Seth

Meyer predicted in February that net farm income would decline about 8% because of a roughly $20 billion drop in

direct farm payments.

Humphreys, a board member of the export market-focused U.S. Grain Council, said he also worries that trade disputes started with China, Canada, Mexico and other nations during the Trump administration could hurt exports in the future because of damage to long-term relationships that agriculture groups built over decades.

“It is a matter of rebuilding trust in Americans’ reliability around the world,” Humphreys said. “That is a daunting task and I’m not sure American agriculture or the American public realizes what a task we have before us.”

Pauline Van Nurden, a University of Minnesota extension economist, said farmers were relieved the outlook seems so bright after years of low prices, followed by two tumultuous years.

“It will be something they’ll never forget,” Nurden said. “It’s a welcome change for them, looking at more of a normal year and realizing that support hopefully will be less needed, and they’ll get their profit from their own production.”

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