What Climate Change Means for Agriculture in America’s Dairyland
- Laura Schultz
- Oct 31, 2020
- 3 min read
While it doesn’t get as much attention as the wildfires or hurricanes or other extreme weather dangers caused by climate change, a warming planet also has significant implications for our ability to feed ourselves. Some places that weren’t ideal for growing food before will actually become more fertile and productive; while other traditional agricultural bread baskets will be lost. As our population grows and demands more resources, the uncertainties of climate change’s impact on agriculture are going to complicate food production the world over. Let’s take a magnifying glass to Wisconsin, America’s Dairyland, and examine what the affects are. Is our cheese supply going to suffer?
Like I mentioned in my first blog post of this series, agriculture is a major economic engine in Wisconsin, largely due to the suitable climate for all sorts of crops. But, increasing temperatures, floods, and droughts are presenting a major challenge to crops grown all over the state. In March of this year, Wisconsin Public Radio published a series of six articles looking at how climate change is affecting six staples of Wisconsin agriculture & cuisine and those who grow & produce them. Here's an overlook of the challenges for each food:
Dairy is already struggling, and climate change is adding to that. Cows prefer the cold, so warmer summers have already caused milk production to decrease in the state. Increased flooding can wash out pastures and farm roads, making dairy farmers' work much more challenging. And because raising cows is methane intensive and adds to greenhouse emissions, farmers need to invest a good deal of money to make their operations more efficient — which not many can afford to do.
Because beer is 90%-95% water, keeping a stable and clean water supply is the most important thing for breweries. Wisconsin's not likely to see a true water scarcity due to climate change, but water quality is changing as rains fall heavier and more frequently, and breweries already have to put their water through intensive filtering processes. Other concerns include treating wastewater; impacts on the growth of barley, hops and wheat in higher temperatures; and energy consumption at breweries.
Again, it's the warming winters and extreme weather that could be the death of cranberries in Wisconsin. In order to fruit in the summer, cranberries need ice cover in the winter and dormant chill, which are becoming less consistent. The plant can flower too soon if it thaws too early. There's also risk of rotting and insect threats when there's more rain and humidity. Cranberries are one of only three crops native to Wisconsin that are commercially grown, and may not be able to handle a shift in their range northward due to differences in soil and forests.
In the case of potatoes, the biggest concern is actually nitrate contamination in groundwater... caused by higher rainfall. Nitrogen has become a key fertilizer for many varieties of agriculture, and its runoff a major pollutant. In the Central Sands area of the state where many potatoes are produced, there's generally only 10-15 feet of soil in which the potatoes are grown above the water table. It's incredibly difficult to keep the nitrate fertilizer in the soil and not seeped into the groundwater, and it takes only a small amount of nitrate for the water to be contaminated past the 10 ppm that's considered safe.
Though walleye numbers have been declining for years, it still has cultural cachet for everyone from Indigenous spear fishers, recreational anglers, and fish fry diners across Wisconsin. Scientists say that it's difficult to point out a single, climate driven reason that walleye are suffering here, but there are several complex, interwoven ones. While it's not warm enough yet that walleye can't survive in Wisconsin's waters anymore, it's likely that they're struggling to reach maturity due to issues with their food sources and competition from largemouth bass, which are thriving.
Indigenous tribes of Wisconsin have treasured manoomin for thousands of years. The plant is very particular in what conditions it will grow in: cold, harsh winters for spring germination are necessary, so the northern third of Wisconsin used to be perfect. But on top of warming temperatures, other factors such as habitat loss, water quality, and human activity have caused about the half of the manoomin the state once grew to be lost. As climate change intensifies, northern Wisconsin will warm the most, and more severe weather events might wipe out entire manoomin crops. Frankly: its survival may be quite dire.
Be sure to read the WPR articles on each food to get a better understanding of the challenges each faces. And to get a fuller picture of how agriculture in Wisconsin is threatened by the changing climate, as well as what might be done to fix or adapt to some of these problems, you can peruse the agriculture chapter of "Wisconsin's Changing Climate: Impacts and Adaptation."
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