By Rachel Cramer
Jessica Krupicka hops out of her truck on a cold January morning at Heritage Hill Farm in central Iowa. The vegetable plots sleep under cover crops while hollow sunflower stalks guard a patch once blooming with dahlias and zinnias.
“I’m so ready for the day where things are greening up and we’re actually able to start working in the soil again,” Krupicka said.
She runs this diversified organic vegetable farm with her husband, their two boys and some hired help, selling produce directly to consumers and restaurants. Heirloom tomatoes are one of their specialties.
Even as Krupicka looks forward to spring, she says it’s brought new challenges in recent years with heavier downpours and big temperature swings. Waterlogged soil can increase the risk of root rot and other diseases, while erratic temperatures can stress plants and disrupt typical growing seasons.
“We might have a time or stretch of temperatures where it’s just very hot,” Krupicka said. “That really impacts certain crops, especially the lettuce … if they get just too warm, they just get bitter, so you have an unmarketable crop.”
Krupicka says they’re experimenting with different varieties, shifting planting dates and scaling back certain crops in response to changes they’ve experienced on the farm since they purchased it in 2012.
“With the climate change, we need to be more nimble,” Krupicka said. “And there’s going to be a certain point where we’re just not even going to grow [some crops].”
While farmers have always had to contend with unexpected weather, a growing number say it’s becoming harder to predict and more extreme. Nearly 80% of farmers surveyed in a 2023 Iowa State University poll said climate change is happening, up from 68% in 2011.
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