By Joshua a. Bickel
Even as the sun started to set, the day’s heat was still hanging in the air as Annie Woods walked back out to harvest squash and zucchini on her 50-acre farm.
Prolonged and intense heat is part of a climate change-driven pattern of weather extremes that has also led to intense flooding and prolonged drought. For farmers, this means shorter planting windows and potential loss of crops because of periods of early-season heat followed by a freeze.
“I think it’s pretty safe to assume these kind of heat waves aren’t going away or they’re not freak occurrences,” Woods said.
The recent heat dome, a high-pressure weather system that traps heat and humidity over a region, affected some specialty farmers who produce crops of fruits and vegetables. Human-driven climate change also has brought more intense heat waves and other extreme weather.
These specialty farmers have found ways to adapt, in part by adjusting their harvest schedules to avoid the hottest parts of the day. But they don’t always have access to the same safety net as farmers of traditional commodity crops such as corn and soybeans when extreme weather hits, experts say.
The heat and humidity that comes with a heat dome can be dangerous for farmworkers and is a “serious threat to human health,” said Melissa Widhalm, the associate director at the Midwest Regional Climate Center in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Woods works in the coolest parts of the day in the morning and evening, taking frequent water breaks. She plants and harvests by hand, unlike larger farms that often rely on machinery. If it gets too hot and she has to harvest, she pitches a tent she uses for farmer’s markets in the fields to create some shade.
Heat can affect crop quality, harvest time
Extreme heat coupled with periods of rain and high humidity can also bring diseases and other pests that can destroy crops. Right now the priority is harvesting those most-vulnerable crops, such as tender salad greens. Woods grows vegetables and culinary herbs for restaurants in the region and for a community supported agriculture program. Harvesting crops when it’s too hot outside can affect their quality, she said.
She’s also concerned for the health of her seedlings that will grow into fall crops. Right now, Woods keeps her seedlings in an enclosed cabinet inside a barn where it’s cooler. Once they’ve germinated, she moves them into a greenhouse with fans running to keep temperatures manageable.
“We have to do a lot of checking on the greenhouse and watering frequently to keep those teeny tiny plants alive,” Woods said.
For some growers, the recent heat also has shortened the harvest window for certain specialty crops.
For Paul Rasch, who owns and operates multiple fruit orchards in central Iowa, the heat has forced his crew of eight workers to step up harvesting of raspberries. Normally, they’d have about three weeks to harvest this perishable fruit, but “we’re scrambling to pick as many as we can,” he said.
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