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How young farmers are navigating climate change on their farms

"It's a daily thing that is affecting us, because obviously, we're working with the weather on a daily basis," one farmer said.

April 22, 2021, 8:56 AM CDT
By Safia Samee Ali

After farming for over six years, Carolina Mueller has learned how to adapt to the fickle and sometimes unpredictable weather patterns she has experienced over the last several seasons.

Even this winter, when harsher frosts were expected, Mueller, 30, who works at a farm owned and run by her partner in Bastrop, Texas, about 30 miles from Austin, prepared with the rest of the farm's staff by throwing row fabric covers to protect crops from the frost, putting out extra feed for animals and stocking up on propane tanks for the greenhouse.

But a deep freeze — the first in decades — caused a massive shutdown of the state's electrical grid in February, rendering propane heating and water pumps useless as Mueller and her partner were stuck in Austin for a full week because of dangerous road conditions. The couple finally returned to rows of dead crops, as well as other damage totaling over $30,000, including loss of future income.

"It was a really eye-opening experience for a lot of us who realized just how little we were prepared for these kinds of extreme weather events," said Mueller, who is a staff member of the National Young Farmers Coalition, a national advocacy organization, and leader of the Central Texas chapter. "We know about heat and can sort of anticipate how to handle heat, but the freeze is a whole different thing. And considering that the last time was so long ago, a lot of young farmers had no idea what to expect."

Weather patterns are crucial in farming, as they dictate every step of the crop process. As erratic climate changes have become more the norm than the exception, young farmers across the country are feeling their effects and trying to adapt, but some say they fear the future could bring more difficulties.

The Texas deep freeze has also been linked to global climate fluctuations. .. https://earth.org/climate-change-is-driving-a-deep-freeze-into-texas/

The U.S. Geological Survey, .. https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-difference-between-global-warming-and-climate-change-1?qt-news_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products .. a science agency of the Interior Department, says "climate change refers to the increasing changes in the measures of climate over a long period of time — including precipitation, temperature, and wind patterns."

Some of the signs are globally rising temperatures due to greenhouse gases' trapping more heat in the atmosphere and longer and more extreme droughts, the agency says.

While the effects are far-reaching, farmers feel them firsthand, because agriculture and climate change are so intricately intertwined.

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https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/how-young-farmers-are-navigating-climate-change-their-farms-n1264138