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Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Your Farm Report


The Times has an article today about the effects the wild weather in the Midwest this spring will have on food prices in the coming year. As I am marrying into an agricultural family, I now have some first-hand knowledge of this world. I can't do justice to the level of frustration Kara's father expressed
while Iowa absorbed inch after inch of rain. The picture above is of a corn field in Indiana, and that crop should be more than a foot tall by now. When the Midwest doesn't produce their usual amount of corn this year, we will see this reflected in the price we pay for everything at the grocery store.

Farmers will remain much more susceptible to the effects of climate change as the indictators of global warming increase. Of course, much of their livelihoood depends on their ability to adapt to changes in soil, climate, and technology. But the years ahead will present even greater challenges as I have not read many studies on how farmers should adapt to a world warmer than any they've ever known.

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