Specialty farmers are adapting their operations to cope with prolonged and intense heat, a pattern of extreme weather driven by climate change that also includes flooding and drought. These conditions create challenges such as shorter planting windows and the potential loss of crops due to early-season heat followed by freezes.
Annie Woods, who operates a 50-acre farm, is among those adjusting to the changing climate. She has modified her harvest schedule to work during the cooler parts of the day, in the morning and evening, while taking frequent water breaks. When conditions become too hot for outdoor work, she uses a tent to create shade in her fields. Woods grows vegetables and culinary herbs for regional restaurants and a community-supported agriculture program. She also prioritizes the health of seedlings for fall crops by keeping them in a cooler environment inside a barn and then moving them to a greenhouse with fans.
Paul Rasch, who manages multiple fruit orchards in central Iowa, has seen his crew of eight workers increase harvesting for perishable fruits like raspberries. Normally, they have about three weeks for this harvest, but the current heat has necessitated a faster pace, with work starting as early as 6 a.m. to finish before the midday heat becomes unsafe. Rasch has also installed air conditioning in buildings and is adding outdoor shade through trees and covered pavilions for customers. He is also experimenting with high tunnels to maintain more consistent conditions for certain crops.
Both Woods and Rasch noted that these extreme heat events appear to be occurring more frequently, with greater intensity, and lasting longer. They also pointed to other weather challenges, including floods, drought, and late-spring frosts, which collectively impact crop production throughout the year.
"We don’t ever seem to have a typical year anymore," Rasch said.
Farmers like Woods and Rasch, who grow a diverse range of crops on smaller acreages, often do so as a business strategy to mitigate losses. This diversity ensures that if one crop is affected by extreme weather, others may still thrive.
However, specialty crop farmers often have less access to the same safety nets as those who grow commodity crops like corn and soybeans. Federal crop insurance programs are typically designed for single crops with one growing season, making it difficult for specialty crop farmers to insure a wide variety of produce on small plots. The administrative burden and availability of coverage for certain specialty crops can also be prohibitive, and insurers may be less inclined to offer policies with small premiums and payouts.
Duncan Orlander, a policy specialist with the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, explained that while federal programs exist to cover farm revenue, they are complex and underutilized. He stated that current systems are not adequately addressing the mounting losses and extreme weather events farmers are experiencing, emphasizing the need for new approaches to risk mitigation and loss coverage.
Woods' community-supported agriculture program provides a degree of flexibility, as customers support the farm for the entire season regardless of specific crop yields. This, combined with her crop diversity, serves as a method to "hedge our bets" against weather uncertainties.
"It’s something you have to be aware of and plan for and have a plan to be resilient in the face of these kind of events," Woods said.