Effects of Climate Change on Farmers - Journalism Article
I wrote this piece as a human interest article about Richard Oswald who is a farmer in the Mississippi River Valley. He has noticed a significant change in the environment and how he needs to run his farm in the past few decades because of climate change. The amount of precipitation has increased greatly which results in flooding and poor soil quality. Rainstorms that used to provide an inch of rain now bring 4 or 5 or even 6 inches. The rain will also delay growing seasons and harvest, if the corn cannot be harvested then the soy beans will be planted late. Growing seasons used to vary by a few days each year, now they vary by weeks each year. Writing this article for Journalism was very different from writing an essay for English because these are not my arguments. When I write for english I am writing my opinion or trying to make a point, but for this article I had to do research and write in a way which reflected information for the reader. I got the story for the article from The Guardian which is a news source, but I still had to do some research to back up some of the information and provide other details. This part was more similar to writing an Essay for English class because in the article I told the story and backed it up but, when writing an essay, I make my point and provide examples or evidence. The main goal of the article was to inform the reader about the topic. This helped my writing grow because I had to go outside my comfort zone and learn how to write with a new style. This piece is a good Wildcard because it shows the different styles of writing that I use, and how I have grown as a writer. While it may not reflect my self very well, it showcases my abilities. I feel that the type of writer I truly am is someone who can write with different purposes and still produce something informative and collected.
Full Article
Climate change has increased more and more in the past couple decades and farmers are starting to feel the affects. Climate Change and ozone depletion can cause extreme weather. This extreme weather cause cause floods, droughts, changing growing seasons, and increased damaging pests and weeds. Climate change is affecting our ability to produce enough food to feed the world. The crops, livestock, and seafood produced in the United States contribute more than $300 billion to the economy each year. When you include food service and agricultural industries are included we are talking about $750 billion being added to the economy per year. Clearly this industry is incredibly important. Richard Oswald is a 68-year old farmer who lives on 2,500 acres of land in The Mississippi River Valley. OSwald has been struggling with abnormal flooding on is farm, in 1952, 1993, and 2011 that flooded his farm and destroyed his crop yield. Remarkable rain made these floods too powerful for the rivers and levees. The price of grain surged and Oswald has been forced to farm differently to combat the unpredictable season. “When I was a kid, my dad would say an inch of rain was a good rain. That’s just what we needed. Now we get four inches, five inches, six inches in one sustained wet spell that lasts two or three days”. This quote from Oswald explains how the weather patterns have changed in his lifetime. He also explains how the rain has raised the water table so that even if the river has not flooded onto his land, everything is still continually mud ridden. Even when the rain water dries up everything below the topsoil is muddy because the river level is as high as the groundwater which means that the soil cannot absorb the water. Heavy rainfall and mud delays Oswald’s growing season, sometimes the rain will delay the corn harvest which then means that the soybeans have to be planted late. The says in the summer and spring when he plants crops used to vary by a few days each year, now they vary by weeks each year. November 23rd 2018 the National Climate Assembly reported considerate damage across the country. This damage includes events like wildfires in the West of flooding in the East. The work of the 13 agencies resulted in a 1,600 page report that claimed “Expected increases in challenges to livestock health, declines in crop yields and quality, and changes in extreme events in the United States and abroad threaten rural livelihoods, sustainable food security, and price stability”. In order to properly adapt the the changing climate farmers will need to spend billions of dollars. Before the 2011 flood that essentially ruined his harvest, Oswald was skeptical about climate change but now the seasons and weather are nothing like what they were when he was a child. Oswald describes the way he has to combat climate change as something that he is constantly struggling with “There’s so much unknown about the weather now that it’s pretty hard to do much about it”. Farming is hard enough already and the sporadic climate patterns do not help.