Farming and Climate Change Blog

Fun Fact:  Pastures strewn or crisscrossed with trees sequester five to ten times as much carbon as those of the same size that are treeless. Quote: “That is the climatic win-win of this solution: Silvopasture averts and sequesters emissions, while protecting against changes that are now inevitable”.       In this Article, the author discusses how Silvopasture could be a solution to climate change.   The article is posted by drawdown.org , an organization planning to “draw down” the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.   Silvopasture is an ancient method that mixes trees and pasture into a single environment for raising livestock.   Researchers have found that Silvopasture far outpaces any other techniques attempting to reduce methane emissions of livestock and bring carbon back into the soil.   Silvopasture also helps boost the health and productivity of both the land and the animals.   Silvopasture can help farmers and their livestock adapt to the changing weather of the fut

It looks like the many effects of climate change will have a major impact on rice production in a negative way. The things that could affect rice growers is that with climate change, the temperatures will be hotter, relating to rising sea levels. There will also be extreme climate and weather patterns, making it unpredictable for farmers to know when the right time is to plant crops. According to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) report, Climate Change: Impact on Agriculture and Costs of Adaptation, predicts that by the year 2050, the costs of rice will increase anywhere from 32 to 37 percent, just as a result of climate change. Also yield losses in rice could be as high as 15 percent. It is predicted by scientist experts that due to melting ice caps and glaciers, seawater levels on average may have risen by a meter, by the end of the 21st century. Rice is grown in big low-lying areas in Asia. This means that sea levels rising would put lots of rice production a

Rice is part of the Poaceae family. Other crops in the family are grass, barley, wheat, corn, and others. As you can see, this is the family of grains. Plants in the Poaceae (also known as the grass family) will tend to have empty and hollow stems, the nodes which are parts of the stem, that connect leaves and branches, but you can find knee shaped looking ones with nothing attached. Plants in the grass family are pollinated by the wind because they do not have petals nor do they have sepals because unlike some other plants, they do not needing to attract bugs and other insects. The plants in the family usually have three stamens, hardly ever two or six, the ovary has a chamber of three united carpels, the ovary matures as a grain in a single seed form almost all of the time. There are almost 10,000 species of grass. - Prepared by Henry

All cherries are part of the Plant Family Rosaceae which is made up of mainly fruits with pits, for example Peaches, Apricots, and Plums. There are several types of cherries, but there are two that are more well known, The Wild Cherry and The Sour Cherry. Cherries like a cold climate to grow in but most sweet varieties prefer hot dry summers and not as cold winters. With the climate getting warmer, it is getting tougher to grow cherries and most cherry farmers can’t grow as much cherries as they used to.  Prepared by Hudson

“Today, agriculture consumes 70 percent of the world’s freshwater resources, and irrigation is essential for 40 percent of the world’s food production” -Joe Del Bosque Fun Fact:  Irrigation was traced all the way back to 6000BC http://www.drawdown.org/solutions/food/farmland-irrigation Irrigation can be traced all the way back to about 6,000BC, the first irrigation system known currently was the use of the waters of the Nile and Tigris-Euphrates rivers to water the farms. Recently it was found that 70% of the world’s freshwater, 40% of that 70 is used for irrigation. Technologies for irrigation have gotten better over the years and two of the best are drip and sprinkler irrigation. Those two methods of irrigation loose the least amount of water and deliver close to the precise amount of necessary water. Without those two types, irrigation would be one of the biggest sources of carbon emission. Because of drip irrigation crop yields improve, costs go down, and soil er

Quote: “Restoration can mean the return of native vegetation, the establishment of tree plantations, or the introduction of regenerative farming methods.” Author Unknown. Fact: Farmers are leaving their land behind and not caring for it.  Stat: 950 million to 1.1 billion acres around the world could be restored and create a better environment for crops. http://www.drawdown.org/solutions/food/farmland-restoration This article started out by explaining that a lot of farmers are turning and leaving their land behind. All over the world, farmers are leaving their land behind and not caring for it. The land needs more care and work to keep the healthy plants and vegetables alive and well. 950 million to 1.1 billion acres around the world could be restored and create a better environment for crops, but farmers do not have enough money or motivations to keep them alive. The author goes on to explain that if more farmers would return and restore their land, the amount of car

Pomegranates come from the smaller part of the family Punicaceae, but they are a part of the larger family Lythraceae. The leaves are usually in pairs on opposite sides and the petals usually appear crumpled at the bud and wrinkled at maturity. The Lythraceae family contain s 32 genera with about 620 species of herbs , shrubs and trees . Pomegranates grow on a tree that’s about 8ft tall, they grow from a bright vibrant red flower that turns into the outer part of the shell once the stigma gets fertilized. The plant forms hundreds of seeds inside and they ge t covered in their own little edible shell. - Prepared by Piper

Avocados are in the family Lauraceae, a family of flowering plants. A characteristic of family Lauraceae is that they have fruits that have one seed and a thin hard shell on the outside. They are also protogynous which means they change from female to male during their lives. - Prepared by Josh

Health enthusiasts are going to be unhappy with their avocado price soon. Climate change is quickly heating up California, temperatures have reached 117 degrees fahrenheit. This heat has burned the avocado trees and the avocados are falling off trees. Dropped fruit is far less valuable to farmers and so they will have to charge more for hand picked avocados. The fallen fruit rot and also are eaten by bugs. Farmers are using the normal tactics to deal with heat, like watering more often. - Prepared by Josh < https://thinkprogress.org/california-heat-wave-spells-doom-for-avocados-b4ed25c95088 >

Here is one we found when we turned over the soil of the interweb: bae come over

https://www.eater.com/2017/5/9/15592340/barack-obama-president-sam-kass-food-policy https://thinkprogress.org/flooding-in-the-mississippi-delta-is-climate-change-in-action-ff0b8bd1bcad https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/3-big-myths-about-modern-agriculture1/# https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/05/08/alaskas-tundra-is-filling-the-atmosphere-with-carbon-dioxide-worsening-climate-change/?utm_term=.a59e4b442dc2 https://weather.com/news/news/severe-weather-tornadoes-flooding-storms-texas-missouri-arkansas-midwest https://thinkprogress.org/oxygen-levels-falling-2-to-3-times-faster-than-predicted-in-our-warming-oceans-7c1e9b48cd42 https://thinkprogress.org/epa-makes-room-for-industry-scientists-237f4038f1ab https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/5/3/15512258/california-revolutionize-cap-and-trade http://climatenewsnetwork.net/climate-change-alter-flow-river-nile https://eos.org/editors-vox/responding-to-climate-change-deniers-with

Studies show that changing rain patterns, Climate-Change related diseases, and warming oceanic regions could have a significant impact on the taste of foods such as carrots. The Scientists suspect that carrots could become tasteless as Climate Change worsens. One of the solutions being used by farmers is genetic modification. They are modifying the plants to be more susceptible to heat and other consequences of climate change. Something farmers are trying is planting at different times than before. Because the springs are shorter and it gets hotter earlier, the farmers will plant their crop earlier than before. Prepared by Aidan

Although climate change does or soon will affect most plants, its effects will impact the Amaryllidaceae family a lot. Take onions for example: the second largest onion producer in the world, India, has already noticed some serious problems with unpredictable weather and a greater number of fungus infestations. A test done in the Pune district of India shows very different weather patterns including heavier rains, drought, and monsoons much earlier in the year. Some farmers have tried preventions to these issues such as drip irrigation and earlier harvests but the forces of climate change need a solution. And a possible solution involves another member of the Amaryllidaceae family and a very common farm animal: garlic and cows. Cows are a large producer of methane, a gas that is 23 times stronger than carbon dioxide on the lines of holding heat in. This is credited to a bacterium inside their stomach that allows methane to be released when they digest food. However, studies show th

The Amaryllidaceae family includes over 1600 species including Onions, garlic and amaryllis. One thing that all species in the Amaryllidaceae family have is bulbs at the end of their stems. Also they all have lance-shaped leaves. - Prepared by Owen

The Watermelon(Citrullus) is in the Gourd Family of plants(Cucurbitaceae). There are over 850 species in this plant family, including 3 different genus’: Cucurbita, Cucumis, and “others” (Watermelon, Chayote, and Vegetable Sponge). The Gourd Family typically consists of vining plants. The flowers on them are unisexual and also have 5 separate petals and 5 united petals. Some members of the Family also contain toxic alkaloids, which are any of a class of naturally occurring organic nitrogen-containing bases. Alkaloids have diverse and important physiological effects on humans and other animals. - Prepared by Leo Sources: http://agriculturenigeria.com/farming-production/horticulture/watermelon http://www.irinnews.org/news/2008/05/13  Botany In A Day

Watermelon is a tropical or subtropical, juicy fruit that is very popular among the global population. It originated in southern africa but has quickly spread around the world. To thrive and grow, the watermelon needs to be planted in temperatures above 77° F. The greatest threat to any watermelon farmer would be a bad planting season due to an irregular climatic condition in the country due to global warming and the release of greenhouse gases. But this challenge can certainly be overcome, with good timing. Prepared by Leo

Michael E. Mann is a professor of Atmospheric Science at Penn State. He is also the director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State. He was  the organizing committee chair for the National Academy of Science. He also received an award for being the one of the leading fifty visionaries and authors in 2002. Michael Mann has written more than his most recent book, The Madhouse Effect. He also wrote Dire Predictions in 2015 and Hockey Stick and the Climate Change in 2012. - Prepared by Josh

The Carbon Cycle Institute is an organization whose focus is stopping climate change. Founded in 2007 by members of the Marin Carbon Project, The CCI works to improve both farmers’ knowledge about how to combat climate change, and supports research of strategies that anyone can use to lower their carbon emissions. One of the main things that they believe is that solutions to carbon management should include restoring natural resources to the ground in order to use the soil as a carbon sink and not a carbon source. Another strong belief that they have is that if a solution to climate change is going to last, it needs to incorporate the 3 E’s. Equity, economy and environment. In conclusion, the CCI is an organization that definitely has the infrastructure to change our world into an environmentally-friendly planet http://www.carboncycle.org/ Prepared by Owen The Carbon Cycle Institute (CCI) is on a mission to stop and reverse global climate change. They are doing

The Nightshade ( Solanaceae) family is a very common family consisting of mostly herbs with fuzzy leaves and colorless juice that is also very rich in alkaloids. Their flowers are typically bisexual with usually 5 united sepals and 5 united petals, also usually consisting of 5 stamen and 2 chambered ovary. There are approximately 2,300 different species of plants in the Nightshade family including tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant and peppers. Some nightshade plants also have narcotic alkaloids; some of them are addictive like nicotine made from tobacco. Most of these plants that contain narcotic alkaloids are useful for numbing the sense of pain in your body. Another substance that can be extracted from many nightshade plants is scopolamine which can be used to treat seasickness or vertigo. - Prepared by CJ

The Parsley plant family, or Apiaceae, is a family of plants that consists of more than 3,700 species of plant, most notably, Carrot, Celery and Parsley.   Each plant in the family has compound umbels, which are many short flower stalks arranged in a umbrella-like formation.     Every plant in the Parsley family has 5 petals, 5 stamens, and an ovary with 2 carpels.   The parsley family includes several poisonous plants, including water hemlock, which happens to be the deadliest plant in North America.   The plant is often mistaken for wild carrots, and when eaten causes convulsions and rapid death.   Another extremely poisonous member of the Parsley Family is Poison Hemlock; it is only slightly less deadly than Water Hemlock and causes paralysis instead of convulsions.   A large quantity of poison hemlock was used to execute Greek philosopher Socrates.                Celery is a unique member of the Parsley family and one of the only members of the family to be cultiv