In Arkansas, Hallie Shoffner grows rice, soybeans, and other crops on land her family has farmed for more than a century. But she says itâ€s getting harder to make a living as the climate warms.
Heat waves are getting more common.
Shoffner: “And rice is very sensitive to high nighttime temperatures. It can affect the quality of the grain … and farmers can … not receive as much money for a crop that has a lower quality to it.â€
And rainfall is growing more erratic, with more floods and intensifying droughts. In dry years, Shoffner spends a lot of money on irrigation.
She says with difficult conditions year after year, itâ€s harder for farms to remain profitable.
Shoffner: “And it’s not that it’s extreme devastation in any one year. It certainly can be that. But climate change for farmers is more like getting a wound and never letting it heal.â€
But she says researchers are making progress breeding rice varieties that can tolerate hotter nights.
And on her farm, to save water and money during droughts, sheâ€s using a growing method that requires flooding her fields only part of the time, instead of all season.
Sheâ€s trying to adapt to the changing conditions so her farm can thrive for generations to come.
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media
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