Climate change is happening. It’s happening here. It’s happening now.
That’s the message that Aaron Wilson, climate specialist with CFAES’ OSU Extension outreach arm, is sharing with Ohio farmers. He talks to them about how they can make their farms more resilient to weather extremes—to the warmer-than-average temperatures, unusually heavy rains, flooding, and more that Ohio is seeing from climate change.
“It’s not a future issue,” he says. “The time to prepare is right now.”
Kashmir Images (India), Nov. 1; featuring Rattan Lal, School of Environment and Natural Resources
WNWO-TV, Toledo, Oct. 28; featuring Chris Winslow, Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Laboratory)
Farm and Dairy, Oct. 22; featuring Aaron Wilson, OSU Extension
Come join virtual “Conversations on the Politics and Science of Climate Change in the Buckeye State.” It’s the next monthly program by CFAES’ Environmental Professionals Network, set for Tuesday, Oct. 13, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Participating is free of charge.
Check out the lineup of speakers and register. (Photo: Getty Images.)
Food Institute Blog, Sept. 18; Rattan Lal, School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR), cited
Columbus Dispatch, Sept. 16; featuring Aaron Wilson, OSU Extension
Science News for Students, Sept. 3; featuring Stan Gehrt, SENR
CFAES climate specialist Aaron Wilson, quoted in a recent CFAES news release: “Given the trends we’re seeing, the probability of overall wetter conditions this spring is great, so we need to be prepared.”
Following up on their morning session on “climate-smart” organic grains, CFAES researchers Rafiq Islam and Alan Sundermeier will present “Climate-Smart Organic Vegetables: Healthy Soils, Healthy Food, and Healthy People” from 2–3:30 p.m. Feb. 14 at the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA) annual conference.
Continue reading Boost your veggie crops’ climate resilience
Science shows that our climate is changing, and CFAES’s Aaron Wilson will talk about what that means to farming, and how farmers in Ohio can adapt to the changes, at the upcoming annual conference of the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA).
Continue reading Let’s talk about farming and climate change
Some 1.5 million acres of Ohio’s farm fields—an area twice the size of Rhode Island—didn’t have any corn, soybeans, or other cash crops planted on them this year. Reason: Record spring rain made the ground too wet to plant. Now those fields are at risk of problems from something called fallow syndrome, which is caused by the loss of crop-friendly microbes that live—or lived—in the fields’ soils.
Experts from CFAES explain. (Photo: Getty Images.)
A talk set for next week’s Farm Science Review will feature alternative forage plants that tolerate flooding and drought.
Why it’s important: Ohio’s hay supply for livestock is currently extremely low due to spring’s excessive rainfall. Growing flooding-tolerant forages to feed livestock could limit the risk from such rain in the future. (Photo: Tall fescue, James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org.)
CFAES experts say late-planted corn and soybeans could be vulnerable to higher than normal crop disease levels this year. So farmers should stay on guard.
Record rain this spring forced many Ohio farmers to plant their crops late. A CFAES website offers help for farmers in dealing with the impacts of that rain. (Photo: Soybeans, Ken Chamberlain, CFAES.)