Oct. 1—The stresses on farm crops, lawns, trees and gardens are becoming more apparent as the changing climate is altering our seasons.
More erratic storms, added heat in summer and winter, and new and more abundant pests and diseases are all forcing people to rethink what and how we grow things.
It will be a transformational change that may take decades, but already many university researchers, farmers, nurseries and homeowners are starting the process.
Predictions on how dire things might be in the Upper Midwest depends on which studies you want to focus on. A NASA study showed climate change could cut our corn crop yield by 24% as early as the end of this decade.
A University of Idaho study estimates the USDA plant hardiness zones are migrating north at a rate of about 13 miles per decade.
And Minnesota is one of the fastest warming states in the country. Winter temperatures have warmed the most, so far, but summer temperatures are also expected to soar in the coming decades.
While there are uncertainties, we know that farmers and others who grow things have always been adaptable.
Wheat once ruled much of the upper Midwest until wheat rusts plagued the crops.
Guys like Norman Borlaug, born in 1914 in Iowa and going on to be a student and research star at the University of Minnesota, began creating new variations of wheat to withstand conditions here and around the world.
Known as the Father of the Green Revolution, Borlaug, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, developed wheat that grew in a variety of harsh conditions and led to countries being able to feed millions of more people on the same amount of cropland.
That kind of work has continued at universities and at the major seed companies as new hybrids are created to better withstand droughts, heat and heavy rains. We'll see if they can keep up to prevent the predictions of a big drop in crop yields.
Researchers are also looking at how Minnesota — one-third of which is covered by our northern woodlands — will be able to keep its beloved forests as more trees are threatened by diseases, pests and a different climate.
Trees and other plants naturally migrate as long-term temperatures and climate changes take hold, but it's a slow process. Researchers are speeding the process by testing trees from southern Minnesota and elsewhere in northern forest areas.
Ponderosa pine, native to western U.S., has been one of the more radical introductions to our northern forests. While most of the transplanted trees died, the ones that survived have grown at an amazing pace.
In our area and southwest of the Minnesota River Valley, the U of M recommends planting trees more likely to hold up in the future, including sugarberry, pecan, redbud and an old stand-by — bur oak. There are also dozens of plants, many native prairie plants, with a better likelihood of surviving in our yards and landscapes.