Key facts
- Specialty farmers are adapting to extreme heat by adjusting harvest times and protecting crops.
- Intense heat waves, linked to climate change, are shortening planting and harvest windows.
- Farmers are using strategies such as early morning harvesting, shade structures, and controlled greenhouse environments.
- Specialty crop farmers face challenges accessing federal crop insurance, which is designed for single commodity crops.
- Crop diversity is a key strategy for specialty farmers to protect against losses.
Specialty farmers are implementing adaptive strategies to cope with prolonged and intense heat waves, a pattern exacerbated by climate change. Annie Woods, a farmer in Kentucky, adjusts her harvest schedule to work in cooler morning and evening hours, uses shade tents, and carefully manages seedlings in a controlled environment to protect her crops and ensure their quality.
Paul Rasch, who operates fruit orchards in Iowa, has his crew harvesting raspberries as early as 6 a.m. to avoid the peak heat. He is also investing in air conditioning for buildings, adding outdoor shade, and testing high tunnels to create more consistent growing conditions. Both farmers note that these extreme weather events, including heat waves, floods, droughts, and frosts, are becoming more common and intense, making typical years rare.
These smaller farms often rely on crop diversity as a business strategy to mitigate losses, as some crops may thrive while others struggle. However, specialty crop farmers face significant hurdles in accessing federal crop insurance, which is primarily designed for single commodity crops like corn and soybeans. Duncan Orlander, a policy specialist, explains that the paperwork for insuring a wide variety of crops on small acreage can be burdensome, and coverage for certain specialty crops may not be available. Insurers are also less incentivized to offer policies for smaller operations with potentially lower premiums and payouts. Orlander adds that current programs are insufficient to address the scale of losses from extreme weather, necessitating new approaches to risk mitigation.