Climate Change a Boon to More Temperate Crops?

If you want to know about the validity of the climate change theory, don’t talk to a politician or even a scientist, talk to a farmer. I am fortunate enough to cross paths with farmers often and I usually ask them if they are feeling the impact of climate change and the answer is always yes (sometimes more emphatic than other times). Farmers have told me about the difficulty in maintaining fickle crops impacted by shifting weather that would otherwise be relatively easy to manage. This, along with much associated with climate change, holds a decidedly negative impact on farming and the planet, but what if there is a silver lining somewhere?

According to a Reuters report, farmers in the UK are seizing all that comes with global weirding and are experimenting with crops such as olives, nectarines (both of which would never have previously been viable in the UK) and tea, a highly imported staple from far more subtropical regions. Flowers will bloom early and crops will be harvested sooner as Britain marches towards what the government describes as a “wetter and warmer” UK. And this “wetter and warmer” UK is facilitating a radical shift in agricultural output for Britain. Seemingly the experiments are going quite well for these enterprising farmers, as Mark Diacono, a farmer in Devon has been experimenting with a wide array of crops including olives, pecans, Szechuan pepper and apricots and also lists vineyard on what he calls “climate change farm” on his website. Robert Watson, chief scientist at Britain’s farming and environment ministry, said his department was closely monitoring the impact climate change was having on crops. Watson said, “There is no question that climate change will have significant effect on crops. Climate change might be beneficial for the UK at least because we will have a larger growing period with shorter winters and earlier springs.”

Silver lining? Maybe, but probably not. For every UK or Canadian farmer reveling in their ability to grow stone fruit or lengthen the growing season a few weeks, there are untold numbers of other farmers in more temperate climes that are reeling from the volatility that climate change brings. If there were just a shift in growing regions that would be simple (relatively) but I don’t need to tell you this is something bigger and more impactful than peaches in Scotland.

What is your read on these new agricultural opportunities for the UK? Can any of this be good? Is Britain capable of producing a nectarine sweet enough to make this all feel OK?

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Terry V.

6:12AM PDT on May 14, 2012

Go with the flow

send a green star

Quanta K.

3:18AM PDT on Apr 30, 2012

Thanks.

Jennifer C.

5:16AM PDT on Apr 28, 2012

Thanks for the post.

Sue H.

7:32PM PDT on Apr 27, 2012

Seems that adapting different crops to areas that will sustain them makes a lot of sense. Instead of lack, or crop failure, why aren't we looking to see where food crops can be moved to?

Neil A.

2:08PM PST on Feb 29, 2012

Nice picture of an avocado, I think more temperate zone plants will not be grown in any but the most favourable areas of the UK for some years for various reasons.

Chad A.

12:43AM PST on Feb 19, 2012

This is a question of managing disruptions to ag economies due to climate change. You cannot think of it as a boon-it is a shift that will destroy and encourage, but there will be major disruptive change.

Rosie L.

9:46AM PST on Feb 16, 2012

it's past time to wake up! thanks for sharing

KS G.

6:00PM PDT on Oct 14, 2011

Thanks for the article.

Rachel R.

4:37AM PDT on Aug 4, 2011

There might be some short term gains in some places (I did even hear a rumour that the CIA was in favour of not doing anything about climate change because it would increase ag yield in the the USA), but this doesn't take into account extreme weather events which seem to be increasing everywhere. Being able to grow peaches doesn't help it they all get flood damaged.