Adapt to climate change

Over the weekend, I heard a presentation by yet another expert who believes the world’s climate is going to hell in a hand basket. The long term trend, say most of the experts, is undeniably warming temperatures. While the science isn’t as sure, many experts are betting the Prairies will become drier as well. Some believe we’ll have multi-year, maybe even decade long droughts. Oh, and don’t forget variability. There will be more extreme weather events. So, say the experts, Prairie agriculture must adapt to these upcoming changes. A big portion of the Prairies has just had the wettest growing season in recorded history and there were darn few summer days that reached 30 degrees. If you farmed this year under the assumption that it was likely to be hot and dry, it didn’t work very well. Should you assume that next year is going to be hot and dry? Oh, say the experts, we can’t tell you what next year is going to be like, but trust us about the trend in the decades ahead. And remember the key message – agriculture has to work hard to adapt to the upcoming changes. Sorry for my cynicism, but I find very little in the climate change projections that’s actually useful in my farm management decisions. I’m Kevin Hursh.