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Six years ago, Illinois farmer John Ackerman didn't hire any contract workers at all. He enjoys mentoring young people, but says it's felt harder lately to justify hiring inexperienced workers when contract workers do the same hard, physical jobs faster and better. Climate change affects all farm workers, but advocates and researchers say this is a reason to focus particularly on these workers. The USDA data showed an uptick in the number of farms using migrant labor, both within farms that already hired contract workers and overall. He’s tried reaching out H-2A workers on nearby farms, but says their supervisors won’t let them talk to him.

Persons: John Ackerman didn't, Ackerman, it's, Alexis Guild, Rebecca Young, ”, Jennifer Vanos, Abigail Kerfoot, Luis Jimenez, farmworkers, Jimenez, He’s, won’t, “, Jed Clark, he's, Stephanie McBath, ” McBath, “ it’s, ” Bruce Cline, Scott Kuegel, ” Jimenez, Dorany Pineda, Joshua A, Bickel, Melina Walling Organizations: U.S . Department of Agriculture, Farmworker, Arizona State University, Centro de, Alianza Agrícola, “, National Association of State, of Agriculture, Associated Press Locations: Illinois, U.S, New York, North Carolina, Kentucky, Crofton , Kentucky, Owensboro, AP.org

Cornish, a professor at Ohio State University who studies rubber alternatives, isn't the only one pouring energy into alternative crops like that desert shrub, guayule, or the rubber dandelions that bloom with yellow petals in the greenhouse where Cornish works. And in Nebraska and other parts of the central U.S., green grasses of sorghum spring up, waving with reddish clusters of grains. Instead, they're crops that many companies, philanthropic organizations and national and international entities tout as promising alternatives to fight climate change. Most rubber processing happens overseas, and the U.S. isn't prepared to process rubber domestically. That's why specialty markets will be critical if these crops have any hope of taking off here, Cornish said.

Persons: Katrina Cornish, guayule, isn't, Cornish, Nate Blum, Blum, James Gerber, Gerber, there's, It’s, ”, Tesla, Guayule, Bill Niaura, “ You’re, Curt Covington, Covington, Joshua A . Bickel, Ross D, Franklin, Melina Walling Organizations: Ohio State University, Bridgestone, U.S, Agriculture Organization, AgAmerica, Farmers, Associated Press Locations: United States, Arizona, Nebraska, U.S, India, Saharan Africa, South Asia, Americas, Colorado, Wooster , Ohio, Eloy , Arizona, AP.org

For decades, federal and state officials have struggled to control farm runoff, the biggest source of nutrient pollution that is not typically federally regulated. Water pollution from factories and industry is typically federally regulated. The Biden administration recently proposed toughening regulations on meat and poultry processing plants to reduce pollution, Wall said. When nutrient pollution flows into the Gulf of Mexico, it spurs growth of bacteria that consume oxygen. That affects the productivity of commercial fisheries and marine life in general, but nutrient pollution is also damaging upstream.

Persons: that's, It’s, ”, Olivia Dorothy, Tom Wall, Biden, Wall, Nancy Rabalais, Anne Schechinger, Gregory Klinger, Brad Carlson, Martin Larsen, He's, Larsen, ___ Walling, ___, Melina Walling Organizations: LOUIS, Environmental, Agency, Midwest, EPA, Louisiana State University, University of Minnesota, U.S . Department of Agriculture, Associated Press, Walton Family Foundation, AP Locations: Gulf of Mexico, Mississippi, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Midwest, Minnesota, Olmsted County, Chicago

They used to take advantage of a grain elevator in Mayfield, Kentucky — a massive facility that bought and stored millions of bushels of grain from farmers. “The swings in the weather events that we have ... that’s kind of scary,” he said, especially for those with smaller farms. Human-caused climate change is only anticipated to amplify the number and intensity of those extreme events, from flash droughts to increased rainfall. Although he took some losses, he says that he and other farmers are used to dealing with uncooperative weather. On smaller farms, if farmers are forced to put everything in a low-lying area that floods, an entire crop can be affected, Schmitz said.

Persons: — Justin Ralph, he's, They're, you’ve, Ralph, Keith Lowry, Lowry, What’s, ”, Miranda Rudolph, Hans Schmitz, Jed Clark, Schmitz, Adam Kough, Murray, Kough, Joshua Bickel, ___ Read, Melina Walling Organizations: ” Farmers, University of, Farmers, Associated Press, AP Locations: MAYFIELD, Ky, Mayfield , Kentucky, Southern, Mayfield, Graves County, Kentucky, Indiana, ___

Researchers have known for a while that beer production will be affected by climate change, said Mirek Trnka, a professor at the Global Change Research Institute. Political Cartoons View All 1240 Images"If we don’t act, we’re just going to also lose things that we consider not to be, for example, sensitive or related to climate change. Climate change moves faster than we might realize – but still too slowly for many to notice, he said. Hayes kept the card in his office, and has made it his life’s mission to work on improving winter barley. No matter what farmers and companies do with hops and winter barley, climate change may affect what beer-lovers are able to buy in the future.

Persons: crisscrossed Gayle Goschie's, Goschie, Mirek Trnka, we’re, ”, Trnka, Shaun Townsend, Townsend, Kevin Smith, Smith, – Patrick Hayes, Oregon State University –, Hayes, Ashley McFarland, Douglass Miller, ” Hayes, Dee, Ann Durbin, Walling, ___, Melina Walling, Read Organizations: Change Research, Nature Communications, Oregon State University, University of Minnesota, Barley, Molson Coors, Anheuser Busch, Associated, Cornell, Associated Press, AP Locations: ANGEL, Portland , Oregon, Goschie, Willamette, U.S, Europe, Midwest, Detroit, Chicago

“The amount that we’re smashing records by is shocking,” Burgess said. After the cumulative warming of these past several months, it’s virtually guaranteed that 2023 will be the hottest year on record, according to Copernicus. Scientists monitor climate variables to gain an understanding of how our planet is evolving as a result of human-generated greenhouse gas emissions. A warmer planet means more extreme and intense weather events like severe drought or hurricanes that hold more water, said Peter Schlosser, vice president and vice provost of the Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University. Historically, the ocean has absorbed as much as 90% of the excess heat from climate change, Burgess said.

Persons: Samantha Burgess, ” Burgess, it’s, Copernicus, Peter Schlosser, " Schlosser, “, Burgess, Schlosser, That’s, ”, Friederike Otto, Seth Borenstein, ___, Melina Walling Organizations: Global Futures Laboratory, Arizona State University, El Nino, Imperial College London, AP Locations: Paris, Washington, ___

That's why more than 50 local officials signed onto a letter Tuesday calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to help municipal governments cut food waste in their communities. Tackling food waste is a daunting challenge that the U.S. has taken on before. In 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the EPA set a goal of cutting food waste in half by 2030, but the country has made little progress, said Claudia Fabiano, who works on food waste management for the EPA. Researchers say households are responsible for at least 40% of food waste in the U.S. Chicago, for instance, just launched a city-wide composting pilot program two weeks ago that set up free food waste drop-off points around the city.

Persons: Claudia Fabiano, “ We've, ” Fabiano, Weslynne Ashton, ” Ashton, Ning Ai, ”, Ai, ___ Read, Melina Walling Organizations: CHICAGO, Environmental Protection Agency, U.S . Department of Agriculture, EPA, Farmers, Illinois Institute of Technology, ”, Chicago, University of Illinois, AP Locations: U.S, It's, California, University of Illinois Chicago, ___

As climate change intensifies extreme heat, farms are becoming less hospitable to nesting birds, a new study found. Political Cartoons View All 1211 ImagesThe study concluded that species of higher conservation concern in the U.S. — those closer to being listed as federally threatened or endangered — were more vulnerable to extreme heat events in agricultural settings. But across the board, birds in forests were 14% more likely to achieve reproductive success in times of extreme heat. However, Rosenberg cautioned that more data might be needed to confirm that species of higher conservation concern were more vulnerable, since the overwhelming majority of the data involved species of low conservation concern. The researchers predicted how different bird species might fare in each landscape during extreme heat events.

Persons: ”, Katherine Lauck, Davis, Ken Rosenberg, Rosenberg, David Bird, Bird, “, Lauck, ___ Read, Melina Walling Organizations: University of California, Bird, Cornell, of Ornithology, McGill University, AP Locations: U.S, NestWatch, ___

Meanwhile, two indoor farming companies that attracted strong startup money — New Jersey's AeroFarms and Kentucky's AppHarvest — filed for bankruptcy reorganization. Advocates say growing indoors uses less water and land and allows food to be grown closer to consumers, saving on transport. Tom Kimmerer, a plant physiologist who taught at the University of Kentucky, has tracked indoor farming alongside his research into the growth of plants both outdoors and inside. He said some companies may be struggling to scale up, with problems that come from launching in spaces that aren't necessarily built specifically for indoor farming. Several of the companies say they're on the right track.

Persons: AppHarvest —, Jacob Portillo, Eden Green, that’s, ”, It's, they’re, Tom Kimmerer, “, Kimmerer, Hannah Burrack, you’re, ” Burrack, Evan Lucas, he's, Lucas, Eden, Eddy Badrina, Arama Kukutai, Matt Ryan, Curt Covington, isn't, “ It's, ” Covington, ___ Walling, Joshua A, Bickel, ___, Melina Walling Organizations: Eden Green Technology, Kroger, University of Kentucky, Michigan State University, Northern Michigan University, Eden Green, Walmart, AgAmerica, Associated Press, AP Locations: CLEBURNE, Texas, Dallas, Eden, Cleburne, California, Detroit, Elmwood, Farm, Lexington , Kentucky, Plenty, Chicago, Georgetown , Kentucky, Georgetown, ___

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