Our Alarming Food Future, Explained in 7 Charts

Earlier this year, President Obama signed a bill into law that will essentially preserve the status quo of U.S. agriculture for the next half decade.  Known as the farm bill, the once-every-five-years legislation (among other things it does) shapes the basic incentive structure for the farmers who specialize in the big commodity crops: corn, soybeans, wheat, and rice.  This year’s model, like the several before it, provides generous subsidies (mostly through cut-rate insurance) for all-out production of these crops (especially corn and soy), while also slashing already-underfunded programs that encourage farmers to protect soil and water.

As I put it in a post at the time, the legislation was simply not ready for climate change. How not ready?  A just-released, wide-ranging new federal report called the National Climate Assessment has answers.  A collaborative project led by 13 federal agencies and five years in the making, the assessment is available for browsing on a very user-friendly website.  Here’s what I gleaned on the challenges to agriculture posed by climate change:

• Iowa is hemorrhaging soil.
• Crop yields will decline.
• California, our vegetable basket, will be strapped for irrigation water.
• And even if they can get enough water, heat stress and other climate effects will likely knock down yields of some crops.
• Wine grapes, nuts, and other perennial California crops will be hard-hit.

Our Alarming Food Future, Explained in 7 Charts