Richard Oswald stands in a frozen puddle surrounded by unharvested corn. Wet conditions have made harvesting difficult for Oswald and other farmers.
Credit: Amy Kontras/Guardian
LANGDON, MISSOURI — Richard Oswald did not need the latest US government report on the creeping toll of climate change to tell him that farming in the midwest is facing a grim future, and very likely changing forever.
For Oswald, the moment of realisation came in 2011.
The 68-year-old lives in the house he was born in and farms 2,500 acres with his son, some of it settled by his great-great-grandfather. The land sits where the Missouri river valley is about four miles wide.
Growing up, Oswald heard tales of a great flood in 1952 which prompted the army to construct levees.
“The next flood wasn’t for another 40 years, in 1993. Heavy rains day after day after day after day until the runoff water and the rain just overpowered the river and the levees,” said Oswald. “Both the ’52 and ’93 floods lasted three weeks. They were […]
I grew up on a farm and this story is sad for the farmers and scary for the future of food production be you an omnivore or a vegan. Climate change models predicted these changes but not the speed of change. We Americans need to stop the shame/blame game and come together to face a reality that cannot be avoided for long. Perhaps time for a transfer of funds from the Department of Defense to Department of Agriculture.