Climate change is here

We’ve been reading up on climate change and how it might affect agriculture and food processing. First, you should be happy to know that Iowa State University and its associated labs have taken the lead in research and reporting. Deserving special note are Drs. Gene Takle, Jerry Hatfield and Rick Cruse, who have contributed substantially to the national discussion; Takle shared in a Nobel Prize for his work on climate modeling. These are top-flight scientists, agronomists and climatologists who have issued sober analysis about climate impacts. We were going to say “potential” impacts.They are not potential. They are here.You recognize it when reading Takle’s summary of the 2014 White House Report on Climate Change and Agriculture, on which we reported at the time. But we missed this important part: Soil is carrying more moisture than before 1980. That is the first impact.The Des Moines lobe region where Storm Lake sits — that great flat expanse that grows the most corn in the world —  has witnessed a big increase in drainage capacity over the past 30 years, Takle and Cruse note. They argue that the biggest driver is the more extreme rainfalls we have witnessed in recent years. Cruse documents the more severe rains at his daily erosion website.Farmers and landowners have to get rid of that water immediately because the ground is too expensive and the stakes are too high to leave it wet. Google it and the numbers are all there: Drainage tile pays for itself and then some.There are other factors, but increased rainfall onto the Des Moines lobe’s thick glacial remains is the main contributor to increased, and more efficient, drainage.That more efficient drainage system delivers nitrate to the Raccoon River in increasing amounts. Which caused the Des Moines Water Works to sue Buena Vista, Calhoun and Sac counties. The case was dismissed by a federal judge because the districts only have authority to remove water. Under state law, they must remove water under petition from the landowners of the drainage district.