Mother Jones
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This story first appeared on the Grist website and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
Desiccated corn and sun-scorched soybeans have been in high supply lately—and we’re paying through the nose for them.
The federal government forked out a record-breaking $17.3 billion last year to compensate farmers for weather-related crop losses—more than four times the annual average over the last decade.
The losses were mostly caused by droughts, high temperatures, and hot winds—the sizzling harbingers of a climate in rapid flux.
National Resources Defense Council
Could some of these costs have been avoided? The Natural Resources Defense Council says yes. In a new issue paper PDF, NRDC analyst Claire O’Connor argues that these taxpayer-reimbursed, climate-related losses could have been largely avoided if farmers used tried-and-true conservation-oriented strategies. But she points out that the Federal Crop Insurance Program provides little incentive to farmers to employ techniques that save water and soil.
Original link:
The US Government Paid $17 Billion for Weather-Withered Crops Last Year
