A new Texas Department of Agriculture assessment has connected climate change to food insecurity and recognized it as a potential threat to the state’s food supply, following a severe drought that damaged crops from the High Plains to South Texas.
The TDA and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley coordinated the food access study, which found that “climate instability” is significantly linked to soil loss, water quality, droughts, fires, floods, and other environmental calamities.
2022 was one of Texas’ driest years on record, with 49% of the state still in drought conditions by the end of December. The drought caused failing harvests, low yields for farmers, and less pasture, forcing ranchers to cull their cattle and resulting in the biggest volume of livestock sold in more than a decade – about 2.7 million.
“From the agricultural perspective, concerns were expressed regarding droughts, drying up of [artesian] wells, water use restrictions, fire threats and dangerous conditions for farm workers,” the report says.
According to Victor Murphy, a climate service program manager with the National Weather Service, extended dry periods have harmed Texas’ agricultural production.
“We’re seeing longer periods without any precipitation, then when it does come, it’s in shorter, more intense bursts,” he said.
Texas received a comparable amount of precipitation in 2022 as it did in 2021, however, the majority of that precipitation fell all at once at the end of summer.
Much of the state had the worst drought conditions from June to August, when plants are still growing in the high heat of summer. This stood in stark contrast to the subsequent torrential rain totals. The Dallas-Fort Worth area was slammed with a 1,000-year flood at the end of August, with 13 inches of rain falling in 18 hours.
“It is very difficult being a producer to have high and consistent yields with this kind of weather whiplash of extremes,” Murphy said. “It’s extremely difficult to prepare for a precipitation pattern that features long periods of near zero rainfall and short periods of extreme precipitation.”
The report recommends several actions, including having farmers work alongside researchers and policymakers, creating more food forests that allow trees to restore soil health and improve water quality, and strengthening bonds between local farmers and businesses to boost the farm-to-school infrastructure.
This story was adapted from Texas tribune.
