Drought requires new agriculture

We prayed for rain and then we prayed for it to stop. Drought has been an increasing reality of New Mexicans’ existence over the past few years. Of the majority of the western United States declared drought-stricken this year, New Mexico was one of the most affected, with the last three years being both the hottest and driest on record. However, recently we have seen a dramatic and devastating downpour that has created much chaos throughout the state.

Erratic weather patterns, extended drought and ever-higher heat waves are becoming common facts of life as the effects of climate change continue to shape how we live. While we cannot blame specific weather events on climate change, scientists agree that such trends will continue under our new climate. While there are many questions to be answered when it comes to what the exact impacts of climate change will be, one of the most important to our existence is how it will affect agriculture.

Dr. Gary Paul Nabhan, an agricultural ecologist and faculty member at the University of Arizona, has been focusing on this salient problem and writing about strategies to help us deal with these changes. Nabhan recently came to UNM to discuss his new work that directly confronts this issue, “Desert Agriculture, Climate Change and Food Web Restoration”.

In a recent New York Times article, Nabhan warned of the food crisis that could occur because of the enduring impacts of climate change on agriculture. He pointed to the extended drought being experienced in the western U.S., where 40 percent of the United States’ net farm income comes from, including states such as New Mexico.

Crops such as beans, onions, salad greens, melons, hops, barley, wheat and animal agriculture in the form of sheep and cattle in the west make up much of the food supply in the U.S. This production is becoming very vulnerable in the drier, hotter climate to come.

In New Mexico one can see the impact on the area’s ranchers. With lower crop yields and the shrinking of grasses that have fed New Mexico’s cattle, ranchers are being forced to sell more and more of their underweight cattle at auction because they are unable to afford to feed their thinning herds. Changes such as these will very likely soon start affecting consumers, as with lower crop yields come rising food prices.

While we must face these harsh realities of our new climate, there are many strategies that can make food production more resilient and help us make the best out of the future. Nabhan puts forward three of these strategies for the western and southwestern U.S.
The first is using more compost. In the drier, hotter climate we’re experiencing, keeping in moisture is essential. By increasing compost use on fields, orchards and vineyards we could better hold on to the dwindling amount of water available to us.

Nabhan suggests that cities should mandate green waste sorting and composting, which can then be distributed to a given area’s surrounding farms.

Secondly, Nabhan also calls for breaking down bureaucratic barriers to rainwater and gray water harvesting. He states that both “urban and rural food production can be greatly enhanced through proven techniques of harvesting rain and biologically filtering gray water for irrigation.”

Lastly, Nabhan says we need to address our seed crisis. While this is not a crisis that many are aware of, it is one that very much needs our attention. With recent floods, drought and fires we are seeing the disappearance of native grasses, trees and shrubs and their seeds along with them. Important parts of our ecosystem, such as rangelands and forests, need to be reseeded as they take a beating from the hotter climate.

Despite this, Nabhan points out that a number of federal plant material centers that save such seeds have been threatened with budget cuts. To this end, Nabhan calls for an increase in funds for seed collection and distribution programs. While some of these strategies may seem simple, they are a time-tested way to better enrich agricultural systems and will help us to live in our changing climate.

Sadly, while the flood may have damaged much in its path, it will not put a dent in New Mexico’s depleted aquifers. We are coming face-to-face with the new realities of our climate. We cannot turn away and ignore them any longer. For this reason we need to start making direct changes in order to make our future livable.