Team 4: Story 2: Climate Change and Agriculture in Mississippi

Mississippi Agriculture Grapples with Dire Consquences of Climate Change.

Mississippi's once-vibrant green fields have turned brown and sluggish. Rising sea levels, once a picturesque backdrop, now loom ominously, threatening coastal communities. Each forecast of rain is met not with relief, but with anxious anticipation, a stark symbol of climate change's toll on the state's agriculture. In the Magnolia State, where agriculture reigns as king, the effects of climate change are no longer abstract concepts but harsh realities. From erratic weather patterns to prolonged droughts, the state's agricultural sector is grappling with unprecedented challenges, leaving farmers and residents alike pondering an uncertain future.

As the backbone of Mississippi's economy, agriculture's distress reverberates throughout the state, prompting urgent questions about adaptation and resilience. With traditional practices strained to their limits, communities are left pondering how best to navigate this new era of environmental uncertainty. In the face of adversity, Mississippians find themselves at a critical crossroads, confronting the profound impacts of climate change on their way of life. Yet, amidst the uncertainty, there remains a glimmer of hope as communities mobilize to forge resilient solutions in the crucible of change.

History and Background.

In exploring the history and background of agriculture in Mississippi, it displays a rich tapestry of tradition, innovation, and resilience. From its earliest days, agriculture has been the lifeblood of Mississippi's economy, shaping its cultural identity and providing sustenance for its people. Indigenous communities, including the Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Natchez, cultivated the fertile lands of Mississippi long before the arrival of European settlers, employing sophisticated agricultural techniques to sustain thriving civilizations.

With the advent of European colonization in the 16th century, agriculture in Mississippi underwent significant transformation. The introduction of cash crops such as cotton, tobacco, and indigo fueled the expansion of plantation agriculture, ushering in an era of prosperity built on the labor of enslaved Africans. Despite the Civil War and the subsequent Reconstruction period, agriculture remained the cornerstone of Mississippi's economy, albeit with shifting crop patterns and labor dynamics.

The 20th century witnessed further evolution in Mississippi's agricultural landscape, marked by technological advancements, government intervention, and changing market demands. Mechanization revolutionized farming practices, enabling increased productivity and efficiency. Meanwhile, federal policies such as the New Deal and the Farm Bill reshaped the agricultural sector, providing critical support to farmers during times of economic hardship.

Today, Mississippi's agriculture continues to evolve in response to shifting demographics, global markets, and environmental challenges. As the state grapples with the impacts of climate change, the resilience and adaptability forged throughout its agricultural history serve as invaluable assets in navigating an uncertain future. Mississippi is known for its booming farming industry and agritourism, and has been since its inception. According to the census of 1900¹, Mississippi had 220,803 farms, ringing in a staggering cash value of $81,716,000.

124 years later, Mississippi provides a home for 42,000 farms scattered across 11 million acres of land, making agribusiness one of the top earning industries in the state, Visit Mississippi²reported. For a small, southern state like Mississippi that relies heavily on agribusiness, climate change can be detrimental to the economic, political and overall health of the region.

First discovered in the 19th century, climate change has been a controversial and frightening issue for a variety of regions worldwide. In 1896, a seminal paper by Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius first predicted that changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels could substantially alter the surface temperature through the greenhouse effect, NASA reported³.

Since its initial unearthing, the planet's average surface temperature has risen about 2 degrees Fahrenheit, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere and other human activities. Most of the warming occurred in the past 40 years, with the seven most recent years being the warmest. NASA³ contended that the years 2016 and 2020 are tied for the warmest year on record.

Though the effects of climate change are similarly experienced across the globe, Mississippi is one region that's livelihood hinges on a healthy environment. In fact, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEP)⁴ predicted that in 70 years, Mississippi is likely to have 30-60 days per year with temperatures over 95 degrees Fahrenheit compared to just 16 today.

This type of environmental damage has dire consequences for the Magnolia State. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)⁵ suggested that climate change has become the major driver of erosion in the Mississippi River basin. The Mississippi River basin is the largest river system in North America. Many people depend on it for drinking water and agricultural needs.

Additionally, stream flows in the Midwest are increasing as rainstorms become more severe, which in turn raises water levels of the Mississippi River which accelerates the likelihood of inland flooding in Mississippi with 200 square miles currently sitting within the 100-year coastal floodplain, meaning the area with a 1% chance or greater of flooding each year. This is expected to increase to 300 square miles by 2050, the USDA reported. In Mississippi, sea level rise is also accelerating faster than in the rest of the country because the land is sinking.

Mississippi's agricultural story is a blend of tradition, innovation, and adaptability. From its beginnings in land rich for farming to today's modern techniques, the state's agriculture has always changed to meet new challenges. However, climate change brings new threats like higher temperatures and unpredictable weather, which can hurt farmers. Still, there's hope. By using smart farming methods, investing in research, and working together, Mississippi can build a more sustainable future for its agriculture. With cooperation and conscious agriculture, the state's farming community can keep thriving despite the challenges of climate change, ensuring a prosperous future for Mississippi.

Insights from Mississippi State University.

“We need clean air, not another billionaire!” The crowd of Mississippi State University (MSU) students screamed as they shoved their cardboard signs in the air.

As the annual climate march made its way through downtown Starkville, students expressed their concern for the environment around them and spoke out against climate change. “Cowbells, Not Climate Change,” read the sign of one student speaking into her megaphone.Students, faculty and researchers alike have all acknowledged the need for climate justice in order to protect the planet they call home. Grant Peterson, the president of the Students for a Sustainable Campus and fourth-year wildlife, fisheries and aquaculture major, dedicated his time planning for the event, hoping to bring awareness to the Starkville community.

“As a whole, especially as young people, we're going to live in a world that's different from the world, our parents grew up in a world that's filled with a lot of uncertainty,” Peterson said. “So doing everything we can now to be prepared for climate change, and be resilient is going to make our future a lot easier and also safer from us entering kids one day.”

Peterson grew up in Starkville, and although it's not the agriculture capitol of Mississippi, he still finds interest in protecting the agriculture and wildlife that exists in the area. He believes the massive shifts in weather patterns caused by climate change pose a huge threat to the Mississippi environment. “We're having longer periods of drought. Then we're having short periods where all the water, and all the storms are releasing all this water energy at once. So that's leading to these periods of drought, and then extreme flooding. That's something we saw a lot this past year,” Peterson said. “That kind of pressure back and forth is not good for crops, obviously. It's causing a lot of crop failure where farmers have to replant their crop and spend a lot more money than they normally would have to.”

Just in the past year, Peterson said over-watering and under-watering have been a pressing problem to farmers. Julia Null, another senior wildlife, fisheries and aquaculture major, explained how runoff due to flooding is affecting the natural flora and fauna, as well. “I feel like the runoff that we produce in our connection with the Mississippi River is definitely like really important things to think about as far as how climate change is going to be impacted by that runoff. And by those water systems. We have a lot of different river systems that are all like exiting out into the Gulf of Mexico,” Null said. “With those runoffs like there's a lot of different chemicals and a lot of different fertilizers that are impacting wildlife and wildlife populations. It's just really scary to think about how the world that we are inheriting from our past generations might be in total havoc.”

Another domino in the line of effects from climate change is the gamble it places over the overall farming industry. Professor of Agricultural Economics, Dr. Xiaofei Li, believes this is one of the biggest impacts on Mississippi agriculture because it lessens the number of successful farms in the region. “The biggest impact is that it makes farming more risky. Farming is a very, very kind of high-stake thing. We’re seeing that there's been a legal gambling industry existing in Mississippi for 100 years. That's agricultural, which is really true. But with this climate change, and how bad it is getting, I think it’s making things worse,” Li said. “In some years, you may have very good weather, or in high, high, high yields, with high output. But the problem is, with farming, if you get a one bad year, you have a really, really bad situation. You can have two consecutive bad years, and never be able to get out of it.”

For this kind of unreliable cycle caused by climate change, many farmers are no longer financially stable enough to continue their business. Li said the money to be made in farming decreases with each year that climate change gets worse. “On one side, you can see, you know, many smaller farmers, they are not financially very sound. So they may not be able to survive. But on the other hand, despite their plentiful resources, a changing agricultural landscape can keep the bigger farmers from catching up,” Li said. So in those terms, I think that climate change really puts a bigger challenge to the loss of farmers in Mississippi.”

The most important variable in the effects of climate change is how resilient the environment and agriculture industry is despite the challenges of unpredictable weather patterns. A family farmer and professor of Plants and Soils, Dr. Prakash Jha, explained this term in the context of farming.

“There is a term called resilience. Resilience is when you come back from the stress to the normal stage. A lot of technologies have been developed for climate resilient agriculture, starting from planting to the harvest,” Jha said. “Nowadays, we have a lot of crop simulation models, computer models, where you can simulate crop growth and development on different climate change scenarios. You can take precautionary measures as an adaptation measure, as well as a mitigation measure.”

To combat the issue of climate, Mississippi has to focus on the resilience of the crops and livestock they yield every year. Whether this be conscious farming methods or modified crops and fertilizers, to properly adapt to the changes in weather and temperature, these variables must be considered. However, the one solution to climate change that all of the sources agreed on was conscious awareness. This means that the population should be more aware of their everyday actions and how each decision they make can affect the environment around them.

“We need to educate young people that food does not come from grocery stores, it comes from the field, we need to take care of those natural things,” Jha said. “We need to understand the impact of climate on those natural things. If we do not understand, we cannot train our next generation.” A lot of everyday products, like plastic straws and silverware, have a negative impact on the environment that can contribute to the greater issue of climate change. It is important to stay educated on the way products are manufactured and where they originally come from. Li specified that recognition of your contribution to the issue is the first step to reducing your footprint.

“Being aware of the issue is number one. Recognizing it is probably the first step. I know that lots of people can actually be very environmentally conscious, they understand what's going on. But there's also another significant proportion of the population, who either do not receive enough education or information, or they think it's just a small issue, and they don't get it,” Li said. Generally speaking, climate change is not only impacting farmers, right? It's impacting everybody. And in economics, we have some concepts of externality. So farmers, if they are working so hard to deal with climate change, it actually benefits all human beings.”

Additionally, Null and Peterson agreed that it's the responsibility of the individual to educate themselves on how they can personally work towards reducing the effects of climate change. Peterson highlighted how awareness can create one influence that expands to a larger group, creating a domino effect.

“I would say the major thing is creating that awareness. With things like our climate march and Earth Day events, those draw the crowd and introduce the topic to people who either like being on the fence about it, and then I push them over the edge until they start seeing that other people care about this thing. And it's not like some crazy idea to believe in climate change, and that we should do something about it,” Peterson said. “It can maybe start to change people who are more hesitant about their minds, or what I think is very positive. So start by showing that there are people out there advocating for it and creating awareness among the community, and as other people to talk about it with their family, friends, and get them on board for trying to demand that positive change.”

Drawing from the insights of professors and students at Mississippi State University (MSU), a nuanced understanding of how climate change affects the state's agriculture emerges. These experts emphasize the dynamic nature of this relationship, noting shifts in growing seasons, heightened pest infestations, and altered soil and water dynamics as key concerns. The collective wisdom of professors and students at MSU underscores the importance of collaboration and innovation in building a sustainable future for Mississippi's agriculture. By leveraging their expertise and resources, the university community is poised to tackle the complexities of climate change head-on, ensuring the resilience and vitality of the state's

Email the team at egt86@msstate.edu with any questions

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