Helping Farmers With Climate Change-Induced Weather Patterns

As climate change continues to alter global weather patterns, the international food chain will continue to be challenged. With more profound drought spells and extended hurricane seasons, the food supply chain is being hurt at its core. 

In our recent interview with Unispice CEO Christopher Safieh, farms were identified as the weakest link in the food value chain. Unpredictable and severe weather patterns further compound this. However, there are ways to mitigate these challenges that require farmers to take a proactive rather than a reactive approach. The key to taking on this proactive approach is data — collecting it and leveraging it wisely. 

This data-centric approach empowers farmers, giving them the information they need to make informed decisions and adapt to changing conditions.

Food Chain Vulnerability 

Even without the influence of droughts and hurricanes, farmers are already fighting an uphill battle due to soil-depleting agricultural practices. Farms are the most vulnerable link in the entirety of the food value chain. Up to 40% of the world’s agricultural land is classified as severely degraded due to destructive farming practices. 

Extreme weather events add further complications. 

According to the USDA, the impacts of droughts and hurricanes will be variable, with many regions within the U.S. projected to experience increases in precipitation amounts. In contrast, other areas are likely to experience increases in drought frequency and severity. The same USDA report states that, with rain-free periods lengthening and individual precipitation, events are expected to become more erratic and intense, leading to more runoff. Rising temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns will alter crop-water requirements, crop-water availability, crop productivity and costs of water access, resulting in differential effects across the agricultural landscape.

Economic Impact

While it’s hard to conceptualize the total economic impact that climate change is causing, climate change-induced weather pattern shifts are already costing the U.S. economy, and the effect is expected to continue. 

USDA estimates that the loss of corn production in the United States from extreme precipitation is expected to increase substantially and, by 2030, could total $3 billion annually. The harm these events cause has the potential to hamper the economic viability of many farming operations and may hinder the agricultural industry’s ability to adapt. However, Safieh sees a path forward in the industry that requires farms to take a proactive approach to adapting to extreme weather events rather than a reactive one.

Safieh told us that this hurricane season has been one of the worst experienced in decades with one of the earliest starts to the season in decades. 

During a recent storm, there was an instance when a Unispice farm received a month’s worth of rain within a two-hour time window. Typically, this would spell disaster for an operation specializing in high-intensity short cycle crops, but because they had prepared in advance, Unispice only experienced a less than 15% loss in crops rather than losses up to 70%-80% that neighboring farms experienced. 

Safieh said that the key to Unispice’s success is its data-centered approach to farming. Unispice started preparing for extreme weather events 18 months in advance by modeling and simulating what they would be like on its farm.

From Soil to Supply Chain

Methods of preparation used by Unispice include data monitoring, such as tracking ocean temperatures throughout the year. Safieh said that mainframe data sources are only sometimes useful for individual farms. Farms must develop their own internal barometers to help them assess their unique conditions, such as soil type and composition and local historical weather patterns. 

While he noted that the data does not always serve as an accurate prediction, it is still an effective hedge that helps minimize losses. 

Safieh also said that farmers need to have a greater understanding of their farms’ soil compositions, with most farms being composed of a myriad of different soil types, with each soil type having different needs for optimal crop development.

Unispice has collected and utilized data at every level to optimize farming operations. When establishing its farm, Unispice revitalized the degraded soil by deploying techniques such as crop rotation and organic matter reintegration. Due to their data-driven farming approach, they achieved this in eight years (this is highly accelerated as this process can, in many cases, require decades). 

According to Safieh, the sector as a whole will need to pivot to a more data-centered approach to farming to mitigate the effects of climate change and regenerate depleted soil. To Safieh, these two endeavors go hand in hand.

Additionally, Safieh sees a future where the food supply chain is more connected, with each step of the value chain connected directly to the farms. His idea of a data-centered approach to farming also includes elements of the food supply chain downstream of the farms. Operations where all aspects of production — from the farms to the packaging facilities to the logistics — are all under the control of a singular entity, allowing for prompt feedback to reach the source, helping farms better understand their demand and help inform their operational strategies.

Farmers will have a tough row to hoe in the future, with droughts and hurricanes becoming more frequent and durational. Despite the challenges that may lie ahead for the industry, a data-centered approach to farming may help strengthen the most vulnerable link in the food supply chain.