Climate change is a daunting topic, but deserving of attention. It remains a consistent emphasis in the news cycle, with much of the blame being directed at us, even as we produce food in an energy-thirsty manufacturing industry that’s powered mostly by fossil fuels.

Not only do we rely on coal, natural gas, propane, diesel fuel and gasoline to run our plants, transport trucks, fork lifts and refrigeration units, but consider also the plastic we depend on for packaging. The quality of our lives would be vastly different and more difficult in most ways without fossil fuels.

In conducting research for this series, it’s clear the loudest voices garnering ‘scientific consensus’ around the world agree that the climate is changing, and most predict negative outcomes in both the short and the long term unless extreme measures are taken now.

How extreme these measures should be depends a lot on your worldview, your trust in the media to objectively report the facts on climate change, your political affiliation, your own interest in researching this topic, and perhaps what your family, friends and co-workers think.

While I do believe that there is sufficient evidence the climate is changing, I’m not yet convinced that greenhouse gas emissions are primarily responsible for climatological patterns that are more effected by solar cycles than anything else. I don’t believe that human emissions alone will be the end of us. The climate has been and will always be changing, and humankind has always found a way to adapt to changes. If you’d like reasons to remain alarmed, we currently have many more dangerous existential crises to consider, if you think about it…

And consider some encouraging news: While spending a few hours reading research papers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), I found an article published in 2020 about the ag industry’s declining use of water.

In the publication entitled, What Factors Drive the Changes in Water Withdrawals in the U.S. Agriculture and Food Manufacturing Industries between 1995 and 2010. The researchers for this study conducted “an analysis of water withdrawals across eight different crops and six livestock categories and differentiate the trends over 1995−2005 vs 2005−2010.”

The study showed that, “irrigation and livestock are responsible for about a third of all water withdrawals in the United States and have exhibited a declining trend despite an increase in irrigated acres in the country, particularly in oilseed crops” and noted, “according to estimates from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the 2015’s total water use in the United States (U.S.) reached its lowest level since the 1970s following a consistent decline after the 2008 economic crisis.”

Some of the reasons given in the report for the trending declines in water use are noted as greater efficiencies in irrigation systems and decreased use of water in livestock production due to a shift from red to white meat production.

This study shows that when required by nature or economics, people and industries adapt and change to survive. For example, while on farm visits, I’ve seen farmers pay more to install drip irrigation systems that use less water. I’ve spoken to farmers who, despite their initial hesitation and concerns about using GMO seeds, have found that they use less inputs to grow GMO corn crops. I’ve talked with plant breeders that are finding ways to breed plants that use less water, one example being black-eyed peas which can grow without irrigation. I’ve also seen beef processing plants minimize the water used in carcass washing cabinets and noticed an increasing amount of air-chilled chicken offerings at retail stores.

What water conservation measures have you seen in your plant or in the industry over the last 10 years?

Certainly the drought cycles we experience in the West and the record low levels of water reservoirs are indicative of both climate change and the ever concerning need for more water to sustain growing populations. I was at Lake Powell last year and witnessed the extreme issues caused by the low water, made painfully evident by dry boat ramps and a deepening ‘bathtub ring.’

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation reported in May that Lake Powell is at its lowest level since originally being filled in the 1960’s, and that the current water elevation is just 32 feet above the lowest point at which Glen Canyon Dam can generate hydropower.

Should we be worried? Do you think we’ll find a way to adapt to the changes in our environment or do you think the climate will bring our doom?

Agriculture’s waning demand for water

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