Michigan State University began a new collaborative research effort this year with the state Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to help farmers stay afloat despite climate change.
As part of MSU’s Agricultural Climate Resiliency Program, several new faculty members are exploring ways to conserve resources and manage risks.
WKAR's Sophia Saliby spoke with professor and researcher Tor Tolhurst about his work as a food and agriculture economist in the program.
Interview Highlights
On what happens when rare weather events become more frequent
As these events become more normal, it's important to understand how we've reacted to them in the past, to improve our reactions to them, to understand what works and what doesn't when we face these risks, and that can be at the farm level, that can be at the state policy level, or even the federal policy level.
On what we can learn from farmers for dealing with climate change
They're understanding the changes that everyone is going to face, maybe 10 or 15 years earlier than everyone else. And in one sense, I think it's something that farmers have always faced, having to, you know, deal with the vagaries of the weather. It's always been a challenge for them to to manage risk. You're taking a very, very risky business, and you're just magnifying the level of risk up even higher. And that means that we have to make different economic decisions. It means we have to make different policy decisions.
On policies that could help Michigan farmers
One of the challenges of those particular policies that we have in place now is that a state like Michigan is based around specialty crops. Specialty crops aren't especially well covered by crop insurance programs, and just because it's inherently difficult to price insurance products in things that you've never seen before. So, I think crop insurance will certainly help to sort of put a safety net below those sort of difficult economic outcomes that will arise. But there's a lot that we still don't know and need to figure out about how we're going to adopt to this, both at an individual level and a broader level.
Interview Transcript
Sophia Saliby: Michigan State University began a new collaborative research effort this year with the state Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to help farmers stay afloat despite climate change.
As part of MSU’s Agricultural Climate Resiliency Program, several new faculty members are exploring ways to conserve resources and manage risks.
That includes Tor Tolhurst who joins me now to talk about his work as a food and agriculture economist. Thank you for being here.
Tor Tolhurst: Thank you for having me. Excited to be here.
Saliby: Your primary research focus in this program will be exploring the economic impact of climate change on Michigan farmers, so I wanted to get your perspective on what climate resiliency means to you and your work.
Tolhurst: So climate resiliency, to me, means farmers making decisions, and whether that be management practices or different decisions about what crops to plant, making decisions, you know, with a changing climate in mind.
Climate resiliency, to me, means farmers making decisions, and whether that be management practices or different decisions about what crops to plant, making decisions, you know, with a changing climate in mind.
So, thinking about what the future is going to hold and how we can best situate ourselves to deal with new risks, new weather patterns, increasing frequency of bad events that happen. You know, what decisions can we make to make ourselves stronger against those threats to the way that farms do business in Michigan.
Saliby: On that topic, you study the impact of what's known as "tail events," which are events that happen outside the norm, like a 100-year flood or a huge wildfire that wasn't expected.
What happens when those types of tail events become then the norm because of climate change?
Tolhurst: That's the underlying motivation for my research is thinking about how do humans behave in the face of different risks. And as these events become more normal, it's important to understand how we've reacted to them in the past, to improve our reactions to them, to understand what works and what doesn't when we face these risks, and that can be at the farm level, that can be at the state policy level, or even the federal policy level.
By studying how we've reacted to these events in the past, we can better prepare ourselves for the increasing uncertainty and new threats that could come about through climate change, and that's the goal of a resiliency program.
Saliby: I think about how for most Americans right now, climate change is often felt by how hot it is or how cold the weather is during the winter, but farmers are kind of on the front lines right now of feeling the economic impacts of those weather changes. So, what can we learn from them about making decisions in the face of uncertainty?
Tolhurst: We're all learning sort of on the fly, how to deal with these things. And so being at the front lines, farmers are developing strategies. They're making decisions. They're understanding the changes that everyone is going to face, maybe 10 or 15 years earlier than everyone else.
You're taking a very, very risky business, and you're just magnifying the level of risk up even higher.
And in one sense, I think it's something that farmers have always faced, having to, you know, deal with the vagaries of the weather. It's always been a challenge for them to to manage risk. You're taking a very, very risky business, and you're just magnifying the level of risk up even higher. And that means that we have to make different economic decisions. It means we have to make different policy decisions.
And I think everyone can learn from the resilience strategies that farmers are taking and will continue to take to adapt to this massive change in in their business conditions
Saliby: Because of those increasing financial risks, you know, there might be less of a guarantee now of a harvest for any given farmer, which means maybe less of a reason to stay in the business. So, how can we mitigate those risks for people who grow our food?
Tolhurst: In the United States, I think the main way that we've chosen to do that is through crop insurance policies. Now there are strengths and weaknesses with every policy.
One of the challenges of those particular policies that we have in place now is that a state like Michigan is based around specialty crops. Specialty crops aren't especially well covered by crop insurance programs, and just because it's inherently difficult to price insurance products in things that you've never seen before.
So, I think crop insurance will certainly help to sort of put a safety net below those sort of difficult economic outcomes that will arise. But there's a lot that we still don't know and need to figure out about how we're going to adopt to this, both at an individual level and a broader level.
Saliby: Tor Tolhurst is an MSU professor who is a part of the new Agricultural Climate Resiliency Program. Thank you for joining me.
Tolhurst: Thank you for having me.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
