Mountain West farms receive billions for crop losses linked to ... - Wyoming Public Media
Mountain West farms receive billions for crop losses linked to climate change | Wyoming Public Media
Mountain West farms receive billions for crop losses linked to climate change
A new report shows the federal government is paying billions of dollars to farmers who are losing crops to extreme weather – and the payouts keep growing.
From 2001 to 2022, U.S. farms received nearly $120 billion in crop insurance after climate-related crop failures, according to the nonpartisan Environmental Working Group. It analyzed losses due to drought, floods, hail, heat and freeze.
In the Mountain West, farms received more than $3.5 billion in crop insurance, largely due to drought. More than two-thirds of the total – or $2.4 billion – went to farmers in Colorado. That was followed by farms in Idaho ($596 million), New Mexico ($342 million), Wyoming ($154 million), Utah ($44 million) and Nevada ($17 million).
Texas farmers received the largest share in the nation, more than $15 billion.
“These payments have been very large, and they have increased over time, in part due to climate change,” said Anne Schechinger, an agricultural economist who authored the report. “And we know that the climate crisis will lead to larger payments in the future as well.”
That hurts taxpayers, who largely fund the federal crop insurance program. Payouts in each extreme weather category more than doubled between 2001 and 2022, with heat-related payments spiking tenfold.
Schenchinger said the upcoming farm bill is an opportunity for Congress to reform the program. She recommends encouraging farmers to use climate-friendly practices, such as planting more cover crops and tilling less land.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”