Published in the Stevens County Times
Recently, there has been lots of rain which has remained on the fields. My father works not only as a farmer but is also in the drainage tiling business. He is the one that takes the water off of the fields, but even he cannot get into the fields because of the rain. There is too much rain because Minnesota is becoming wetter and hotter due to climate change. I have seen people get out of farming because it isn’t lucrative anymore in this climate and my father lose days of work due to climate change.
But it doesn’t have to be this way! There is research being done to help be better climate friends in rural communities and it is time to act. Climate action is a necessary step is preserving the livelihoods of farmers and of those living in rural spaces. Rural people cannot be left out of the conversation, because as I stated before, we feel the effects of the climate changing. Methods to combat the rainier climate could be making our topsoil healthier again by using different tillage methods (strip-till, no-till, etc.) or planting crops other than corn and soybeans. Farmers can even help our climate by sequestering carbon back into the soil!
There are so many ways that rural people can contribute to combating this planetary problem. An example of that is the Morris Model! The aspiration to be a more climate friendly community is a big step in the right direction! I hope others rural towns can follow in Morris’ footsteps because there isn’t time to lose. I don’t want rural people to lose what they have, due to a problem they can have a hand in solving.