Super El Niño Threatens Food Security as Farms Face Extreme Weather Risks

Forecasters warn that this year's El Niño could become the strongest on record, creating major concerns for agriculture and food security. While the United States will not face the same severe impact as Central and South America, the Caribbean, and southern Africa, extreme weather could still cause notable crop losses in parts of the country.

Farming Solutions

Some farms have weathered extreme conditions better than others by keeping roots in the ground all year round. Farmers accomplish this either by planting soil-building cover crops in the offseason or by growing perennial plants that live for multiple years. Researchers Andrea Basche and Marcia DeLonge found that these practices increase the space between soil particles by 8%, which makes 16% more water available to plants during a drought. Cover crops can increase rain infiltration by 35% and perennials by 59%, while native prairie strips planted between corn and soy reduce sediment loss by 95% according to Iowa State University researchers.

Policy and Insurance

Despite these benefits, cover crops and perennials remain uncommon in major farming regions because current crop insurance largely incentivizes legacy commodities like corn, soybeans, wheat, and cotton with generous subsidies. Meanwhile, alternative crops and perennials lack adequate financial support, and perennial plants take many years to mature. Congress is currently negotiating the farm bill, where programs like the Conservation Stewardship Program and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program support these resilient farming practices, though Senate Republicans have pushed to decrease their funding.

Context

El Niño is a climate pattern linked to warming ocean temperatures in the Pacific that alters global weather systems and precipitation. Farming resilience practices protect soil health by building up carbon-rich organic matter to manage heavy moisture and drought alike. The US farm bill is major legislation renewed roughly every decade that shapes national agricultural policy and conservation funding.