{"id":399763,"date":"2025-09-03T10:38:58","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T08:38:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=399763"},"modified":"2025-09-03T10:39:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T08:39:00","slug":"quit-lying-associated-press-climate-change-isnt-making-u-s-corn-farming-dicier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=399763","title":{"rendered":"Quit Lying, Associated Press, Climate Change Isn\u2019t Making U.S. Corn Farming \u2018Dicier\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From ClimateRealism<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Anthony Watts<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Close-up<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A recent Associated Press<\/em> (AP) story carried by WCVB-TV<\/a> and many other news outlets<\/a>, warned that \u201cclimate change is making it \u201cdicier\u201d to grow corn in the United States. This is false. Data clearly shows that amid modest climate change corn yields and production have increased steadily, regularly setting new records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The AP writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across major corn-growing states, climate change is fueling conditions that make watching the corn grow a nail-biter for farmers. Factors like consistently high summer overnight temperatures, droughts and heavier-than-usual rains at the wrong time can all disrupt the plants\u2019 pollination \u2014 making each full ear of corn less of a guarantee and more of a gamble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, corn growers got lucky this year with late-season weather that contributed to what is now predicted to be a record bumper crop. But experts say bouts of extreme weather are intensifying the waiting game during a critical time of year between planting and harvest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human-caused climate change has worsened multiple U.S. extreme heat events this year and has steadily increased the likelihood of hotter overnight temperatures since 1970, according to Climate Central, an independent group of scientists who communicate climate science and data to the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AP\u2019s narrative is a pure lie, debunked within its own paragraphs. Corn growers didn\u2019t get lucky this year with a bumper crop, rather bumper crops have been a trend during the recent period of modest warming, even with the normal annual ups and downs inherent to crop production. The USDA meteorologist, Brad Rippey, who the AP quoted described 2025 as production as a \u201cmonster U.S. corn crop.\u201d But it\u2019s not the first monster crop in the past few decades for U.S. corn farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The numbers tell a clear and compelling story of rising corn production. The U.S. Department of Agriculture<\/a> confirmed record national yields of 179.3 bushels per acre in 2024, breaking the previous record set only a year earlier in 2023. Long-term records from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization<\/a> show U.S. corn yields have more than tripled since 1961, rising from around 3.5 tons per hectare to more than 11 tons today as seen in the figure below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Economists at the University of Illinois<\/a> calculate that yields have increased by nearly two bushels per acre every year since 1950. These are not the marks of a crop in decline \u2014 they are the hallmarks of long-term improvement<\/a> from better farming practices, yield improved varieties, selective breeding practices to improve resiliency to weather factors, and boosted production due to carbon dioxide fertilization<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The significant gains in yields have also produced records for production with U.S. Department of Agriculture<\/a> data showing each of the past ten years of production having been higher than any previous years or decades in history, with new records for production being set three times since 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To tie corn growers concerns to climate change, the AP article relied on a small number of anecdotes about heat, corn tassel timing, and the fragility of pollination<\/a>. Yes, these can matter for pollination in a particular field, but they have always been part of farming. Weather extremes are nothing new, and across hundreds of posts, Climate Realism<\/a> has cited data across a range of stories showing extreme weather hasn\u2019t become more frequent, severe, or inconsistent in recent years. What matters is the nationwide harvest, and it keeps breaking records. If the climate were truly making corn \u201cdicier,\u201d record-breaking yields would not keep piling up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The real problem corn producers face at the moment is not crop decline, but instead just the opposite, crop abundance and farming success. Bumper crops have produced an oversupply to the market that is resulting in lower prices, even as ever more corn is being diverted from grocery shelves to gas tanks as ethanol requirements creep up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farmers are not watching their livelihoods wither under climate change. Instead, they are wrestling with the economic consequences of overproduction, as a variety of news outlets have reported recently. On the same day the AP was incorrectly bemoaning corn declines, a story titled, \u201cHuge Crops in Corn Belt Hit Cash-Strapped Farmers With More Unease<\/a>,\u201d was published in the Wall Street Journal<\/em>. Just a few days earlier, in a story, subtitled, \u201cso much corn, so little profit, NewsNation<\/a> reported that with the USDA projecting 16.7 billion bushels of corn in 2025, the largest in American history, the glut is pushing prices to multi-year lows, with Iowa producers estimating losses of $80 to $100 per acre at current bids. That is not a climate crisis, it is an economic one caused by success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So contrary to the AP\u2019s claims, the real problem facing corn farmers is not extreme, unpredictable weather and crop diseases hampering production, but rather oversupply of the market due to record setting production, the latter a regular occurrence across the first quarter of the 21st<\/sup> century as global temperatures have continued to rise modestly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate Realism<\/em> has repeatedly documented this pattern of media misrepresentation about crop yields and climate change, with over 100 articles on the subject<\/a>. We note that when crop yields rise, the media ignores or downplays it<\/a>. When a short-term weather challenge arises, it is cast as evidence of climate change driving it<\/a>. The broader reality \u2014 backed by decades of USDA and FAO data \u2014 is that American agriculture continues to thrive even in a modestly warmer world. Corn is not alone, wheat and soybeans, for example, are also enjoying long-term gains in productivity<\/a>, and 2025 will be remembered for surplus, not scarcity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oversupply is forcing farmers to store corn with little hope of profitable sales, while trade policy uncertainties in corn exports weigh on demand<\/a>. These are the real stressors in agriculture today, none of which have anything to do with climate change. By fixating on climate change while admitting record abundance in the same breath, The AP obscures the actual challenges farmers face with regards to commodity markets, prices, and trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conclusion is unavoidable: the claim that climate change is making corn yields more precarious is demonstrably false. Yields are rising, production is at record highs, and as a result, prices are low, driving down farm income. The Associated Press<\/em> misled its affiliates and readers by suggesting a climate crisis where there is none, undermining trust in its reporting. Farmers and the public deserve better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent Associated Press (AP) story carried by WCVB-TV and many other news outlets, warned that \u201cclimate change is making it \u201cdicier\u201d to grow corn in the United States. This is false. Data clearly shows that amid modest climate change corn yields and production have increased steadily, regularly setting new records.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":399771,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"Discover how climate change has not hindered U.S. corn farming. Yields are at record highs despite misleading narratives from media.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"Is Climate Change Harming U.S. Corn Production? The Truth Revealed","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691824727,691818056,691819743,691837673,691837674,691818514,691837675,691819168,691837672],"class_list":{"0":"post-399763","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-associated-press-ap","9":"tag-climate-change","10":"tag-climate-propaganda","11":"tag-corn-yields-and-production","12":"tag-department-of-agriculture","13":"tag-extreme-weather","14":"tag-university-of-illinois","15":"tag-usa","16":"tag-wcvb-tv","18":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0AQOXvMzHfOi1JfqcBAG2zVmSCWP-kkybp0dLH8EqStVjnY42y9J19kMOgjvHe_4SDyDJEzIm95zNUeNuX5msXcegIkclVsGpWYfGZCFGywIsxcrEhBAyTAJDs9uEa2wooUNWEs6NnkkGrdbW8XOmtw36oantyA-1.jpeg?fit=1280%2C1280&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1FZN","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":202556,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=202556","url_meta":{"origin":399763,"position":0},"title":"The End of Corn","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/06\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cThe midwestern Corn Belt \u2014 which roughly covers parts of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and Kansas \u2014 will be \u201cunsuitable\u201d for cultivating corn by 2100 if climate change continues on its current trajectory, a new study finds.\u201d Climate change could spell the end for Midwestern corn, study finds There\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0Image-2022-06-01-20-06-40.png?fit=693%2C829&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0Image-2022-06-01-20-06-40.png?fit=693%2C829&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0Image-2022-06-01-20-06-40.png?fit=693%2C829&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":201745,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=201745","url_meta":{"origin":399763,"position":1},"title":"Examine the Data, Phys.org, Climate Change Is Boosting Crop Production, Not Threatening It","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"27\/05\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"An article in the online science publication Phys.org says that unless significant adaptations are made, America\u2019s \u201ccorn belt\u201d won\u2019t be able to sustain crop production by 2100 because of climate change. This claim is based on flawed computer models and is likely mistaken. 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No farmers, no food. From Watts Up With That? Of course that\u2019s not how this one is framed. It\u2019s all about water quality. https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/doi\/10.1073\/pnas.2302087120# Abstract We utilize a coupled economy\u2013agroecology\u2013hydrology modeling framework to capture the cascading impacts of climate change mitigation policy on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/00Fertilizer-Nitrogen-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C603&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/00Fertilizer-Nitrogen-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C603&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/00Fertilizer-Nitrogen-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C603&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/00Fertilizer-Nitrogen-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C603&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/00Fertilizer-Nitrogen-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C603&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=399763"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399763\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":399773,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399763\/revisions\/399773"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/399771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=399763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=399763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=399763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}