Pollen and heat: A looming challenge for global agriculture

Image credit: Julian Stratenschulte / Picture Alliance via Getty Images. Article by Carolyn Beans. Grist – June 25, 2022.

Farmers and scientists are increasingly observing that unusually high springtime temperatures can kill pollen and interfere with the fertilization of crops.

Last June, Aaron Flansburg felt the temperature spike and knew what that meant for his canola crop. A fifth-generation grower in Washington state, Flansburg times his canola planting to bloom in the cool weeks of early summer. But last year, his fields were hit with 108-degree Fahrenheit heat just as flowers opened. “That is virtually unheard of for our area to have a temperature like that in June,” he says. […]

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