By: Lauren Sabia
Climate change is leading to drastic weather changes this winter in southeast Georgia due to warming global temperatures, where blueberry farms in Bulloch county are suffering.
After January, where the average daily temperature ranged from 50 degrees to the high 70s, a cold front swooped in the last week of the month, causing a cold snap for the local agriculture.
Lissa Leege is a biology and sustainability professor who focuses her research on plant conservation ecology and biodiversity. She explained how climate change increases temperature, which causes growing seasons to be earlier.
This can even change the crops farmers choose to plant because some cannot tolerate warmer temperatures. Climate change can also increase drought and storm intensity in some areas, which negatively impacts crops by damaging them and requiring an increase in irrigation.
Warmth through the beginning of this year caused blueberry plants to flower early. The flowers eventually turn into the blueberry fruit we eat. A cold snap however, devastates this growth and diminishes the crop, which has happened in recent years.
John Marshall, the owner of Marshall’s Farm in Statesboro, grows blueberries and muscadine grapes. He explained the process of how most fruits are grown and produced.
Before the fruit starts to flower, the plant needs a certain amount of chill hours, which are every hour that is below 45 degrees after the plant loses its leaves (or defoliated). Blueberries only need 200 to 300 chill hours before they are ready to break dormancy and flower.
Since this specific fruit quickly fills the chill hour requirement, when there is an extended period of warm weather followed by a cold snap, all of the flowering that occurred during this time freezes over, which kills the fruit.
If the effects of climate change were not a problem, the weather would get cold and stay cold, and premature flowering would not be an issue.
“So that has happened to me three times out of the last three years, three out of three,” Marshall said.
Rusty Bell owns Bell Farms in Claxton, Georgia, where they grow rabbiteye blueberries and make wine out of it. Since this blueberry type is a later variety, they have not started blooming yet. Bell is more worried about a freeze coming in late February, early March since this affects his growth.
“I was in the seventh grade, about 40 or 50 years ago, when we learned that we were coming out of an ice age and we're building into you know, warmer climate anyway,” Bill said when asked about the impact of climate change on the agriculture industry.
Marshall also agreed that there is not much farmers can do to control unpredictable weather due to climate change, even though it has become “politically popular” according to him.
“Weather is going to happen, no matter what,” said Marshall. “No matter what we do one way or the other, so you just have to adapt to it rather than try to manipulate it.”
As temperatures change, crops are moving north that would not be possible to grow in the past because of colder winters. This can be seen in Statesboro with Franklin's Citrus Farm.
“In this case, our economy is benefiting from the warmer temperatures with the new orange and grapefruit crops, but other crops may be suffering due to the heat,” Leege said.
As Southeast Georgia becomes hotter and hotter, farmers are prepared to change their crop to citrus instead of what can typically be found here, blueberries.
“If it gets too warm, I'll throw something that does better in warm weather, if I'm still alive,” said Marshall. “If it gets too cold, just plant something that does well in cold weather.”
Leege stated that all farmers really can do is be flexible with when they plant their crops, where they may need to plant earlier in warmer years. They also should irrigate more to compensate for drought issues.
The blueberry industry in Georgia has grown immensely over the past few years, where blueberry export revenues jumped from $0.44 million in 2018 to $5.6 million in 2021, according to “EastFruit”.
However, consumers of crops, like blueberries, that are impacted by climate change need to prepare to pay more for them since they are in shorter supply and for them to possibly not be
available to purchase.
Climate change is leading to drastic weather changes this winter in southeast Georgia due to warming global temperatures, where blueberry farms in Bulloch county are suffering.
After January, where the average daily temperature ranged from 50 degrees to the high 70s, a cold front swooped in the last week of the month, causing a cold snap for the local agriculture.
The lowest, recorded temperature dipped down to 25 degrees on January 30.
Lissa Leege is a biology and sustainability professor who focuses her research on plant conservation ecology and biodiversity. She explained how climate change increases temperature, which causes growing seasons to be earlier.
This can even change the crops farmers choose to plant because some cannot tolerate warmer temperatures. Climate change can also increase drought and storm intensity in some areas, which negatively impacts crops by damaging them and requiring an increase in irrigation.
Warmth through the beginning of this year caused blueberry plants to flower early. The flowers eventually turn into the blueberry fruit we eat. A cold snap however, devastates this growth and diminishes the crop, which has happened in recent years.
John Marshall, the owner of Marshall’s Farm in Statesboro, grows blueberries and muscadine grapes. He explained the process of how most fruits are grown and produced.
Before the fruit starts to flower, the plant needs a certain amount of chill hours, which are every hour that is below 45 degrees after the plant loses its leaves (or defoliated). Blueberries only need 200 to 300 chill hours before they are ready to break dormancy and flower.
Since this specific fruit quickly fills the chill hour requirement, when there is an extended period of warm weather followed by a cold snap, all of the flowering that occurred during this time freezes over, which kills the fruit.
If the effects of climate change were not a problem, the weather would get cold and stay cold, and premature flowering would not be an issue.
“So that has happened to me three times out of the last three years, three out of three,” Marshall said.
When he has no crop or a diminished crop, he has nothing to sell and does not make any money.
Marshall is hoping this does not occur this year.
Rusty Bell owns Bell Farms in Claxton, Georgia, where they grow rabbiteye blueberries and make wine out of it. Since this blueberry type is a later variety, they have not started blooming yet. Bell is more worried about a freeze coming in late February, early March since this affects his growth.
“I was in the seventh grade, about 40 or 50 years ago, when we learned that we were coming out of an ice age and we're building into you know, warmer climate anyway,” Bill said when asked about the impact of climate change on the agriculture industry.
Marshall also agreed that there is not much farmers can do to control unpredictable weather due to climate change, even though it has become “politically popular” according to him.
“Weather is going to happen, no matter what,” said Marshall. “No matter what we do one way or the other, so you just have to adapt to it rather than try to manipulate it.”
As temperatures change, crops are moving north that would not be possible to grow in the past because of colder winters. This can be seen in Statesboro with Franklin's Citrus Farm.
“In this case, our economy is benefiting from the warmer temperatures with the new orange and grapefruit crops, but other crops may be suffering due to the heat,” Leege said.
As Southeast Georgia becomes hotter and hotter, farmers are prepared to change their crop to citrus instead of what can typically be found here, blueberries.
“If it gets too warm, I'll throw something that does better in warm weather, if I'm still alive,” said Marshall. “If it gets too cold, just plant something that does well in cold weather.”
Leege stated that all farmers really can do is be flexible with when they plant their crops, where they may need to plant earlier in warmer years. They also should irrigate more to compensate for drought issues.
The blueberry industry in Georgia has grown immensely over the past few years, where blueberry export revenues jumped from $0.44 million in 2018 to $5.6 million in 2021, according to “EastFruit”.
However, consumers of crops, like blueberries, that are impacted by climate change need to prepare to pay more for them since they are in shorter supply and for them to possibly not be
available to purchase.
