Farmers Have a Secret Weapon to Save Your Food From Climate Chaos, Mother Jones, 2019

Repeated flooding and unprecedented spring storms in the Midwest have made soil erosion a serious issue for Iowa’s farmers, with over half of the region’s topsoil lost in just 50 years. Erosion is worst in bare, corn-and-soybean fields, where heavy rains create temporary gullies that quickly carry nutrient-rich topsoil away and into rivers, harming water quality and crop yields. The Daily Erosion Project estimates Iowa loses soil at least 16 times faster than it can naturally be replaced, increasing the risk of future crop failures, droughts, and water pollution across the Mississippi watershed. Farmers and scientists are discovering that cover crops like rye, though used on only a small portion of Iowa’s farmland, are a practical, effective way to keep soil in place, boost resilience, and “change what the country looks like” in the face of a changing climate.