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Iowa Farmers React to National Climate Assessment Warnings

Emily Woodbury
Iowa has produced the largest corn crop in the U.S. for almost two decades.

The Trump administration's Fourth National Climate Assessment, featuring the conclusions of more than 300 scientists, predicts that climate change will cost the country hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

The report predicts that by 2050, crop productivity in the Midwest will decline to levels of the 1980s.

On this edition of River to River, host Ben Kieffer talks with one of the contributors to the report, agronomist and Iowa State University emeritus professor Gene Takle, as well as two Iowa farmers, to get a sense of how Iowa’s ag community may be preparing for a harsher climate and unpredictable growing seasons.

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climate changeEnvironmentEnvironment
Ben Kieffer is the host of IPR's River to River