Research conducted by the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) plant
physiologist Lewis Ziska projects changes in crop production as air
temperatures increase due to climate change. In the study published June 11
in the scientific journal PLOS ONE, researchers observed that one of the
effects that agricultural producers may see as air temperatures increase is
a corresponding increase of insects, weeds and fungal pests because of
milder winter temperatures. Another possible result could be for growers to
increase their pesticide use to respond to these pests and maintain soybean
production levels.

Low winter temperatures in temperate regions keep in check the distribution
and survival of agricultural pests. Ziska examined average pesticide
applications since 1999 for commercial SOYBEAN grown over a transect from
Minnesota to Louisiana, and determined that from 1977 through 2013, minimum
winter temperatures were increasing throughout the transect. Ziska's
observation is consistent with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
projections regarding enhanced warming with increasing latitude.

[www.ars.usda.gov]