Shifting seasons and hotter temperatures could allow Alaska farmers to grow more abundant and diverse produce. But climate change can also bring drought, pests and permafrost thaw. Human-caused climate change is bringing longer and warmer growing seasons, but also pests and unstable weather.
In October, fall gives way to winter for much of Alaska. But each year, the first frost is arriving later and later. That could be a boon for Alaska farmers.
And it can make weather more erratic too. Tom Zimmer of Calypso Farm, just outside of Fairbanks, said that’s what he worries about most. Warm-weather species, like tomatoes, corn and peppers, need temperatures of at least around 50 degrees to start growing. To ripen, they need a lot of days that fall above that threshold. So historically, those crops have been hard to grow in Alaska without a greenhouse.
Glenna Gannon harvesting peppers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks experiment farm in summer 2023 pressing factors
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