Montana’s agricultural sector stands to lose over 9,500 jobs by 2050 due to the impacts of climate change. That’s according to a new report commissioned by Farm Connect Montana, from economic analysts at Power Consulting. That job loss totals over $180 million a year in lost labor earnings.
Farm Connect’s Executive Director, Bonnie Buckingham says the findings in this report affect more than just producers.
“So much of our state really relies on agriculture for the community's health and vitality as well, and really linking what supports there are in communities in other businesses that support agriculture or that are affected by a loss of income from agriculture."
The report looks at the main components of the agriculture economy: grain-growing and cattle ranching. Climate change will cause hotter, drier summers, like the drought and weeks-long heatwaves experienced across much of the state this past year.
Those conditions will decrease the productivity of rangelands, which means ranchers may need to run more cattle or have more land to make the same profits they once did. Summer heat will also stress many crop varieties, and plants grown in dried out soils can have lower nutritional values as well.
