20.07.

2016

MonsantoandFarmers:TheProblemofClimateChangeandScienceFortune

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Fortune.com

THE 21ST CENTURY CORPORATION

CLIMATE CHANGE

The Paradox of American Farmers

and Climate Change
by Beth Kowitt

@bethkowitt

JUNE 29, 2016, 1:22 PM EDT

Photograph by Ryan Donnell for Fortune Magazine

Some U.S. farmers are skeptical of climate change, even though theyre
among the most affected by it
Theres a strange paradox in the world of agriculture: farmers are perhaps the segment of the population most affected by
climate change, and yet a significant number of them dont believe in itespecially the notion that its manmade.
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I encountered
this
phenomenon
as I reported a feature for Fortune on how agricultural giant Monsanto is attempting to help
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farmers both mitigate their impact on the environment and adapt to climate change. All the farmers I talked to readily
acknowledged that the weather patterns governing growing seasons had been turned upside down in recent years, but I was
on the receiving end of a lot of eye rolls whenever I brought up climate change.
Monsanto ( MON -0.10% ) gets a similar response from the growers who buy its seed. The companys chief technology
officer, Robb Fraley, told me hes received numerous angry emails from farmers asking why the company is supporting what
some call this government effort.

I dont want to suggest that all farmers reject the concept of climate change. Thats not the case. But heres what some of the
numbers show: A survey conducted by Iowa State Professor J. Arbuckle and Purdue University professor Linda Prokopy of
5,000 Cornbelt farmersrepresenting about 60% of U.S. corn production and 80% of farmland in the regionfound that
only 8% believed climate change is taking place and caused primarily by human activity. That 8% figure is significantly
lower than the general population. A poll from January found that 27% of the general public primarily blames human
activity.

Meanwhile, 33% of the farmers surveyed said climate change was caused more or less equally by natural changes and
human activities, 25% said it was caused by changes in the environment, 31% said there wasnt sufficient evidence to know if
climate change is occurring, and 4% said climate change is not happening.

So, whats driving this sentiment? In some quarters of agriculture the term climate change can be politically charged, U.S.
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack told me, and there is a reluctance to embrace that term while also recognizing weather
patterns are changing and that farmers need to adapt.

The politicization of science is nothing new. Just think of the antivaccination movement. But it comes out in full force
within the world of agriculture, especially when considering climate change and genetically modified organismsone of the
industrys hotbutton issues. Many farmers who accept the scientific consensus on the safety of genetically modified seed
reject the consensus on climate change. Meanwhile, many environmental activists reject the science on the safety of
genetically modified seed but embrace science that supports their views on climate change. Monsanto gets hit from all sides
because it believes in both.

Yale Law School Professor Dan Kahan, who studies science communication, has written that when people are shown
evidence relating to what scientists believe about a culturally disputed, policyrelevant fact they selectively credit or
dismiss that evidence depending on whether it is consistent with or inconsistent with their cultural groups position. This
leads people to form polarized perceptions of scientific consensus even when they rely on the same sources of evidence.

Well save examining the GMO vs. climate change debate among environmental activists for another day. But if you look at
farmers, they are simultaneously the most skeptical when it comes to climate change, but the group that uses climate
science in decision making the most, Kahan says.

Kahan has written extensively on this paradox, but he doesnt view it as an inconsistency. There are two climate changes,
Kahan explains. Theres the one that people have a position on that reflects a kind of cultural identity thats associated with
accepting it or not, and then theres the climate change that people make decisions about with consequences for their life.
Theyre totally different things.

Kahan summed this up nicely in one of his papers: Peoples answers to whether one believes in humancaused global
warming doesnt measure what they know it expresses who they are. Kahan says its no different from the person who
wears a proclimate change tshirt but knows absolutely nothing about the science behind it.
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Citing a parallel
to farmer sentiment about climate change, Kahan points to work by Donald Everhart and Salman Hameed,
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who have studied Pakistani physicians in the U.S. In their work, they describe an oncologist who disbelieves in evolution at
home but believes in it at work. The doctor believes in evolution to treat his patients, but rejects it as a devout Muslim.

At work, farmers acknowledge changes in the growing season and adopt practices like notill farming and cover crops that
help deal with climate changes effects on agriculture. They really seem to be working hard to adapt, Arbuckle says, but
then much of their base doesnt want to talk about climate change.

Kahan has found that theres no correlation between belief in manmade climate change and measures of scientific
knowledge, but there is a high match between beliefs in climate change and political identity. One study Kahan has cited
found that 75% people who viewed themselves as liberal believe that human activity is the main source of global warming
only 22% of respondents who classified themselves as conservative held the same belief, and 58% said they did not believe
there was enough evidence to show the planet was warming. We know that farmers tend to be as a group more conservative
than the average member of the public, Purdue University professor Prokopy told me.

So, does it matter if farmers believe in climate change? Maybe not if they are already adopting practices that help with both
mitigation and adaptation. But it does show that scientists and regulators (and journalists) need to be careful about how
they talk to farmers about climate change.

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