There’s a paradox when you consider farming and climate change. Climate change may actually benefit some plants by lengthening growing seasons and increasing carbon dioxide, the lifeblood of anything that roots in the ground. Yet it’s important not to get distracted by these changes, which researchers think would be marginally beneficial at best. The other effects of a warmer world, such as more pests, droughts, and flooding, will be far less benign. A 2013 study published by Science magazine says, “The stability of whole food systems may be at risk under climate change because of short-term variability in supply.”

Trying to understand what that means for farmers requires an equation as complicated as the climate itself. So not long ago, I visited