Nocturnal farming: How climate change might force farmers to rethink their early-to-rise schedule

Eli Tan, Jacob Bogage | Washington Post | September 20, 2023

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Rising temperatures in key agricultural regions across the United States are leading more farmers to harvest in the middle of the night to safeguard the quality of their crops. There isn’t much data on the pervasiveness of night harvesting, but agriculture experts and farmers said the practice is becoming an important part of the industry’s future.

“Inevitably, it’s going to be hotter during the day, and that’s going to mean even more night farming where it’s feasible,” said Daniel Sumner, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of California at Davis. “And when I say feasible, I mean where it’s profitable.”

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Farmers are adapting as best they can. An entire industry has emerged to cool workers with ice vests and other technology. Some farmers are incorporating night harvests into their business for no more than the cost of headlamps, while others are investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in machines specifically designed to farm at night.

“The weather seems to be getting more intense, we’re having to adapt, and we’re working off hours,” [Alan] Schreiber said. “But other things stay on the same schedule. The trucks that come pick up produce, they still come at the end of the day. … The days are getting longer.”

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