The Role of Soil Properties on Crop Yield Sensitivity to Extreme Temperatures

54 pagesTo improve the resilience of crop production to climate change it is vital to understand the factors that protect crops from harmful weather. Much interest has been garnered, particularly in climate-smart-agriculture, around the potential to improve soils natural capital to reduce crop loss under extreme heat. Yet evidence outside of field trials of the role of soil in buffering these impacts is only beginning to emerge. This paper uses empirical evidence from 40 years across the United State to investigate the protections soil properties offer in mitigating weather damages to maize and soybeans yields. The results show that soil available water supply and soil pH have modulating effects on extreme heat damages to maize and soybean yields in rainfed systems. From identifying critical levels of soil properties to provide these protections, we gain a better ability to evaluate regional vulnerabilities to climate change in crop production