Specialty farmers adapt harvests, protect crops in face of extreme heat

BROOKSVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Even as the sun started to set, the day's heat was still hanging in the air as Annie Woods walked back out to harvest squash and zucchini on her 50-acre farm.

Prolonged and intense heat is part of a climate change-driven pattern of weather extremes that has also led to intense flooding and prolonged drought. For farmers, this means shorter planting windows and potential loss of crops because of periods of early-season heat followed by a freeze.

“I think it’s pretty safe to assume these kind of heat waves aren’t going away or they’re not freak occurrences,” Woods said.

The recent heat dome, a high-pressure weather system that traps heat and humidity over a region, affected some specialty farmers who produce crops of fruits and vegetables. Human-driven climate change also has brought more intense heat waves and other extreme weather.

These specialty farmers have found ways to adapt, in part by adjusting their harvest schedules to avoid the hottest parts of the day. But they don’t always have access to the same safety net as farmers of traditional commodity crops such as corn and soybeans when extreme weather hits, experts say.

The heat and humidity that comes with a heat dome can be dangerous for farmworkers and is a “serious threat to human health,” said Melissa Widhalm, the associate director at the Midwest Regional Climate Center in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Woods works in the coolest parts of the day in the morning and evening, taking frequent water breaks. She plants and harvests by hand, unlike larger farms that often rely on machinery. If it gets too hot and she has to harvest, she pitches a tent she uses for farmer's markets in the fields to create some shade.

Extreme heat coupled with periods of rain and high humidity can also bring diseases and other pests that can destroy crops. Right now the priority is harvesting those most-vulnerable crops, such as tender salad greens. Woods grows vegetables and culinary herbs for restaurants in the region and for a community supported agriculture program. Harvesting crops when it's too hot outside can affect their quality, she said.

She's also concerned for the health of her seedlings that will grow into fall crops. Right now, Woods keeps her seedlings in an enclosed cabinet inside a barn where it's cooler. Once they've germinated, she moves them into a greenhouse with fans running to keep temperatures manageable.

“We have to do a lot of checking on the greenhouse and watering frequently to keep those teeny tiny plants alive,” Woods said.

For some growers, the recent heat also has shortened the harvest window for certain specialty crops.

For Paul Rasch, who owns and operates multiple fruit orchards in central Iowa, the heat has forced his crew of eight workers to step up harvesting of raspberries. Normally, they'd have about three weeks to harvest this perishable fruit, but “we’re scrambling to pick as many as we can,” he said.

They've started harvesting as early as 6 a.m. some mornings to finish before noon when it gets too hot and unsafe to work. He's also installed air conditioning inside buildings and is adding shade outdoors with trees and covered pavilions so customers coming to pick their own fruit can stay cool. And he's testing a few high tunnels so he can keep conditions more consistent for certain crops.

Rasch said that it seems like these heat events are becoming more common, more intense and lasting longer. These events, along with floods, drought and late-spring frosts are all worrisome and can adversely affect crops throughout the year.

“We don’t ever seem to have a typical year anymore,” he said.

Smaller farms like Woods' and Rasch's often plant and harvest a wide variety of crops throughout the year. Part of that is a business decision, but it's also to protect against losses that might impact one crop, but not others.

“You’re always gonna have something that will thrive while other things might be more challenged,” Woods said.

Rasch also said that crop insurance for specialty crop farmers is different than for commodity farmers. They're more vulnerable to extreme weather, but they aren't as protected, he said. Woods, who also works with the Organic Association of Kentucky, agrees and said she knows farmers like her who have a difficult time accessing insurance because they farm such a wide range of crops on small acreage.

And that's because federal crop insurance programs are designed to insure single crops with one growing season, like corn, soybean and wheat, said Duncan Orlander, a policy specialist with the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

For smaller specialty crop farmers, the paperwork required to cover a larger range of crops on small acreage can be too burdensome and coverage for certain specialty crops may not even be available in certain places. Crop insurers are also disincentivized to sell policies with small premiums and potential payouts, he added.

And although there are federal programs that cover a farm's revenue rather than their specific crops, Orlander said these policies are complicated and widely underutilized.

“We’re not keeping up with the losses and the extreme weather that we’re seeing,” he said. “And we have to think a little bit differently about how we are going to mitigate risk and cover losses into the future when these things occur.”

For Woods, the community supported agriculture program she runs gives her flexibility in case one crop fails. Her customers are supporting the farm for the season regardless of what vegetables end up in their boxes. That program and her crop diversity is one way she “hedges our bets” against heat, floods and drought.

“It’s something you have to be aware of and plan for and have a plan to be resilient in the face of these kind of events,” Woods said.

Follow Joshua A. Bickel on Instagram, Bluesky and X @joshuabickel.

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Annie Woods loads a crate of harvested produce into her farm vehicle Wednesday, July 1, 2026, in Brooksville, Ky. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Annie Woods holds zucchini while harvesting produce Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at her farm in Brooksville, Ky. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Japanese beetles damage okra plant leaves Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at a farm in Brooksville, Ky. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Annie Woods lifts a crate of squash and zucchini while harvesting Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at her farm in Brooksville, Ky. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Annie Woods inspects herbs while harvesting Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at her farm in Brooksville, Ky. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

A cat pauses between rows of crops waiting for planting Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at a farm in Brooksville, Ky. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Celery grows inside a greenhouse Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at a farm in Brooksville, Ky. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Trays of seedlings sit inside a cabinet to keep cool Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at a farm in Brooksville, Ky. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Heat-damaged celery rests in a tray inside a greenhouse Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at a farm in Brooksville, Ky. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Crops grow inside a greenhouse as fans run to keep the temperature down Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at a farm in Brooksville, Ky. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

A poblano pepper grows inside a greenhouse Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at a farm in Brooksville, Ky. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Annie Woods harvests squash Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at her farm in Brooksville, Ky. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Annie Woods takes a drink of water while harvesting Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at her farm in Brooksville, Ky. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

The sun sets Wednesday, July 1, 2026, over a farm in Brooksville, Ky. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Annie Woods harvests eightball, a type of zucchini, as the sun sets Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at her farm in Brooksville, Ky. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices are rising, and stock markets are dropping worldwide Wednesday after President Donald Trump raised doubts about the temporary truce in the war with Iran.

The S&P 500 fell 0.8% after Trump said the agreement to pause fighting was “over,” though he added that he would allow negotiations to continue. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 745 points, or 1.4%, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.7% lower.

The action was stronger in the oil market, where the price for a barrel of Brent crude climbed 7.2% to $79.48. That’s still well below its peak from earlier in the war, when the price for the most actively traded contract reached nearly $120. But the jump is unsettling because oil prices had just dropped back to where they were before the war.

The worry is that a continuation of the war will block the Strait of Hormuz and prevent the delivery of crude from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide. That could worsen inflation, which economists expected would ease with oil prices, and in turn force the Federal Reserve and other central banks to raise interest rates.

Higher rates can keep a lid on inflation, but they also slow the economy and hurt prices for all kinds of investments.

Losses for stock markets in Europe accelerated, and oil prices climbed immediately after Trump said, “For me, I think it’s over” about the status of the ceasefire. He added that U.S. representatives can continue negotiations, but he cast doubt on the outcome. “They can talk, but I think they’re wasting their time,” he said.

Trump later said the United States was preparing for another night of strikes against Iran.

On Wall Street, companies with big fuel bills fell sharply. American Airlines lost 5.7%, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings fell 3.1%.

Stocks of companies in the housing industry were also weak. They were hurt by worries that rising Treasury yields in the bond market will lead to higher rates for mortgages and chill the industry.

Builders FirstSource, which sells counters, windows and other building supplies, fell 6.3%. Homebuilders PulteGroup fell 4.8%, and D.R. Horton sank 4.8%.

Drops of 3.9% for Sherwin-Williams and 3.5% for Home Depot were two of the biggest reasons the Dow was heading toward its worst loss in at least a month.

Helping to offset those losses was a steadying for some influential stocks in the artificial-intelligence industry. They’ve been under pressure in recent weeks on worries that their prices shot too high and that AI may not produce enough productivity and profits to make all the investments in chips and data centers worth it.

Their swings carry a lot of weight on Wall Street because AI stocks have grown into some of the U.S. market’s biggest, giving their movements more effect on the S&P 500 than other stocks.

Nvidia rose a modest 0.8%, for example, and was the second-strongest force pushing upward on the S&P 500 because it's the largest stock on Wall Street.

The strongest push upward came from Broadcom, which rose 4.4%. Apple announced a multiyear commitment with Broadcom to design and produce custom components for its products. Apple said the agreement's value could top $30 billion.

In the bond market, Treasury yields rose with the price of oil. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.59% from 4.55% late Tuesday and from just 3.97% before the war with Iran began.

In stock markets abroad, losses for European markets worsened after Trump made his comments, and Germany’s DAX lost 2%.

In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi dropped 5.3% and continued its sharp swings amid dueling worries and euphoria about the AI stocks that dominate its market.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was an outlier and rose 3%.

Shares that trade in Hong Kong of Chinese AI startup Zhipu, known also as Z.ai and traded as Knowledge Atlas Technology, jumped 13.4%.

A six-month lock-up period for “cornerstone” investors following its January trading debut in Hong Kong expires this week. China National Radio reported late Tuesday that nearly 70% of Zhipu’s cornerstone investors are committed to stay on, despite previous worries that the lock-up period expiration could trigger a sell-off.

Zhipu’s share price has risen more than 1,300% since its debut.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott, Chan Ho-him and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

Options traders Serge Marinovich, left, and Phil Phil Fracassini work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A member of media stands near the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer watches computer monitors near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Currency traders pass by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics Co., right, stock price at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Dealers talk near the screens showing foreign exchange rates at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A screen shows the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)