Thread by @NBCNews

David Lieth has farmed about 600 acres near this southwest Iowa town for more than 30 years, but he won’t harvest a single ear of corn this year because flooding on the Missouri River covered his fields and didn’t allow him to plant any seed. nbcnews.to/2OJmbeK (1/8)

On an early September morning, Lieth and a roomful of farmers gathered at the local USDA office to find out how much money they would receive for the crops that never made it out of their grain bins and to consumers. (2/8)

“There is some science I do believe we can look at but to setup a new government agency or more government regulation? I’m still wondering if that’s feasible,” Lieth says before the meeting. “I think we can be stewards best by ourselves.” (3/8)

Mike Woltemath, who farms 2,100 acres along the Missouri River, agreed, but he says something needed to change. This year he was only able to plant 200 acres and lost 150,000 bushels to the floodwaters, and he says it happens with a regularity that is becoming concerning. (4/8)

“Flooding doesn’t just happen here in the Midwest," Woltemath says. "It’s happening in the Dakotas. It’s happening in California. It needs to be addressed. Congress needs to do something about it.” (5/8)

With the agriculture industry serving as a potent member of Iowa's economic engine, climate change is increasingly becoming an important political issue as the state inches closer to the Democratic primary and the 2020 presidential election. (6/8)

Jessica Ewald lives on a 200-acre farm outside of Iowa City that was impacted by the flooding.

The fourth-year PhD student at the Univ. of Iowa says people don’t mention climate change specifically but farmers do express a growing concern about a severe shift in weather. (7/8)

“These are tangible changes that people are experiencing, and though they don’t call it climate change, I think we’re all aware of the same problem,” Ewald says. "It’s hard to deny a lived experience.”

nbcnews.to/2OJmbeK (8/8)

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