Spring rains destroyed a harvest important to the Oneida people. Farmers are working to adapt

On Oneida Nation in Wisconsin, white corn harvests are an important cultural practice. Corn is taken to elders, the husks are dried and braided and seeds are saved for the following season. But this year, on one Oneida farm, climate change-fueled spring rains destroyed nearly the whole white corn harvest, and they won’t be able to do their usual ceremonies this fall. They’ll be able to salvage some of the green corn, white corn at an earlier stage of maturity, but it will be a small piece of what they normally produce. Oneida farmers want to adapt and are using regenerative practices like growing cover crops to prepare the soil for future unpredictability.