THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

Not sure that such a culinary curiosity is possible, but with the advance of climate change Midwest farmers are finding themselves able to grow what were once staples of the Deep South.

The hotter summers and ongoing drought conditions in the Midwest are forcing farmers here to forgo the plants of their ancestors and look down south for inspiration.

"We kept trying to grow sustainable tomatoes, but it was so hot that the plants got stressed and they wouldn’t produce fruit," said Courtney Skeeba, who started Homestead Ranch in the small town of Lecompton, Kan., about a decade ago. "By the end of the season, when it did get wetter and cooler, it was too late. So that’s when we started planting okra."

She's not the only one. It's that time of year when farmers are looking back at the summer past and planning for planting ahead. And what they see is a lot of hot and a lot of dry. That's why okra, once a plant squarely rooted in Southern cooking, is headed north — way north. Farmers in Wisconsin are planting okra as well.

Cary Rivard, a fruit and vegetable specialist at the Kansas State Horticulture Research and Extension Center in Olathe, said some growers are producing 1,200 pounds of okra a week to sell at local stores in Kansas City.

"That's a lot of okra for veggie growers around here! And I can't imagine what it takes to pick it all," he said.
Tomatoes, broccoli wither

Agriculture specialists say two things are happening: higher temperatures and a lower water table. The summer of 2012 was the third-hottest summer on record for the U.S., according to the National Climatic Data Center, with record-breaking heat waves continuing in 2013.

At the same time, little water fell. Much of Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma fell into the "exceptional" or "worst" drought category in 2012, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. It remained dry throughout much of 2013, rivaling the Dust Bowl years.

The corn wouldn't pollinate. The tomatoes crashed. Broccoli withered. So farmers started looking for hardy plants that could handle the long 100-degree spells in July and August.

The heat didn't just affect the plants. It was so dry last year, Skeeba said, that her goats went into heat months early. The goats had a set of kids in December — usually born in March or April — and then a second set at the end of June. Skeeba and her partner, Denise, kept some, sold some and processed others for meat.

"It was so dry for so long and everything was so stressed out, it triggered them to go into cycle earlier," she said.

Cotton is moving north as well. We can only hope some Milo Minderbinder doesn't come along and cover it with chocolate.