Extreme weather can hit farmers hard. Those with smaller farming operations often pay the price

MAYFIELD, Ky. — Justin Ralph estimates he’s made about 200 trips delivering grain from the fields he farms with his brother and uncle this year. “If you’ve got a larger farm operation, your acreage is spread out over a larger area, so the risks are probably minimized more because they’re spread out more.” Damage to grain elevators are visible on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023, at Mayfield Grain in Mayfield, Ky., from a December 2021 tornado. Keith Lowry stands inside a tobacco barn, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023, in Pilot Oak, Ky. Tobacco dries in a barn on Keith Lowry’s farm, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023, near Mayfield, Ky. Lowry, like many other farmers in the area, lost some crop after historic rainfall and flooding earlier in the summer. A memorial to December 2021 tornado victims is displayed on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023, in Mayfield, Ky. A banner reading "May God Bless Mayfield" hangs near empty lots, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023, in Mayfield, Ky. A storm-damaged tree stands Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023, in Mayfield, Ky. Schmitz said he thinks that climate change is contributing to the consolidation of farmland — that is, large farms getting larger. “But to see climate change exacerbating those potential extremes both ways within a short period of time is disconcerting.” Grain elevators damaged by a December 2021 tornado are seen, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023, at Mayfield Grain in Mayfield, Ky. ___ Associated Press journalist Joshua Bickel contributed to this report.