Background
The length of the growing season in any given region represents the number of days when plant growth takes place. The growing season often determines which crops can be grown in an area, as some crops require long growing seasons, while others mature rapidly. Growing season length is limited by many different factors. Depending on the region and the climate, the growing season is influenced by air temperatures, frost days, rainfall, or daylight hours.
Changes in the length of the growing season can have both positive and negative effects. Moderate warming can benefit crop and pasture yields in mid- to high-latitude regions, yet even slight warming decreases yields in seasonally dry and low-latitude regions.4 A longer growing season could allow farmers to diversify crops or have multiple harvests from the same plot. However, it could also limit the types of crops grown, encourage invasive species
or weed growth, or strain water supplies. A longer growing season could also disrupt the function and structure of a region’s ecosystems, and could, for example, alter the range and types of animal species in the area.