The effects on agricultural potential

• Main Authors: Parry, M.L., Carter, T.R., Konijn, N.T.
• Format: Book Part
• Language: unknown
• Published: Springer 1988
• Subjects: Iceland
• Online Access: https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/12997/; https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2943-2_14

This section is concerned with the impact of climate on various aspects of agriculture in Iceland. As discussed in the preceding section, grass growth and hay yield is of fundamental importance in Icelandic farming. Because of this the greater part of this chapter is devoted to the impact of climate on hay yield. A related concern for the farmers is the impact of climate on the winter and summer grazing of animals. The farmers are thus affected by two related problems: poor hay yield after cool seasons and increased need for fodder in severe winters. These two conditions often occur together, and the cumulative effect of a cold winter can be that farmers are faced in the summer with unusually little grass growth, when the fodder consumption in the preceding winter has been especially heavy. To compound matters, such severe years often tend to occur in clusters. An additional limiting factor is the carrying capacity of the summer pastures. In this respect it is therefore advisable to restrict livestock grazing to the carrying capacity of the coldest periods that can be expected in the climatic era. The question of how best to react to climatic impacts in order to avoid fluctuations in livestock numbers is also discussed. Finally, in Subsection 2.7, it is shown that present conditions for growing trees and cereal crops are marginal in Iceland. Their sensitivity to climate and their growth under different climatic conditions are estimated here in terms of the percentage area in Iceland suitable for their growth.