Some farmers have been harvesting at night to avoid the extreme heat of the hottest summer on record
Darren Hauck/Reuters
- Farmers are turning to night harvesting to beat the heat and preserve crop quality.
- The nocturnal schedule has become more important as summer temperatures continue to rise.
- Yet night farming can still be dangerous for workers.
As this year's summer — the hottest one on global record — comes to an end, a new trend among farmers seems to be ramping up: night harvesting.
The extreme heat this summer not only posed a health risk for farmers harvesting in the sun, but also compromised the quality of the crops they grew. Fruit and vegetables are fresher and last longer when picked at cooler temperatures, some nocturnal farmers told the Washington Post.
However, not everyone in the farming industry is benefiting from this trend. Farm workers also told the Post that night harvesting poses its own safety hazards even as it diminishes the risk of heat-related illness.
Low visibility and poor lighting can increase the risk of workers hitting their heads, falling off ladders, and stepping on hazards impossible to see in the dark, the Post reported. Plus, it upends many workers' lives. One worker told the Post the night shift prevents him from seeing his kids and makes him feel "jet-lagged."
From 2011 to 2020, about 9,000 people suffered injuries while working on a farm at night — with the number of injuries spiking to 1,150 in 2020, the Post reported.
Meanwhile, agriculture remains the most dangerous industry for workers in the country, according to a research team at Pennsylvania State University supported by the United States Department of Agriculture. From 2015 to 2019, about 60,000 people were treated for injuries sustained while working on a farm.