On Oct. 23, a study published in Nature's Scientific Reports addressed an escalating problem worldwide: unpredictable crop yields on an overheating planet.

"Climatic variability and recurrent drought" were identified by the authors as an ongoing "risk to food security," an issue routinely raised by policy experts and farmers in recent years.

Its authors emphasized the role of new technologies and research-based approaches to fortify the global food supply as a warming world wreaks havoc on crops, and research has examined the impact of specific organic fertilizers on crop yields.

A study published in the journal PeerJ Life and Environment reported the results of a "two-year field experiment" comparing crop yields from crops treated with one of three organic fertilizers: rapeseed meal, cow manure, and soybean meal.

To contrast their yields, the researchers tended to crops not treated with organic fertilizers. Their findings were compelling.

Of the three, crops treated with rapeseed meal showed a 161% yield increase. Crops fertilized with cow manure had a 256% yield increase, whereas soybean meal increased yields by 299%.

A subsequent study published in the European Journal of Agronomy in March 2024 took a similar approach, but considered the environmental impacts of planet-warming gas emitted by the use of certain synthetic fertilizers alongside crop yield impacts.

Its authors concluded that even partial substitutions for organic fertilizers would "improve soil fertility and crop productivity while mitigating [nitrous oxide] emissions in wheat-maize rotation systems."

Extreme weather throughout 2025 has caused havoc and destruction worldwide, from heatwaves to floods and wildfires. The death and destruction these events cause understandably make headlines.

But against a relentless stream of bad weather news, decreased crop yields and agricultural volatility have remained a steady drumbeat in the background. At the same time, grocery inflation — attributed in part to unpredictable yields — has hampered access to food worldwide.

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In the study's introduction, its authors cited population growth projections and warned that proactive measures to secure the global food supply were more necessary than ever before.

"Many reports have emphasized the need for major changes to the agricultural system to meet the challenge of feeding the growing population while minimizing environmental impacts," they said.

Ultimately, the authors reiterated prior findings that organic fertilizers improved crop yields while protecting the quality of soil, "supporting both long-term food security and environmental preservation."

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