Permafrost grown: The heterogeneity of permafrost conditions

Permafrost grown: The heterogeneity of permafrost conditions Melissa Ward Jones, from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, explains the heterogeneity of permafrost conditions and how it can impact agriculture. One farmer describes clearing land and letting it thaw before cultivation to increase the soil’s temperature; another describes needing to allow the field to dry out after land clearing, as it is too wet to access and cultivate for a few seasons. The third describes land sinking and waterlogging that developed in a portion of their field a few years after clearing. Each farmer is describing a response to thawing permafrost.