CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — An occasional, very hot spell or extra rainfall may be no more than a minor annoyance for most people, but for farmers, unpredictable weather patterns can destroy an entire season’s bounty of food. Crops are fickle – certain plants cannot withstand high temperatures, and other plants need to spend a portion of their growing season in the cold to bloom properly. As the climate in the Southeast of the United States becomes increasingly erratic, farmers can no longer depend on the regularity of seasons. Instead, they have to turn to unconventional solutions.

Challenges caused by climate change begin even before farmers bury a seed into the ground. Farmers struggle to know when they should plant their first crop of the season. “The Southeast will get a really warm hit early in the spring, and things will bloom and come up, and then that barren cold will come back,” said Jen Brady, a senior data analyst at the nonprofit Climate Central based in Princeton, N.J.

The “barren cold” Brady described withers springtime crops that thrive in cool to warm temperatures. “It can basically ruin crops if you have an early day below 32 degrees (Fahrenheit), or a late day below 32,” says Kaitlyn Weber, also a data analyst at Climate Central.

Other unpredictable challenges face North Carolina farmers like intense precipitation patterns. Climate change can lead to downpours that can either drown crops or wash pesticides and fertilizers off fields and into nearby rivers or lakes.

As temperatures increase so does the rate of evaporation. As the world warms, more water evaporates causing the atmosphere to hold more water vapor. That means more moisture for storms when rain forms. This increased moisture can turn what otherwise would have been a light sprinkle into a torrential downpour. “We’re seeing increasing severe events, like two- to three-inch rainfalls in a matter of 24 hours,” said Megan Martin, a meteorologist and multimedia designer at Climate Central.

North Carolina’s wine industry is among the most hard-hit by this increased precipitation. “If there’s this period of extreme rainfall for a day or a few days, it’ll then get really humid, especially in the Southeast,” said Weber. That excess humidity can cause mold to form on crops with winemaking grapes especially susceptible.

The mild climate found in North Carolina’s foothills was once perfect for growing winemaking grapes, but rising temperatures and erratic weather conditions caused by climate change may force winemakers to move their operations elsewhere. “A lot of popular wine spaces right now are going to get pretty hot eventually,” said Weber. “For the past few decades, people have been buying land farther north, as far as British Columbia, because they know that in a few decades that’ll be the prime area for agriculture.”

Income from agriculture in North Carolina consistently ranks among the top ten states in the country. But ever increasing temperatures threaten the state’s status as a leader in farming.

The United States Department of Agriculture divides geographic areas of the country into “hardiness zones.” These zones help farmers determine which plants grow best in particular areas. The zones roughly follow a north to south pattern, with Zone 1 being the farthest north and Zone 13 being the farthest south.

In 1990, the majority of North Carolina was in Zone 7 with minimum average temperatures of 0° F to 10° F. By 2015, the majority of the state had shifted to Zone 8, with minimum average temperatures of 10° F to 20° F. This means that climate conditions in some parts of North Carolina are now too hot for certain crops. Farmers must now grow these heat sensitive crops further north to find the same cool temperatures that once were the norm in North Carolina.

These shifting hardiness zones pose a major threat to states like North Carolina that rely on agriculture as a major part of their economies. “In 20 years, North Dakota is going to be the breadbasket of the U.S., because it’ll have the ideal climate for planting our corn and things like that,” said Brady. “We could even be getting all of our main agricultural goods from Canada at that point.”

Industries like winemaking have had to adopt more sustainable growing practices that reduce water and energy use. Other farmers have had to completely reinvent the ways in which they farm.

One innovative growing technique is hydroponic farming in which farmers grow crops in water instead of soil. Farmers can plant their crops in large containers protected from outside elements. Not able to receive nutrients from the soil, the plants depend on farmers infusing water with nutrients into the containers. As a result hydroponic farmers don’t need to battle warmer-than-usual temperatures or intense rainfall. These practices can also result in higher crop yields.

With no definite end to climate change in sight, farmers may have to learn to adopt new practices and move to different crops as the world around them changes.