University of Nebraska is eliminating a key climate research department

In his 15 years of farming full time, Quentin Connealy has weathered his share of storms — literally.

The first major flood hit in 2011. Three more came in 2019. The waters rose again in 2024 and ruined about 20 percent of his crops. This past summer, he dealt with at least three hail and wind events that damaged his corn and soybeans.

To Connealy, whose family has been farming in Nebraska for 131 years, the weather has grown more extreme, posing a greater threat to his family’s farmland...