Tonya Haigh

Extension′s role in disseminating information about climate change to agricultural stakeholders in the United States

The U.S. Cooperative Extension Service was created 100 years ago to serve as a boundary or interface organization between science generated at the nation′s land grant universities and rural communities. Production agriculture in the US is becoming increasingly complex and challenging in the face of a rapidly changing climate and the need to balance growing crop productivity with environmental protection. Simultaneously, extension budgets are diminishing and extension personnel are stretched thin with numerous, diverse stakeholders and decreasing budgets. Evidence from surveys of farmers suggests that they are more likely to go to private retailers and consultants for information than extension. This paper explores the role that extension can play in facilitating climate change adaptation in agriculture using data from a survey of agricultural advisors in Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Nebraska and a survey of extension educators in the 12 state North Central Region. Evidence from these surveys shows that a majority of extension educators believe that climate change is happening and that they should help farmers prepare. It also shows that private agricultural advisors trust extension as a source of information about climate change. This suggests that extension needs to continue to foster its relationship with private information providers because working through them will be the best way to ultimately reach farmers with climate change information. However extension educators must be better informed and trained about climate change; university specialists and researchers can play a critical role in this training process.

The effects of extreme drought on climate change beliefs, risk perceptions, and adaptation attitudes

The role of extreme weather events in shaping people’s climate change beliefs and adaptation attitudes has been extensively studied and discussed in academic literature, the popular press, and policy circles. In this manuscript, we contribute to the debate by using data from pre- and post-extreme event surveys to examine the effects of the 2012 Midwestern US drought on agricultural advisors’ climate change beliefs, adaptation attitudes, and risk perceptions. We found that neither climate change beliefs nor attitudes toward adaptation changed significantly as a result of the drought. Risk perceptions did change, however, with advisors becoming more concerned about risks from drought and pests and less concerned about risks related to flooding and ponding. Though increased risk perceptions were significantly associated with more favorable adaptation attitudes, the effects were not large enough to cause an overall shift to more favorable attitudes toward adaptation. The results suggest that extreme climate events might not cause significant shifts in climate beliefs, at least not immediately. Additionally, the results caution that policy designs that rely on increasing risk perceptions to motivate action on climate change may be overestimating the effects of extreme events on feeling at risk, at least in the context of buffered systems such as large commercial agriculture in the US.

Agricultural Advisors as Climate Information Intermediaries: Exploring Differences in Capacity to Communicate Climate

AbstractAlthough agricultural production faces chronic stress associated with extreme precipitation events, high temperatures, drought, and shifts in climate conditions, adoption of climate information into agricultural decision making has been relatively limited. Agricultural advisors have been shown to play important roles as information intermediaries between scientists and farmers, brokering, translating, and adding value to agronomic and economic information of use in agricultural management decision making. Yet little is known about the readiness of different types of agricultural advisors to use weather and climate information to help their clients manage risk under increasing climate uncertainty. More than 1700 agricultural advisors in four midwestern states (Nebraska, Indiana, Iowa, and Michigan) completed a web-based survey during the spring of 2012 about their use of weather and climate information, public or private sector employment, and roles as information intermediaries in three advising s...

Farmer perceptions of sustainable agriculture practices and drought risk reduction in Nebraska, USA

Social factors, such as farming methods, have an impact on farm vulnerability to drought, but have received little research or policy attention. Some researchers and advocates have argued that sustainable agriculture systems are less vulnerable to climate risk than conventional systems because sustainable agriculture requires producers to have skills promoting adaptability. In this paper, we investigate producers’ perceptions on the use of sustainable agriculture in reducing drought risk, and what they believe would help them better adapt to drought. We surveyed and interviewed farmer members of two sustainable agriculture organizations in Nebraska, USA, during a multi-year drought period from 1999 to 2007. Producers reported implementing a range of practices, such as organic soil building techniques, reduced tillage, targeted crop selection and diversification of crop and livestock production systems, to reduce their drought vulnerability. Although some practices were implemented specifically to reduce drought risk, producers felt that the practices they implemented as part of their normal operation were largely responsible for reducing their risk. Respondents held mixed views on the effects of insurance and farm programs on their drought management decisions. Finally, producers indicated that their ability to adapt to drought is limited by a number of barriers, especially a lack of capital and the need to respond to markets and maximize production to maintain cash flows.

PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH WORKSHOP ON SEASONAL PREDICTION OF HYDROCLIMATIC EXTREMES IN THE GREATER HORN OF AFRICA

WHaT: The workshop was conducted to discuss various new and existing seasonal models and experimental drought and vegetation prediction products with experts and decision-makers representing local (private, governmental, and nongovernmental organizations), regional, and international organizations in the Greater Horn of Africa (GHA). Eighty-five participants met to discuss a strategic approach for improving drought early warning and food security systems in the GHA. WHen: 24–25 October 2017 WHere: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia T he increased frequency and severity of droughts in Africa due to change in global climate necessitate the need for more effective drought planning and mitigation strategies. A key factor in reducing the negative impacts of these natural disasters and helping manage food security is improving national and regional drought early warning systems (DEWS) in the Greater Horn of Africa (GHA) through the development of seasonal hydroclimatic monitoring and prediction tools that are linked to action-oriented planning.

A Drought-Planning Methodology for Ranchers in the Great Plains

On the Ground Ranch drought planning is important for identifying management priorities, proactively evaluating management options before a drought occurs, and ultimately reducing the effects of drought on an operation and the grasslands that support it. An engagement activity with ranchers and ranch advisors developed a drought planning methodology to help other ranchers develop their own individual ranch drought plans. Although the ranchers and advisors who participated differed some on specific approaches, they agreed on the benefits of incorporating drought into overall ranch planning well in advance of drought and acknowledged the reality of having to make adjustments as situations arise.

Measuring park visitation vulnerability to climate extremes in U.S. Rockies National Parks tourism

ABSTRACT Changes in temperature and precipitation can affect tourist experiences. This study examines how summer park visitation has changed in response to temperature and precipitation extremes. The study goals were two-fold. The first is to introduce a framework and the second is to test it in a pilot region with four mountainous National Parks. The framework is designed to compare the vulnerability of seasonal park visitation to shifts in a combined indicator of temperature and precipitation. It uniquely considers needed measurements, and the data required to conduct an analysis. The second goal is to test it in four destinations in the U.S. Northern Rockies, including Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Rocky Mountain National Parks. The preliminary test reveals outlier cases of visitation under wet and dry extremes. The analysis connects time series climate and visitation data for the peak summer season from 1991–2012. Outlier analysis illustrates more change in extremely dry conditions, with four out of the six dry-year outliers resulting in a visitation decline. Whether this decline in park tourism is attributable to climate features, economic factors, or conscious management decisions, these drops have significant economic impacts: estimates of changes in visitor spending during dry years are between roughly 9 and 90 million USD. These differences may be connected to the popular activities in each park, and the extent they are dependent on weather conditions. This framework can be used to test the relationship between climate and tourism visitation in other regions, in various seasons and time frames. The work may inform the tourist sector in adjusting and planning for a range of conditions. We discuss opportunities and conclude with additional needs for understanding the mechanisms behind risk in mountain park tourism under climate extremes.

Serious Gaming for Participatory Planning of Multi-Hazard Mitigation

ABSTRACT Collaborative, holistic, and proactive planning for basin-wide water management solutions addressing multiple water-related hazards is challenging. Shared vision planning (SVP) and decision support systems (DSSs) are two approaches that have been used to address the challenges described. SVP is a participatory planning process. DSSs can efficiently support the integration of multiple and vast amounts of information and interactively illustrate the trade-offs between alternative mitigation plans. While SVP and DSS have been previously used to help stakeholders to better understand watershed processes and how to arrive at collaborative basin-wide decisions, coupling these tools with serious gaming is an emerging effort. The multi-hazard tournament (MHT) framework is an example of the integration of serious gaming, DSS and SVP. The MHT is based on the premise that almost all cultures and individuals understand and enjoy sports, teams and structured games. This paper first introduces a new approach called the MHT which couples serious gaming via the use of DSS with the traditional SVP concepts of (1) collaborative computer modelling, (2) traditional water resources planning, and (3) structured public participation through a case study of the Cedar Rapids, Iowa MHT. Second, it examines and discusses the effectiveness of this combined approach in achieving objectives often established in collaborative, watershed scale: decision-making, social learning, and relationship building. An analysis of the Cedar Rapids MHT survey results show that the integration of the Iowa watershed decision support system, SVP, and serious gaming framework served as a valuable tool for examining trade-offs between mitigation options and their impacts. The Cedar Rapids MHT survey results indicated this was also an adequate means of capacity building, social learning, and meaningfully engaging the community in mitigating hazards posed in their watersheds. The paper also explores how the integration of SVP, DSS, and serious gaming with some refinements could be used to practically support watershed scale planning and decision-making processes.

Provision of Climate Services for Agriculture: Public and Private Pathways to Farm Decision-making

CapsuleIn a U.S. Corn Belt study, we found that agricultural advisors are engaged and critical users of climate information, while gaps remain in providing salient climate information to farmers.