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

Prokopy, Linda Stalker; Carlton, J. Stuart; Arbuckle, J. Gordon; Haigh, Tonya; Lemos, Maria Carmen; Mase, Amber Saylor; Babin, Nicholas; Dunn, Michael; Andresen, Jeff; Angel, James R.; Hart, Chad E.; Power, Rebecca

doi:10.1007/s10584-015-1339-9

Cited by 115 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Every farm has particular climatic, biophysical, economic, and social characteristics that may influence selection of crop types and varieties, and different practices and management strategies. Although scientific evidence reveals chronic stress to agricultural production associated with extreme precipitation events, high temperatures, drought, and shifts in climate conditions, farmers' responses to climate information and adaptation have been heterogeneous and relatively limited (Arbuckle et al 2014;Haigh et al 2015;Loy et al 2013;Prokopy et al 2015). This suggests that Extension and crop advisors as well as policymakers would be better equipped to help farmers adapt if they had a better understanding of their perspectives on climate change.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change typologies and audience segmentation among Corn Belt farmers

Arbuckle¹,

Tyndall²,

Morton³

et al. 2017

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

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Development of natural resource user typologies has been viewed as a potentially effective means of improving the effectiveness of natural resource management engagement strategies. Prior research on Corn Belt farmers' perspectives on climate change employed a latent class analysis (LCA) that created a six-class typology-the Concerned, Uneasy, Uncertain, Unconcerned, Confident, and Detached-to develop a better understanding of farmer perspectives on climate change and inform more effective climate adaptation and mitigation outreach strategies. The LCA employed 34 variables that are generally unobservable-beliefs about climate change, experience with extreme weather, perceived risks of climate change, and attitudes toward climate action-to identify types. The research reported in this paper builds on this typology of Corn Belt farmers by exploring 33 measures of observable farm enterprise characteristics, land management practices, and farmer demographics to assess whether variations in these observable characteristics between the six farmer classes display systematic patterns that might be sufficiently distinctive to guide audience segmentation strategies. While analyses detected some statistically significant differences, there were few systematic, meaningful observable patterns of difference between groups of farmers with differing perspectives on climate change. In other words, farmers who believe that anthropogenic climate change is occurring, that it poses risks to agriculture, and that adaptive action should be taken, may look very much like farmers who deny the existence of climate change and do not support action. The overall implication of this finding is that climate change engagement efforts by Extension and other agricultural advisors should use caution when looking to observable characteristics to facilitate audience segmentation. Additional analyses indicated that the farmer types that tended to be more concerned about climate change and supportive of adaptive action (e.g., Concerned and Uneasy) reported that they were more influenced by key private and public sector actors in agricultural social networks. On the other hand, farmers who were not concerned about climate change or supportive of adaptation (e.g., the Unconcerned, Confident, and Detached groups, comprising between one-third and one-half of respondents) were less integrated into agricultural networks. This suggests that Extension and other agricultural advisors should expand outreach efforts to farmers who are not already within their spheres of influence.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change typologies and audience segmentation among Corn Belt farmers

Arbuckle¹,

Tyndall²,

Morton³

et al. 2017

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

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show abstract

“…There is a need for the research and extension community to continue developing strategies for effective collaboration and communication with stakeholders, who have diverse needs and expertise (Moser and Ekstrom, 2010;Akerlof et al, 2012;Wibeck, 2014;AgCC, 2016). Existing literature suggests effective mechanisms for researchers to engage with agricultural decisionmakers, and for building the necessary extension capacityincluding that of conservation district staff, private-sector technical service providers, and others-to deliver actionable climate change information (McNie, 2012;Kirchhoff et al, 2013;Wibeck, 2014;Prokopy et al, 2015a;Roesch-McNally et al, 2017). In order to produce relevant tools and research, scientists need to be well-versed in the concerns and challenges that regional producers are facing and how those producers make decisions (McNie, 2012;Kirchhoff et al, 2013;Weaver et al, 2013;Allen et al, 2017).…”

Section: Partnerships and Communication Among Researchers And Decisiomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, producers' trusted sources of information are rapidly diversifying, including family, friends, neighbors, crop consultants, and input suppliers (Haigh et al, 2015;Prokopy et al, 2015a;Wright-Morton et al, 2016), as well as a growing use of web-based resources. Ongoing collaborations among researchers and stakeholders are therefore essential in order to (a) conduct relevant research and to develop effective climate change-related decision support systems, and (b) to make them available to users through the right channels, and (c) with appropriate training and support to facilitate their effective use.…”

Section: Priorities For Partnerships and Communication Among Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The appeal of an approach that incorporates adaptation, mitigation, and profits is clear because it could provide a wealth of co-benefits to agriculture-and diverse stakeholders have articulated an interest in more research to evaluate the efficacy of potential management strategies across geographic regions and in multiple agroecosystems (Prokopy et al, 2015a;Allen et al, 2017). However, several intersecting factors make it difficult in practice to prioritize amongst management strategies across agro-ecosystems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Important enhancements include the participation of a broad group of decision-makers at multiple organizational levels, such as crop advisors, irrigation districts, state and federal agencies, and private sector technology, and service providers (Bizikova et al, 2014;Prokopy et al, 2015b;Allen et al, 2017). There is also a need to more actively facilitate a feedback loop between researchers and stakeholders, as the applications of climate science to agricultural decision-making may not be as straight-forward as the application of new crop variety testing, innovations in machinery, or other similarly applied areas of science (Prokopy et al, 2015a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Northwest U.S. Agriculture in a Changing Climate: Collaboratively Defined Research and Extension Priorities

Yorgey

Hall

Allen

et al. 2017

Front. Environ. Sci.

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In order for agricultural systems to successfully mitigate and adapt to climate change there is a need to coordinate and prioritize next steps for research and extension. This includes focusing on "win-win" management practices that simultaneously provide short-term benefits to farmers and improve the sustainability and resiliency of agricultural systems with respect to climate change. In the Northwest U.S., a collaborative process has been used to engage individuals spanning the research-practice continuum. This collaborative approach was utilized at a 2016 workshop titled "Agriculture in a Changing Climate," that included a broad range of participants including university faculty and students, crop and livestock producers, and individuals representing state, tribal and federal government agencies, industry, nonprofit organizations, and conservation districts. The Northwest U.S. encompasses a range of agro-ecological systems and diverse geographic and climatic contexts. Regional research and science communication efforts for climate change and agriculture have a strong history of engaging diverse stakeholders. These features of the Northwest U.S. provide a foundation for the collaborative research and extension prioritization presented here. We focus on identifying research and extension actions that can be taken over the next 5 years in four areas identified as important areas by conference organizers and participants: (1) cropping systems, (2) livestock systems, (3) decision support systems to support consideration of climate change in agricultural management decisions; and (4) partnerships among researchers and stakeholders. We couple insights from the workshop and a review of current literature to articulate current scientific understanding, and priorities recommended by workshop participants that target existing knowledge Yorgey et al.Priorities for U.S. Northwest Agriculture in a Changing Climate gaps, challenges, and opportunities. Priorities defined at the Agriculture in a Changing Climate workshop highlight the need for ongoing investment in interdisciplinary research integrating social, economic, and biophysical sciences, strategic collaborations, and knowledge sharing to develop actionable science that can support informed decision-making in the agriculture sector as the climate changes.

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From Ice Sheets to Main Streets: Intermediaries Connect Climate Scientists to Coastal Adaptation

et al. 2018

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Despite the societal relevance of sea‐level research, a knowledge‐to‐action gap remains between researchers and coastal communities. In the agricultural and water‐management sectors, intermediaries such as consultants and extension agencies have a long and well‐documented history of helping to facilitate the application of scientific knowledge on the ground. However, the role of such intermediaries in adaptation to sea‐level rise, though potentially of vital importance, has been less thoroughly explored. In this commentary, we describe three styles of science intermediation that can connect researchers working on sea‐level projections with decision‐makers relying on those projections. We illustrate these styles with examples of recent and ongoing contexts for the application of sea‐level research, at different spatial scales and political levels ranging from urban development projects to international organizations. Our examples highlight opportunities and drawbacks for the researchers involved and communities adapting to rising seas.

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

Cited by 115 publications

References 23 publications

Climate change typologies and audience segmentation among Corn Belt farmers

Climate change typologies and audience segmentation among Corn Belt farmers

Northwest U.S. Agriculture in a Changing Climate: Collaboratively Defined Research and Extension Priorities

From Ice Sheets to Main Streets: Intermediaries Connect Climate Scientists to Coastal Adaptation

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