Usefulness and uses of climate forecasts for agricultural extension in South Carolina, USA

Templeton, Scott R.; Perkins, M. Shane; Aldridge, Heather D.; Bridges, William C.; Lassiter, Bridget R.

doi:10.1007/s10113-013-0522-7

Cited by 16 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…A noteworthy number of employees in both agencies indicate a desire to provide weather and climate related services, but these employees often report a lack in confidence or insufficient skills to do so. This finding aligns with prior research on advisors' use of weather and climate tools and broader climate science literacy (Fraisse et al 2009;Prokopy et al 2013;Morris et al 2014;Templeton et al 2014;Wojcik et al 2014).…”

Section: Legendsupporting

confidence: 87%

“…The majority of respondents in that study, which included NRCS employees, also agreed that their role as an advisor is to help land managers prepare for the impacts associated with increased weather variability. Other research focused on university extension finds similarly positive attitudes toward supporting farmers and other land managers in adapting to climate change (Templeton et al 2014;Wojcik et al 2014). Therefore, despite persistent skepticism among land managers and advisors regarding anthropogenic climate change (Prokopy et al 2015b), an opportunity exists to increase consideration of climate change impacts when making land management decisions.…”

Section: Roles Of Natural Resources Conservation Service and Farm Sermentioning

confidence: 86%

“…Breuer et al (2010) found that cultivating a feedback loop between advisors and scientists can help improve the usefulness and usability of climate decision support tools, while Lemos et al (2014) reiterated the importance of cultivating trust by creating a two-way communication strategy to increase perceptions of credibility and legitimacy in decision making contexts. Thus, new and existing tools and resources could integrate climate science in ways that help advisors do their job better, in alignment with locally relevant programs, processes, and decision making frameworks (Hibbs et al 2014;Templeton et al 2014;Prokopy et al 2015b). A future focus on coproduction of these resources with USDA field staff could increase adoption of those resources in the future.…”

Section: Legendmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ready, willing, and able? USDA field staff as climate advisors

Wiener¹,

Roesch‐McNally²,

Schattman³

et al. 2019

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

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Natural resource advisors operate at a natural resource-climate nexus that presents opportunity for utilization of regionally relevant climate science and tools to support climate smart decision making among land managers. This opportunity, however, may be underutilized. In thousands of county offices across the country, USDA field staff with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Farm Service Agency (FSA) interface with farmers on a daily basis to provide conservation technical assistance, farm loans, and disaster recovery assistance. In this study, we conducted a survey of NRCS field staff (n = 1,893) and a similar survey of FSA field staff (n = 4,621) to determine the following: (1) how concerned USDA field staff are with both general and specific climate and weather threats and their effect on agriculture and forestry, (2) what available climate and weather resources staff are currently using, (3) how these factors relate to USDA field staff 's confidence and interest in playing the role of climate advisor, and (4) the differences that exist between NRCS and FSA field staff related to these research questions. We found that many USDA field staff are concerned about climate change in general and about several specific impacts, but fewer are confident in their ability to support land managers in addressing these impacts. Additionally, increased concern about climate threats was related to higher levels of climate and weather resource use and an increased desire to play the role of climate advisor, but was also related to lower levels of self-reported ability to play that role. These findings can be used to inform appropriate application of professional development opportunities and creation of tools and resources to improve professional uses of weather and climate information.

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Section: Legendsupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Roles Of Natural Resources Conservation Service and Farm Sermentioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Legendmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Ready, willing, and able? USDA field staff as climate advisors

Wiener¹,

Roesch‐McNally²,

Schattman³

et al. 2019

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Indeed, between 1981 to 2002, the value and usage of climate predictions for agribusinesses grew (Changnon, 2004). This increase largely resulted from skill improvements in CPC's seasonal forecasts, more private firms that provided climate services based on these improved forecasts, new corporate orientations within seed producers and food processing companies, such as geographic diversification which allowed for hedging and lowered their overall weather-and climate-related risks, as well as increased competition and economic pressure, better understanding of climate predictions, improved information access, and more timely forecasts (Sonka et al, 1992;Changnon, 2004;Templeton et al, 2014).…”

Section: Applications and Benefits For Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…1. forecasts of up to one year for long-term planning 2. forecasts for regions regarded as competitors 3. better warnings of anomalous events such as snow storms in spring or flash floods 4. more clear explanations and documentation of the accuracy and reliability of data and forecasts 5. information provided in a -now versus last year versus normal‖ format 6. what weather patterns and storm tracks commonly recur in the region 7. the need for simple procedures to -calibrate‖ large-scale forecasts and warnings to local areas 8. better information to improve decision-making related to wildfires 9. observations and forecasts on soil moisture and relative humidity Most producers use seasonal climate forecasts to improve planting schedules, for irrigation and nutrition management, and to select crop type and crop variety (Cabrera et al, 2006;Templeton et al, 2014). They request seasonal climate forecasts of both direct meteorological variables (e.g., air temperature and precipitation) and derived information from these and other variables (e.g., humidity, growing degree-days, soil moisture, or evaporative loss) (Schneider and Wiener, 2009; Frisvold and Murugesan, 2012) 1 .…”

Section: Forecast Demands From Producers and Agricultural Advisorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The development of seasonal climate forecasting for agricultural producers

Klemm

McPherson

2017

Agricultural and Forest Meteorology

108

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Body (7634 words) 1 Introduction Seasonal climate forecasts are used by crop producers for long-term decisions, for example planting and harvest timing, field fertilization, or water management, among others. To review the literature, the main methods used were keyword searches in publisher-unaffiliated databases such as Web of Knowledge and in publication libraries of institutions known for their interdisciplinary work in climate forecasting and agriculture, such as the Southeast Climate Consortium and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society. Section 1 outlines a brief history on the topic. Section 2 explores singlemodel and ensemble forecasts. Section 3 reviews measures of skill and utility to assess the value of seasonal climate forecasts. Section 4 puts seasonal climate forecasts in context with other agricultural decision factors. Section 5 looks at tailored seasonal climate forecasts and seasonal climate forecasts from an agricultural perspective, while exploring communication challenges between forecast provider and forecast user, and highlights how agricultural decision-making differs depending on the crop type and planning horizon. Lastly, section 6 explores end-to-end concepts.

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United States agricultural stakeholder views and decisions on climate change

Chatrchyan

Erlebacher

Chaopricha

et al. 2017

WIREs Climate Change

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Climate change poses unprecedented challenges to agricultural production globally and in the United States; it is both vulnerable to the impacts of a changing climate and a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Because farmers need to quickly adapt to reduce their risks and emissions, there is a pressing need to better understand the process by which they make decisions. This complex decision‐making process includes many factors, such as farmers’ beliefs; knowledge and capacity to make changes; the information they receive from Extension, industry, and social networks (e.g., family and peers); economics and regulations; and farm‐scale and environmental issues (including personal experience with extreme weather). This study assesses the published literature on U.S. agricultural stakeholder views and decisions on climate change, focusing on farmers and ranchers from different regions. We identify key themes that emerge from the literature on how stakeholder views about extreme weather and climate change relate to decisions about adaptation and mitigation practices. This review finds that although the majority of U.S. farmers believe the climate is changing, many remain skeptical of the issue and uncertain about the anthropogenic causes of climate change. Farmers’ climate change mitigation and adaptation decisions also vary widely and are often correlated with belief or other factors such as personal experience with extreme weather, costs of change, or fear of regulation. We conclude with the implications of the research, including the importance of understanding farmers’ view and actions and issue framing, and implications for researchers, Extension and policy makers, both nationally and globally. WIREs Clim Change 2017, 8:e469. doi: 10.1002/wcc.469 This article is categorized under: Perceptions, Behavior, and Communication of Climate Change > Perceptions of Climate Change

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Usefulness and uses of climate forecasts for agricultural extension in South Carolina, USA

Cited by 16 publications

References 13 publications

Ready, willing, and able? USDA field staff as climate advisors

Ready, willing, and able? USDA field staff as climate advisors

The development of seasonal climate forecasting for agricultural producers

United States agricultural stakeholder views and decisions on climate change

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