This document summarizes resources for agricultural adaptation to climate change provided by USDA agencies including the Natural Resources Conservation Service and Agriculture Research Service. It describes an adaptation workbook framework that was developed and tested to help farmers and land managers incorporate climate considerations into their management. The framework connects management goals and climate impacts to specific adaptation actions. It provides a menu of options to prepare for, cope with, and recover from climate extremes. The document outlines key principles of adaptation and strategies to create pathways to sustainability under a changing climate.

1. Dan Dostie, NRCS
Mike Kucera, NRCS
Jerry Hatfield, ARS
Climate Hubs
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Agriculture Research Service
U.S. Forest Service
July 30th, 2017

2. SymposiumTopics:
1. OverviewofAdaptationResources
2. Methods,Analysis,Results
3. ContributionstoScience& Society
4. RealWorldExample

3. Overview of Adaptation Resources
Visit www.climatehubs.oce.usda.gov and look for “Adaptation Assistance”
Climate Change
Response
Framework For
On the Farm

4. 4
Adaptation Resources for Agriculture:
Responding to Climate Variability and Change in the
Midwest and Northeast
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC, Technical Bulletin 1944, October 2016

5. Focus: Midwest & Northeast

6. Different Approaches for
Different Types of Agriculture

7. About Adaptation Resources for
Agriculture:
• For educators, conservationists,
advisors, farm owners, operators
• Farm or Area wide scale, NOT
state or national policy scale
• Broad ecological site and
planning considerations, NOT
specifications
• NOT financial, legal, market,
human resource considerations

8. About Adaptation Resources for
Agriculture:
Contents:
1. Regional Climate Change Effects
2. Adaptation Concepts
3. Regional Adaptation Responses
4. Adaptation Workbook
5. Real World Examples
6. Glossary
7. Literature cited
8. Methods used
9. Worksheets

9. A Successfully Tested Framework
USDA Climate Hubs Midwest, Northeast & Northern Forests
Adaptation Workbook

Strategies & Approaches

Menu of adaptation actions
• Structured but flexible
process to integrate
climate considerations
into management
• Workbook approach

10. Why it’s important:
Connects the Dots
Management Goals
& Objectives
Climate Change
Impacts
Intent of Adaptation
(Option)
Make Idea Specific
(Strategy, Approach)
Action to Implement
(Tactic)
Challenges &
Opportunities
Why it’s important:
Helps connect the dots
from broad concepts
to specific actions for
implementation.

11. Prepare for, Cope with, Recover From
Extremes

12. Two Major Pathways
OPTION

13. Tiered Menu of Responses 2/8/30/124

14. Adaptation Workbook

15. Worksheets To Connect the Dots

16. Four Workbook Examples

18. Workbook Testing for Agriculture
• 03/03/2016, USDA Climate Hub Workshop, Madison, WI
• 07/24/2016, Soil & Water Conservation Society, Louisville, KY
• 09/23/2016, Small Farms Conference, Virginia Beach, VA
• 02/02/2017 Pennsylvania Association For Sustainable Agriculture, PA

19. It’s Online!
USDA Climate Hubs Midwest, Northeast & Northern Forests
Currently versions
are available for
forest ecosystems,
agriculture and
urban forests.
Integrates climate
change information
from NCA and
other resources.

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21. 21
There are other frameworks

22. Other Adaptation Resources:
• Different perspectives
• Animal Ag, Wildlife, Estuaries,
& International Development
Smallholders
• A variety of land owners with
diverse goals
• Summarizing information and
help accessing decision tools

23. Creating Conservati0n Connections
and Pathways to Sustainability
23

24. Fertility
Management
Natural
System
Dynamics
Wildlife
Habitat &
Recreation
Past
Management
History
Pests &
Invasives
CropYield &
Revenue
Goals
Environmental
Outcomes
Soil
Health
And more!!
A
Changing
Climate?
Business
Requirements
Regulations and
Neighbor Relations
Will it be a wet year? Will we have a dry
spring, a hot summer, a stormyfall?

25. Parry et al. 2007, SCBD 2009, Groves et al. 2010
Consider “Win-Win-Win” opportunities

26. Producer Driven Outcomes for
Production, Profits, & Stewardship
Considerations and Effects
Vulnerable Ecosystem Services
Changing Atmospheric
Conditions
Dostie, 2016

27. Use Climate Services
to Make Considerations Relevant

29. Consider Planning Horizons

30. Current management may be fine
Same actions–
climate change
just makes them
that much more
important
Small “tweaks” that
improve effectiveness
New & different
actions to consider,
even some that may
seem wild & crazy
*individual results will vary

31. Consider Site Conditions

32. Are Adaptation and Mitigation Connected?
Consider mitigation opportunities?
Adaptingtoday withoutmitigatingimpacts on
tomorrowmay increasethe futurecostof adaptation

33. Key Principles of Adaptation
Set priorities for the most vulnerable
Consider the co-benefits of planned actions
Be flexible and creative
Take precautionary actions
Monitor & adaptively manage resources
Keys to sustaining farms, ranches, and forests
under extreme, variable and uncertain weather
and climate conditions

34. Sustainability?
The ability to provide for core societal needs into the indefinite future without
unwanted negative effects (NRC, 2010). To be sustainable, a farming system
needs to be able to continue to meet goals in the face of stresses and
fluctuating conditions; to adapt and evolve.
Resiliency?
The capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and reorganize while
undergoing change so as to still retain essentially the same function, structure,
identity, and feedbacks (Walker et al. 2002).
When it can no longer persist, time to transform
34

35. Adapting to extreme weather
& variable climate
All adjustments in natural or human systems in response to actual
or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which reduces
vulnerability, moderates harm, or exploits beneficial opportunities.

36. Strategies Create Pathways
Forestry
1. Sustain fundamental ecological functions.
2. Reduce the impact of existing biological
stressors.
3. Protect forests from severe fire and wind
disturbance.
4. Maintain or create refugia.
5. Maintain and enhance species and
structural diversity.
6. Increase ecosystem redundancy across
the landscape.
7. Promote landscape connectivity.
8. Enhance genetic diversity.
9. Facilitate community adjustments
through species transitions.
10.Plan for and respond to disturbance.
Agriculture
1. Sustain fundamental functions of soil
and water.
2. Reduce existing stressors of crops and
livestock.
3. Reduce risks from warmer and drier
conditions.
4. Reduce the risk and long-term impacts
of extreme weather.
5. Manage farms and fields as part of a
larger landscape.
6. Alter management to accommodate
expected future conditions.
7. Alter agricultural systems or lands to
new climate conditions.
8. Alter infrastructure to match new and
expected conditions.

37. Summary: Connections &
Pathways
Each decision is unique and will vary based upon:
• Place: Location & Site Conditions
• Purpose: Goals & Objectives
• People: Values, Culture, & Resources
• Level of Uncertainty: Learn as you go!
There isn’t a single path

38. Cornell’s Water Deficit Calculator
38
http://climatesmartfarming.org/tools/

39. 39

40. NRCS Climate Connections Tool
(Beta)
Step by Step Instruction Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QFjga1pwso&feature=youtu.be

41. Tool Shed
• Repository for tools
relevant to climate
adaptation and
mitigation
• Public-facing,
searchable database
• Inventory, gap analysis
• serch.us/tools
Source.

42. Workshop Summary
• Use the Adaptation Workbook as a framework
• Use decision support tools to adaptively
manage practices
• Current management may be fine, may need
small tweaks or large transformations
• Engage trusted advisors to develop win-win-
win solutions!

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Questions?
Maria Janowiak mjanowiak02@fs.fed.us for Online Workbooks
Dan Dostie daniel.dostie@pa.usda.gov NRCS role in Climate Adaptation