By Tom Driscoll, Director of Conservation Policy and NFU Foundation As discussed previously in the Climate Column, trees sequester carbon that, if left in the atmosphere, would trap heat and contribute to climate change. Growing trees on farmland allows producers to store more carbon while simultaneously achieving other advantages for their farms’ productivity. The National Agroforestry Center (NAC) shares information on … Read More
Climate Column
What Can Farmers Do About Climate Change? Forest Farming
By Tom Driscoll, Director of Conservation Policy and NFU Foundation Last week, the Climate Column discussed one practice, alley cropping, that builds climate resilience of farmland by incorporating trees. The National Agroforesty Center (NAC) promotes other such practices, including forest farming. Forest farming “is the cultivation of high-value specialty crops under the protection of a forest canopy that has been … Read More
What Can Farmers Do About Climate Change? Alley Cropping
By Tom Driscoll, Director of Conservation Policy and NFU Foundation The Climate Column has covered many practices supported by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). In addition to its own work promoting conservation practices, NRCS also collaborates with the United States Forest Service to provide resources through the National Agroforestry Center (NAC) to help farmers contribute to climate resilience. NAC promotes … Read More
What Do Farmers Need to Know About Climate Change? United States Mid-Century Strategy for Deep Decarbonization
By Tom Driscoll, NFU Director of Conservation Policy and Education National Farmers Union (NFU) members understand the negative impacts of climate change are exacerbated by greater concentrations of greenhouse gasses in the Earth’s atmosphere. Everyone in the world should be concerned about the broad consequences of climate change, but family farmers are particularly worried about the direct impact climate change … Read More
What Can Farmers Do About Climate Change? Forage and Biomass Planting
By Thomas Driscoll, NFU Director of Conservation Policy and Education Since October, when the Climate Column started featuring ways farmers can address climate change, we have primarily discussed practices to build climate resilience in crop production. There are, of course, many things livestock producers can do about climate change as well. Livestock producers often have … Read More
What Can Farmers Do About Climate Change? Vegetative Barriers
By Thomas Driscoll, NFU Director of Conservation Policy and Education Installing vegetative barriers, defined by the US Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA NRCS) as “permanent strips of stiff, dense vegetation established along the general contour of slopes or across concentrated areas,” is another way producers can adapt to and mitigate climate change. … Read More
What Can Farmers Do About Climate Change? Stripcropping
By Thomas Driscoll, NFU Director of Conservation Policy and Education As noted frequently here at the Climate Column (for example, in last week’s post on grassed waterways), preventing soil erosion is an important way farmers can adapt to and mitigate climate change. Impeding erosion improves soil health. This, in turn, allows soil to both store … Read More
What Can Farmers Do About Climate Change? Grassed Waterways
By Thomas Driscoll, Director of Conservation Policy and Education The Climate Column has discussed several practices to avoid soil erosion, such as no-till and cover crops, that farmers can use to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Preventing erosion is critical to building healthy soils that store carbon from the atmosphere, mitigating the negative impacts … Read More
What Can Farmers Do About Climate Change? Filter Strips
By Trixie Wessel, NFU Intern NFU’s Climate Column recently covered the practice of creating field borders. This week, we’re talking about a similar practice: filter strips. Filter strips, also known as buffer strips, are areas of vegetation planted between cropland and surface water to obstruct the passage of sediment and pollutants into environmentally sensitive areas. Filter strips trap suspended solids … Read More
What Can Farmers Do About Climate Change? Field Borders
By Trixie Wessel, NFU Intern In the past, the Climate Column has discussed practices such as strip-till, no-till, and cover crops to prevent erosion and improve soil health. Another important practice with similar benefits is the establishment of field borders, strips of vegetation at the perimeter of a field. Generally composed of stiff-stemmed upright grasses or … Read More
Why Do Farmers Care About Climate Change? Warmer Winters
By Tom Somrack, NFU Government Relations Intern As previously noted on the Climate Column, rising temperatures resulting from climate change can have serious repercussions for both crop growers and livestock producers. In addition to the basic issues related to rising temperatures, warmer winters pose their own unique set of potential problems for producers. USDA’s Regional Vulnerability Assessments explain how a decrease in … Read More
What Can Farmers Do About Climate Change? Mulch Till
By Alexis Dunnum, NFU Intern In previous blog posts, the NFU Climate Column covered both no-till and strip-till practices as climate friendly alternatives to conventional methods. Both of these alternative conservation tilling methods allow the soil to retain more water than conventional methods, giving crops the opportunity to thrive even during dry spells. Yet another of … Read More
What Can Farmers Do About Climate Change? Contour Farming
By Alexis Dunnum, NFU Intern As stated in the NFU Climate Column on extreme precipitation, “Projected increases in heavy precipitation combined with milder winters is expected to increase total runoff and peak stream flow during the winter and spring, which may increase the magnitude or frequency of flooding.” With heavy rainfall likely to occur more often, … Read More
What Can Farmers Do About Climate Change? Strip-Till
By Alexis Dunnum, NFU Intern As discussed in the recent Climate Column post on no-till farming, practicing alternatives to tilling can increase the amount of organic matter in the soil, allowing for water retention even during dry periods. Another tilling alternative that has the many of the same soil benefits is strip-till. Strip-till is a conservation … Read More
What Can Farmers Do About Climate Change? Cover Crops
By Alexis Dunnum, NFU Intern In the previous Climate Leaders post, we discussed the soil health benefits of no-till farming, and we will soon discuss strip-till, and mulch till. Although these practices vary slightly, something they all have in common is their use of crop residue, which comes from using cover crops. According to the … Read More
What Can Farmers Do About Climate Change? No-Till
By Alexis Dunnum, NFU Intern Previous NFU Climate Column posts have explained that drought and erosion from extreme precipitation are anticipated to become more prevalent if the planet continues to heat up. When tilling is avoided, the organic matter within the soil can attract and retain water. This ensures proper hydration for the plant, even during dry … Read More
What Can Farmers Do About Climate Change? Adaptation
By Tom Driscoll, NFU Director of Conservation Policy and Education USDA’s report Climate Change and Agriculture in the United States: Effects and Adaptation states that “Climate change presents an unprecedented challenge to the adaptive capacity of U.S. agriculture. Current climate change effects are increasing the complexity and uncertainty of agricultural management.” NFU’s blog has highlighted many … Read More
What Can Farmers Do About Climate Change? Mitigation
By Tom Driscoll, NFU Director of Conservation Policy and Education Through the Climate Column posts to date, NFU has been pointing out the challenges to ensuring food security that farmers face as climate change impacts the natural systems upon which they rely to grow food. Farmers’ dependence on these systems places them among the first … Read More
Why Do Farmers Care About Climate Change? Waste Management
By Tom Somrack, NFU Government Relations Intern All livestock create manure and waste, and how this waste is managed can influence climate change. According to USDA’s Building Blocks for Climate Smart Agriculture, manure management programs can significantly decrease greenhouse gas emissions. When livestock manure is treated and stored in anaerobic conditions, decomposition results in large emissions of … Read More
Why Do Farmers Care About Climate Change? Forage and Grazing Lands
By Tom Somrack, NFU Government Relations Intern Grazing lands continue to be under pressure by countless factors, including: cropland conversion, wildlife, an increase in forestation, urbanization, and climate change. Grazing and Pasture Lands have been named by Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, as one of the Building Blocks for Climate Smart Agriculture. USDA has set … Read More
Why Do Farmers Care About Climate Change? Pathogens and Parasites
By Tom Somrack, NFU Government Relations Intern Climate change affects the rate and spread of pathogen and parasitic diseases. According to the USDA Regional Vulnerability Assessments, warmer temperatures have resulted in insects, weeds, and crop diseases moving north and to higher elevations, or surviving winters that used to keep them in check. Overall, pest, weed, and … Read More
Why Do Farmers Care About Climate Change? Pest and Weed Pressure
By Tom Driscoll, NFU Director of Conservation Policy and Education Prior posts to NFU’s blog on climate change’s impacts on wildfire and temperature increases mention changing and increasing pest and weed pressure as negative consequences of climate change. Changing and increasing pest and weed pressure are concerns in all continental U.S. Climate Hub Regions. Farmers know … Read More
Why Do Farmers Care About Climate Change? Rising Sea Levels
By Tom Somrack, NFU Government Relations Intern It is no surprise that rising sea levels are caused and accelerated by a changing planet and climate. But, an increase in sea levels can affect more than just the coastal lands. For example, according to USDA’s Regional Vulnerability Assessments, “Threats from sea level rise also include the loss of … Read More
Why Do Farmers Care About Climate Change? Wildfire
By Tom Driscoll, NFU Director of Conservation Policy and Education Previous posts to NFU’s blog explained that climate change increases the risk of drought. Drought is an enormous obstruction undermining farmers’ ability to ensure increased global food security. Drought also increases the likelihood of another problem for producers: wildfire. USDA’s Northwest Regional Climate Hubs Assessment … Read More
Why Do Farmers Care About Climate Change? Extreme Precipitation
By Tom Driscoll, NFU Director of Conservation Policy and Education For farmers, rain is generally a good thing. Crops don’t grow without water, and other NFU Climate Column posts discuss the problems farmers do and will encounter getting enough rain and water as climate change progresses. But farmers also know that too much rain all at … Read More