- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
An ag-climate workshop for UC Cooperative Extension, Resource Conservation District and Natural Resources Conservation Service colleagues is being co-organized by UC ANR and USDA California Climate Hub.
The free workshop, “Managing Agriculture Under Climate and Weather Extremes,” will be held Wednesday, Oct. 16, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the UC Cooperative Extension office at 1432 Abbot St. in Salinas. Lunch will be provided.
Workshop participants will be introduced to:
- Foundational climate knowledge and the effects of climate change on California's agricultural systems
- Interactive web-based tools that can provide insights into the potential effects of climate change on producers in your area in the short- and long-term
- A resource for guiding climate-informed planning and a suite of strategies for responding to evolving environmental challenges
“Participants will have an opportunity to build connections among other professionals in the field,” said co-organizer Tapan Pathak, UCCE agricultural climate adaptation specialist based at UC Merced. “At this time we only have spots for 25 participants so people should sign up soon.”
Tentative agenda:
10 a.m. – Welcome, introductions and NIFA project description
10:30 a.m. – Climate change and extreme weather in agriculture
Learning objective: Increase understanding of climate change and extreme weather. Have a better understanding of climate change impacts on agriculture in the Central Coast
11 a.m. – Adaptation workbook activity and tool building using Cal-Adapt
Learning objective: Learn tools to better understand climate change impacts and how that can influence management plans
12:15 p.m. – Lunch
1 p.m. – Continue adaptation workbook activity
2:15 p.m. – Break
2:25 p.m. – Tool building tutorial on CalAgroClimate with Tapan Pathak
Learning objective: Understand how CalAgroClimate could support you
2:35 p.m. – Group Discussion
Learning objective: Learn from peers what they are doing in this space and what they might be struggling with.
3:15 p.m. – Resources, survey and adjourn
To register, visit https://forms.gle/3jJaDdNHCMsXXuoF7.
If you have any questions, or need help with travel, please reach out to Kimber Moreland of USDA California Climate Hub at kcmoreland@ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
The Climate Analogs Academy is recruiting 12 Cooperative Extension professionals from around the U.S. to engage in dialogue, workshops and get paid to visit specialty crop experts around the country throughout the 2025 calendar year.
“I participated in the 2024 academy and it was a great experience,” said Monica Cooper, UC Cooperative Extension director and viticulture advisor for Napa County.
The Climate Analogs Academy is a USDA NIFA Extension Climate Hub Partnerships Project (20236701339348) led by Washington State University's Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources.
The academy is designed to empower Cooperative Extension professionals to lead regional climate-change adaptation in specialty crops. To overcome common pitfalls of climate change education, its strategy is to build dialogue around technical information and develop strategic relationships.
The academy focuses on U.S. Cooperative Extension professionals due to their unique position as trusted advisors with farmers, their investment in communication skills and their experience in learning from and partnering with diverse resources and organizations.
For more information about the program, eligibility and the application, visit https://csanr.wsu.edu/educational-opportunities/climate-analogs-academy/.
Applications accepted until Oct. 18.
- Author: Samuel Ikendi, Tapan Pathak, Vikram Koundinya
“Climate Smart Agriculture: Assessing Needs and Perceptions of California's Farmers,” published on June 14, 2024, in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, is an article based on the results of statewide survey by UC ANR scientists and their collaborators. This effort is part of the USDA-NIFA Pathways to Climate-Smart Ag project. The survey was distributed statewide and 341 farmers responded.
The findings showed that 67% of the farmers agree that climate change is happening, and 53.1% agreed that actions are required. Significantly, historically underrepresented farmers were “very concerned” about climate change-related impacts related to water resources, temperatures and natural disasters.
The study found that some farmers are currently implementing adaptation practices related to water resources management, soil health and renewable energy and are also seeking insurance and government assistance programs to enhance their resilience to climate change. Farmers also expressed “interest” and “high need” for more information on those adaptation practices to manage various challenges of farming in the current and future variable climates.
The study identified that more than half of the farmers believe the most “significant barriers” to adaptation are mainly government regulations (53.1%), followed by high input cost (46.9%), labor access/cost (35.2%), access to water (33.5%), and access to investment capital/funds (32.4%).
The needs assessment also established that farmers use climate decision-support tools (47.5%), mostly weather stations; and 51.9% indicated their interest in using online tools designed to translate climate information into forms that support production decision-making. On extension education and information access, farmers responded that they will likely attend workshops to learn about adaptation practices (60.8%).
The findings of this needs assessment are being used to develop and deliver climate smart agriculture programs for farmers and ranchers in California.
The project is led by Tapan Pathak, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in climate adaptation in agriculture based at UC Merced, as the project director. Steven Ostoja, director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture California Climate Hub, and Vikram Koundinya, UCCE evaluation specialist, serve as co-PDs, with support from Leslie Roche, UCCE rangeland management specialist; Daniele Zaccaria, UC Davis associate professor and UCCE agricultural water management specialist; and Mark Cooper, UC Davis assistant professor in community and regional development.
The article was written by a team with diverse expertise in climate and agricultural sciences, social sciences, and extension academics and evaluation experts. Authors include Samuel Ikendi, Natalia Pinzon, Koundinya, Namah Taku-Forchu, Roche, Ostoja, Lauren Parker, Zaccaria, Cooper, Jairo Diaz-Ramirez, Sonja Brodt, Mark Battany, Jhalendra Rijal and Pathak.
Reference
Ikendi, S., Pinzon, N., Koundinya, V., Taku-Forchu, N, Roche, L., Ostoja, S., Parker, L., Zaccaria, D., Cooper, M., Diaz-Ramirez, J., Brodt, S., Battany, M., Rijal, J., & Pathak, T. (2024). Climate smart agriculture: Assessing needs and perceptions of California's farmers. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 8, 1395547. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2024.1395547
- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
A free webinar series titled “Trees to the Rescue: Solutions for Climate Change” will be held on May 14-16, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. each day. The webinars are sponsored by the University of California Thelma Hansen Fund.
“The webinars aim to increase our understanding of the role of trees in mitigating climate change, how to plant the right trees and keep them healthy in urban environments, and the challenges of increasing the number of trees at the local level,” said AnnemiekSchilder, director of Hansen Agricultural Research and Extension Center, who is organizing the series. Hansen REC is operated by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources.
The agendas for each 90-minute webinar are listed below. To register, visit https://surveys.ucanr.edu/survey.cfm?surveynumber=42636.
Tuesday, May 14: Trees as a Tool for Climate Change Mitigation and Resilience
4 pm Welcome—Annemiek Schilder, Director of Hansen Agricultural Research and Extension Center
4:05 pm Opening Remarks—Matt LaVere, Ventura County Supervisor District 1
4:10 pm Improving Outcomes of Tree Growing and Forest Restoration Efforts—Karen Holl, Professor of Environmental Studies, UC Santa Cruz
4:50 pm Climate Resilience through Urban Greening—Edith de Guzman, UC Cooperative Extension Specialist, Water Equity and Adaptation Policy, UCLA
5:30 pm Closing—Annemiek Schilder
Wednesday, May 15: Optimizing Tree Survival in a Changing Climate
4 pm Welcome—Emma Volk, Production Horticulture Advisor, UCCE Ventura and Santa Barbara counties
4:05 pm Cooling Urban Heat Islands with Climate-Resilient Trees—Janet Hartin, Environmental Horticulture Advisor, UCCE Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties
4:30 pm Keeping Trees Healthy from Sapling to Maturity—James Downer, Environmental Horticulture & Plant Pathology Advisor Emeritus, UCCE Ventura County
5:05 pm Dealing with the Inevitable Threat of Exotic and Invasive Pests—John Kabashima, Environmental Horticulture Advisor Emeritus, UCCE Orange County
5:30 pm Closing— Emma Volk
Thursday, May 16: Tree Advocacy and Planning at the Local Level
4 pm Welcome—Julie Clark, Natural Resources Community Education Specialist, UCCE Ventura County
4:05 pm Native Tree Restoration with Partners and the Public—Joey Algiers, Restoration Ecologist, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
4:30 pm Panel Discussion (Joey Algiers, moderator):
- Joey Algiers, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
- Mireille Vargas, County of Ventura Sustainability Division
- Mikaela Randolph, Green Schoolyards America
- Jan Scow, Registered Consulting Arborist, Ojai Valley
- Max Young, Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council
5:30 pm Closing— Julie Clark
- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
More than 40 Cooperative Extension professionals from across the U.S. and outlying territories gathered recently in Tucson, Arizona, for Cooperative Extension's first national Climate Action Convening.
Individuals from land-grant institutions met with USDA leaders to discuss how the Extension system can quickly and effectively contribute to climate change solutions.
The event was hosted by the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy's Climate Program Action Team.
“Using insights gathered at the Climate Action Convening, Extension Foundation and collaborators will co-create a series of logic models,” wrote Rose Hayden-Smith, UCCE advisor emeritus and Extension Foundation's chief editor. “These logic models will be incorporated into a white paper about the outcomes Extension believes it is best positioned to achieve through active and new climate programs, projects, and resources. The anticipated release date for the white paper is Spring 2024.”
Tapan Pathak, UC Cooperative Extension climate adaptation specialist based at UC Merced, and Sarah-Mae Nelson, UC Climate Stewards Initiative academic coordinator, participated.
Read more about the Climate Action Convening at https://connect.extension.org/blog/extension-professionals-unite-at-historic-climate-action-convening.
