Agricultural production is highly sensitive to weather and climate, which affect when farmers and land managers plant seeds or harvest crops. These conditions also factor into decision-making, when people decide to make capital investments or plant trees in an agroforestry system.
A new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture focuses on how agricultural systems are impacted by climate change and offers a list of 20 indicators that provide a broad look at what’s happening across the country.
The report, “Climate Indicators for Agriculture,” is co-authored by Colorado State University’s Peter Backlund, associate director of the School of Global Environmental Sustainability.
Backlund said the research team started with the scientific fact that climate change is underway.
Read more at Colorado State University
Image: "We want to help farmers, ranchers and land managers adapt better under climate change, which requires understanding what is actually happening on the ground," said Peter Backlund, Colorado State University. (Credit: Joe Mendoza/CSU Photography)