There is a new blog post out at the Southern Plains Perspective! Read below:
Where is the conservation partnership on Climate change? Climate Conversations in Oklahoma help shed some light on the matter:
This last fall the USDA Southern Plains Climate Hub and Oklahoma State University (OSU) embarked on a series of “climate conversation” presentations at the five area meetings of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts (OACD). In addition, as part of this effort, OSU Ag Policy Extension Specialist Dr. Amy Hagerman conducted a pre- and post- presentation survey to find out what the opinions and attitudes were of those in attendance on the subject of climate change and the role that conservation programs can play in helping ag producers both to mitigating climate change while also adapting to the extreme weather that climate change exacerbates.
What follows is a story that we wrote for our monthly newsletter concerning this effort—if you want to skip ahead and look at the actual survey, you can find it here. You can also find a link to our latest podcast interview we did with Dr. Hagerman about this effort here (link provided once podcast approved and posted)
Enjoy the story!
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What’s the level of understanding and attitude of frontline USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) personnel and their partners at the Local Conservation Districts and State Conservation Agencies when it comes to climate change and agriculture? That’s the underlying question that the USDA Southern Plains Climate Hub (Hub) and Oklahoma State University (OSU) set out to answer at a series of meetings this past fall.
Working together, OSU and the Hub undertook a series of “climate conversations” at the five area meetings held throughout the state in the month of November by the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts (OACD). The conversations consisted of a presentation on climate change and its current and anticipated impact on agriculture and how conservation programs and practices can help farmers and ranchers cope with this critical issue. OSU and the Hub also conducted two surveys—one before the presentation and one after—to help determine what the opinions of the attendees were on climate change, their knowledge level on the issue and their understanding of the role conservation plays in helping agriculture deal with our changing climate.
“We wanted this effort to be a true conversation and not just be a bunch of presenters talking to an audience,” said Dr. Amy Hagerman, Extension Specialist and Associate Ag Econ Professor at Oklahoma State University. “By having not just the presentation about climate change and agriculture but also the two surveys and the general give and take of questions and answers, we got a real feel for where the NRCS and its partners in Oklahoma were when it comes to this critical issue.”
With questions ranging from what the attendees thought about climate change and what weather changes, they have personally seen to what they knew about how conservation programs could be used to help both adapt to climate change while helping mitigate some of its root causes. Dr. Hagerman said the pre-presentation survey was designed to determine what those taking the survey understood about climate change and conservation before they heard any information from OSU and the Hub.
After the initial survey, Dr. Hagerman then made a presentation outlining information about climate change, including the impacts it’s having (and is anticipated to have) on agriculture and how conservation practices and programs can be utilized by farmers and ranchers to both adapt to and mitigate climate change. After the presentation, the audience was asked to fill out another survey asking many of the same questions as before to determine what impact, if any, the presentation had on their opinions and knowledge level. The second survey also asked what additional information or tools those in attendance felt they needed.
According to Dr. Hagerman, the results of the survey showed that climate change was something that those in attendance were taking seriously.
“When we looked at the data, we found that over 70% of those who responded believed that the climate was likely or very likely changing,” Dr. Hagerman said. “We also found that well over half of the respondents were concerned to very concerned about the impact climate change would have on Oklahoma. These numbers all went up after the presentation. This tells us that the individuals at the meeting both take climate change seriously and are open to hearing more information on the subject.”
When asked what conservation programs were critical to helping agriculture producers deal with climate change in their area, Dr. Hagerman said that water, especially water for livestock, was extremely important to survey respondents.
“Obviously the drought water is on a lot of people’s minds,” Dr. Hagerman said. “But it was clear that water for livestock and grazing were top concerns when it came to priorities in their area. There was definitely a theme with this issue in the survey.”
Another area that stood out in the survey, especially among the district directors and producers in attendance, was the need for conservation planning and technical assistance to help farmers and ranchers deal with the challenge of climate change.
“While conservation planning was important to everyone who participated in the survey, this was highest on the list of the agriculture producers in attendance,” Dr. Hagerman said. “It definitely shows the desire on the part of farmers and ranchers to have that one-on-one local information from their local service center personnel to help them understand what they can do on their own land to address ongoing and future conservation challenges.”
Dr. Hagerman said that taken in total, these conversations were helpful and provided a good snapshot of where the conservation partnership is when it comes to climate change.
“We feel that the results of this survey provide leadership at USDA a clearer picture as to where the conservation partnership of NRCS, local districts and state conservation agencies are on the issue of climate change and agriculture,” Dr. Hagerman said. “It’s our hope that NRCS can use this information to address producer needs and provide their employees and partners the tools and information they need to deal with this critical issue.” A full copy of the report is available at the USDA Southern Plains Climate Hub website (https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/hubs/southern-plains/climate-conversations-oklahoma-conservation-district-staff).
