Location: Rangeland Resources & Systems Research
2022 Annual Report
Objectives
Enable climate-smart decision-making by developing science-based, region-specific information, tools and technologies for agricultural and natural resource managers, and provide assistance where possible to enhance adoption and implementation of the same. The work will be conducted as the Northern Plains USDA Climate Change Hub and will be coordinated with NRCS, FS, and other USDA and non-USDA organizations in accordance with guidance found in the USDA Climate Change Hubs Charter, and Terms of Reference.
Objective 2: Expand and enhance each Hub’s research and communication capacity and ensure integration of ARS research outcomes from across the region into Hub outreach assets.
Approach
The climate hubs relate directly to the Sustainable Agricultural Systems Research National Program (NP216) Action Plan (2018-2022), Component 3. Achieving Agroecosystem Potential and these problem statements: Problem Statement 3a. Sustaining Intensified Production; Problem Statement 3b. Enhancing ecosystem services; and Problem Statement 3c. Enabling decision support for sustainability.
Progress Report
The USDA Northern Plains Climate Hub’s efforts are guided by its fiscal year (FY) 2022 Work Plan, which contains three Themes and seven Objectives. Progress towards each Objective is described below by Theme.
Theme 1: Science and data syntheses; Objective 1.1: Support climate adaptation planning in National Grasslands of the Northern Plains. Progress towards this objective in fiscal year 2022 includes on-going efforts to prepare two climate vulnerability assessments. First, the northern mixed-grass prairie assessment is nearing completion, with a draft report that has been presented to twelve grassland managers whose input was then incorporated into the current draft. A final version will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal soon. Second, an assessment for Thunder Basin National Grassland is in development. We met with six grassland managers from the U.S. Forest Service to identify climate-related management challenges they face, which helped inform an outline. A literature synthesis is now underway.
Goal 1.2: Raise the profile of USDA’s climate-related research and programs. Progress includes service on the Federal Government Review Panel for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report from Working Group, and co-authorship on the Fifth National Climate Assessment chapter on Agriculture, Food Systems and Rural Communities. In both roles, we have used ARS research to help strengthen the scientific basis of the reports. Other accomplishments include invited presentations at three high-profile events, reaching 360 national and international participants, during which we emphasized the USDA Northern Plains Climate Hub’s partnerships within USDA and beyond. The first presentation was for a briefing hosted by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and other partners. The second presentation was part of a workshop hosted by the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project. These two presentations highlighted stakeholder engagement within USDA ARS’s Long-Term Agroecological Research (LTAR) network, and collaborations with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), university researchers and extension. The third presentation was for a featured panel session organized by the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), where we described our role in a project they funded, “Native Climate,” which supports a cohort of fellows from underserved tribal communities.
Theme 2: Technology/tool co-development and support; Objective 2.1: Improve a rangeland tool to enable climate-informed decision-making. Progress towards this objective involves improving Grass-Cast, a grassland production forecasting tool (https://grasscast.unl.edu), which is a product of the USDA Northern Plains Climate Hub and many partners. We improved the Grass-Cast website, based on land manager feedback, to provide precipitation information underlying the Grass-Cast model. Users can now decide for themselves whether precipitation assumed in the model is similar enough to precipitation received on their rangelands to enhance trust in Grass-Cast’s production estimates for their area. Additional progress includes an updated introductory video on the Grass-Cast website (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ih9ftSgTTQ), a new video in collaboration with the National Climate Hub Office (https://youtu.be/3zFP2L0ZpBc), and presentations that reached over 550 stakeholders during 11 events.
Objective 2.2: Enhance collaboration and co-development among rangeland scientists, tool developers, and users. Progress includes a session at the 2022 Society for Range Management annual meeting, “Bringing ranchers and researchers together to create the ultimate ranch drought plan," which 85 people attended and resulted in a synthesis report (https://www.drought.unl.edu/Publications/News.aspx?id=386). Additionally, we facilitated a webinar for the Grass-Cast science team and Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) to discuss a potential future Rangeland Model Intercomparison and Improvement (RangeMIP) effort. This led to an invited Hub presentation during an AgMIP workshop on “Making climate-smart agriculture work,” reaching 140 attendees. Lastly, an emerging effort is a recently NRCS-funded proposal with partners from a tribal agency, non-governmental organization, and university, which will support a rangeland re-seeding trial, demonstration site, outreach, and education activities with a tribe in Colorado.
Theme 3: Outreach, convening, and training; Objective 3.1: Increase climate awareness and resilience among working land managers, professionals, and disadvantaged communities; also build agricultural literacy among climate professionals. A major accomplishment is the release of a new Story Map, “What does resilience mean to western ranchers?” (https://go.usa.gov/xzvq5). The story map shares insights from 63 livestock producers and rangeland managers in seven western communities about the changes they are experiencing and adaptation efforts. Viewed 650 times in its first three months, and presented at two professional events, this story map is improving public understanding of rangeland ecosystems. Another set of accomplishments is five presentations about climate change to: emergency managers with the Federal Emergency Management Agency; the Nature Conservancy in Nebraska, South Dakota, and Minnesota; and tribal, federal, and state agency representatives on the Hub’s Joint Stakeholder Committee.
Objective 3.2: Convene and foster partnerships to increase capacity to use climate-smart practices. Two significant accomplishments are as follows. First, we continue to lead the multi-agency Wyoming Conditions Monitoring Team, which has improved partnerships between 20 federal and state agencies. This team hosts monthly webinars for the public, meets monthly to discuss weather conditions in the state, submits reports to the U.S. Drought Monitor, and manages a listserv and website (https://drought.wyo.gov). Second, we are a member of the Colorado Drought Advisors team, which hosted a series of workshops to increase the capacity of agricultural advisors to help land managers prepare for drought. Emerging efforts include the formation of a multi-agency steering committee for an NRCS-funded AgroClimate Train-the-Trainer Workshop that will take place in Montana in 2023, and the launching of two NIFA-funded projects in partnership with university Extension partners to expand climate-related outreach in the region, including for tribal communities.
Objective 3.3: Communicate relevant, timely, and science-based information about climate. Progress includes a monthly column “Connecting Ag to Climate” in a regional agricultural newspaper, a monthly radio spot on a local station about current agricultural topics such as drought, and contributions to a new video series about the Climate Hubs (led by the National Climate Hub Office and available at https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/videos), including one about Tribal Nation engagement and another about Grass-Cast.
Accomplishments
1. Building climate change knowledge of emergency managers. Emergency managers are the frontline personnel who assist communities during and after disasters. They need climate change information to better anticipate and prepare for more frequent and extreme disaster events. ARS climate hub researchers from Fort Collins, Colorado, in collaboration with other ARS climate researchers and leaders, helped the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) plan and facilitate a climate adaptation seminar for Region 8 emergency managers. ARS shared their specialized knowledge of climate change in working lands of the region during this event and two other invited FEMA webinars. These events reached 380 emergency managers from 19 states and 68 organizations, predominately local, state, and regional government. Attendees increased their networking with partners, awareness of climate resources, and ability to recognize climate change impacts in their region.
