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USFRA says ag needs science-driven focus to combat climate change

The head of U.S. Farmers and Ranchers in Action (USFRA) says agriculture needs additional resources to predict the long-term impacts of climate change.

CEO Erin Fitzgerald tells Brownfield producers should have climate-smart risk modeling. “So that our farmers as they are making decisions on their farms, we can see 5, 10, 15 years out what that does.  We are definitely not at that place.”

She says weather extremes pose the biggest threat to farmers and ranchers. “Eight out of the last 10 seasons have been faced with extreme and episodic events. Our message is this is no longer message as usual. Our farmers need new risk-based tools. We need new financial-long term contracts. We’re going to need new forms of mitigating risk that is now becoming very inherent in what we do.”  

And, Fitzgerald says, risk and volatility are becoming the new normal. “It is how we build in these new business models that look at adaptation, that look at risk and figure out how our supply chain can adapt quickly is, I think, front and center.”

She says there have been advancements in climate-smart data tools for farmers, cover cropping systems and drone technology.

Erin Fitzgerald, CEO of USFRA: