2012 drought a wake-up call | Benefits of multi-cropping will be a major element of initiative
KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Last year’s drought served as a wake-up call for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The department realized it needs to fund more research on what producers can do to mitigate or adapt to the effects of climate change.
“There may be discussion in this country about the cause of changing climates, but there’s no question that the world is getting a bit warmer and there’s no question that we’re seeing more intense weather patterns as a result,” U.S. agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack told growers attending the 2013 Commodity Classic.
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Vilsack said the 2012 drought was a “call to action” for the USDA to help farmers adapt to climate change.
As a first step, the department has prepared two reports on the long-term implications of a changing climate for agriculture.
They will be followed by research aimed at teaching growers how to cope with too much or too little water, new pests and diseases and more frequent and violent storms.
“It’s a massive effort to recognize that these intense weather patterns are not just an isolated incident,” Vilsack told reporters after his speech.
“We are likely to see a continuing pattern of more intensity.”
One focus of the climate change research will be to show growers how to better diversify their operations.
“It occurred to us that we weren’t doing as good a job as we should talking about or educating producers about the benefits of multi-cropping,” Vilsack told growers.
He believes significant conservation benefits and marketing opportunities are available to growers who switch to a multi-cropping or cover cropping production system.
Vilsack said the USDA needs to do a better job communicating to growers how biomass can be used to create chemicals, plastics, fibres and fabrics, thereby reducing America’s reliance on fossil fuels.
“There are literally unlimited opportunities.”
