Understanding Farmer Perspectives on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation

Abstract

Agriculture is vulnerable to climate change and a source of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Farmers face pressures to adjust agricultural systems to make them more resilient in the face of increasingly variable weather (adaptation) and reduce GHG production (mitigation). This research examines relationships between Iowa farmers’ trust in environmental or agricultural interest groups as sources of climate information, climate change beliefs, perceived climate risks to agriculture, and support for adaptation and mitigation responses. Results indicate that beliefs varied with trust, and beliefs in turn had a significant direct effect on perceived risks from climate change. Support for adaptation varied with perceived risks, while attitudes toward GHG reduction (mitigation) were associated predominantly with variation in beliefs. Most farmers were supportive of adaptation responses, but few endorsed GHG reduction, suggesting that outreach should focus on interventions that have adaptive and mitigative properties (e.g., reduced tillage, improved fertilizer management).

What would farmers do? Adaptation intentions under a Corn Belt climate change scenario

“…In particular, concerns about excess water or risk of soil erosion were significant in all three models. The perception of weather-related risks has been found to be a critical driver in motivating farmers to shift their production and conservation practices, particularly in relation to climate change adaptation (Arbuckle et al 2013c;Hyland et al 2015). Our findings suggest that there is a relationship between positive attitudes towards adaptation and higher levels of perceived risks associated with extreme weather, which is similarly found in previous literature (Brody et al 2008;Arbuckle et al 2013a).…”

“…In particular, the variable measuring whether farmers think that they should take additional steps to protect the land that they farm, I Adapt, was critical for explaining intention to increase the use of all three practices. Farmers are adapters; this is what they do in the context of maintaining viable farm systems (OECD 2012;Arbuckle et al 2013c), and in particular, those who see it as their responsibility to protect their farm from weather related risks were more likely to intend engagement in adaptive strategies. The significance of this variable emphasizes the importance that farmers place on individual responsibility to protect their land from increased weather variability; however, the variable measuring whether, collectively, farmers should take additional steps to protect farmland from increased weather variability, Farmers Adapt, was not significant in any of the models.…”

Communicating Climate Change: A Qualitative Study Exploring how Communicators and Educators are Approaching Climate-Change Discussions

“…Agricultural producers make distinctions between climate variability and anthropogenic climate change (Campbell Hibbs et al, 2014), and discuss climate shifts (Arbuckle, Morton, & Hobbs, 2013b). It is important to realize that individuals perceive climate change in a variety of ways and prioritize different values, making it clear that climate change cannot be responded to in a single way (O'Brien & Wolf, 2010).…”

Journal of Applied Communications 100(3) Full Issue

“…Agricultural producers make distinctions between climate variability and anthropogenic climate change (Campbell Hibbs et al, 2014), and discuss climate shifts (Arbuckle, Morton, & Hobbs, 2013b Social media has been identified as one way for organizations to interactively communicate and build relationships (Jun, 2011). Climate-change organizations in the United States that promote their social media pages on their websites use Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, most often (Jun, 2011).…”