Vilsack lays out vision for USDA and climate change mitigation

June 6, 2013 |

In Washington, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today said that the Federal government must increase collaboration with producers, researchers and industry to develop the next generation of solutions that will help agriculture mitigate and adapt to modern climate challenges.

“Our farmers, ranchers and forest landowners are the most innovative on earth, and they’re up to the task of meeting environmental challenges that lay ahead,” Vilsack said. “We know what we’re seeing on the ground – more intense weather events, and a greater number of them. USDA will be there to support the efforts of our farmers and ranchers to adapt to these new challenges, just as we have been for decades.”

Vilsack announced that the USDA will establish seven “Regional Climate Hubs” to work in partnership with producers and foresters. The Secretary called them “Service centers for science-based risk management.” Working with other agencies, the hubs will serve as a source of regional data and information for hazard and adaptation planning in the agriculture and forest sectors. The seven regional hubs will be established for the Northeast, Midwest, Southeast, Northern Plains, Southern Plains, Pacific Northwest, and Southwest. Each hub will be the center of a network of connected activities and services and will be located in a USDA facility within its region.

Also announced:

• Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Tools Customized for Producers: NRCS will leverage technology and provide technical assistance to agriculture – both by providing new technical tools for researchers, and new tools for farmers and ranchers themselves.

• Release of the “Carbon Management and Evaluation Tool,” also known as COMET-FARM, a free online tool that will help producers calculate how much carbon their conservation actions can remove from the atmosphere. http://www.comet-farm.com/.

• The Secretary also announced the online release of data collected under the Rapid Carbon Assessment, which will be especially useful for technical experts. This assessment was carried out by NRCS beginning in 2010 to develop statistically reliable quantitative estimates of amounts and distribution of carbon stocks for U.S. soils under various land covers and, to the extent possible, differing agricultural management. Over the course of three years, NRCS collected almost 145,000 samples from 6,000 randomly selected locations.

Category: Policy

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