USDA Climate Hubs Annual Report 2019-2020

USDA's Climate Hubs are a unique collaboration across the department's agencies. They are led by  Agricultural Research Service  and  Forest Service  senior Directors located at ten regional locations, with contributions from many other programs including the  Natural Resources Conservation Service ,  Farm Service Agency,   Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service , and the  Risk Management Agency . The Climate Hubs link USDA research and program agencies in their regional delivery of timely and authoritative tools and information to agricultural producers and professionals. To learn more about the Climate Hub governance  read the founding Charter. 

Robust and healthy agricultural production and natural resources under increasing climate variability and climate change.

The mission of the Climate Hubs is to develop and deliver science-based, region-specific information and technologies, with USDA agencies and partners, to agricultural and natural resource managers that enable climate-informed decision-making, and to provide access to assistance to implement those decisions. This is in alignment with the USDA mission to provide leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, rural development, nutrition, and related issues based on sound public policy, the best available science, and efficient management.

The Climate Hubs were highly productive in FY2020, despite a mid-year pivot to virtual outreach due to the ongoing pandemic. The Climate Hubs program leveraged innovative approaches to reach diverse groups of stakeholders to convey climate science and implement technology transfer. Some of these approaches include virtual adaptation demonstration tours, extensive online-course curricula, podcasts, and webinars to reach their stakeholders. 2020 has been a year of extremes; 16 weather/climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion have already occurred in nine months. This year ties previous records for total year disasters, (16) in 2011 and 2017, and is the 6th year with 10 or more $1 billion climate or weather disasters according to NOAA’s National Center for Environmental Information. [1] 

Despite all these challenges, the Hub regions continue to ensure their stakeholders are being heard, and provided with relevant, useful information as they work to manage their land in a changing environment. In compliance with the Hub program’s foundational documents, a team of Executive Committee members completed the  5-year review  in January. The review contains feedback from just over 200 partners and staff to help guide the program over the next five years. Additionally, Hub regions hit hard by hurricanes and tropical storms have published post-disaster best practice and pre-disaster resilience manuals. Interior regions affected by drought are working closely with regional partners to communicate adaptation strategies to minimize damage as the Midwest and Great Plains anticipate a dry winter due to  La Niña conditions . The western regions are identifying more sustainable reforestation strategies and water management techniques after the ravaging wildfires that scoured their regions this summer. Finally, the Northern Forest and Northeast regions continue to provide outstanding outreach and education opportunities to various working land managers as they develop plans to manage their land in a changing climate.

 [1]  See: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/

California is the top agricultural state in the nation, producing more than 400 agricultural commodities on more than 43 million acres of cropland and grazing land. California grows more than one-third of the nation's vegetables and more than two-third of U.S.-grown fruits and nuts. The state is also the top dairy-producing state in the nation, and home to a thriving livestock industry. California also contains more than 30 million acres of forest lands,, more than half of which is federally owned and managed by the U.S. Forest Service. Through close  partnerships , the  California Climate Hub  develops science-based, region-specific information to support land and natural resource managers in making climate-informed decisions. Highlighted below are some key accomplishments from 2019-2020, which include research and syntheses, decision support tools, and outreach and education efforts.

The California Climate Hub is directed by  Dr. Steven Ostoja  (center). The Hub's mission is also supported by the efforts of Hub coordinator and science fellow  Dr. Lauren Parker  (left), and Assistant Communication Specialist in Forestry and Climate Adaptation  Jennifer Smith  (right).

The  USDA Caribbean Climate Hub  provides knowledge, tools, and outreach to the southernmost and easternmost of the Climate Hub Regions. A high diversity of soils and tropical weather conditions supports the production of a great variety of agricultural products across the two archipelagos - more than 100 different crops are cultivated in Puerto Rico alone (Agricultural Statistics 2020). Tropical forests on the islands include more than 750 tree species, many highly valued for fruit and wood products. The majority of farm operations are considered small-holding with limited capital and face challenges adapting to frequent droughts, hurricanes, and changing climate (Gould et al., 2018). Agriculture includes products such as coffee, tropical fruits, ornamentals, beans, root crops, livestock, rangeland, dairy products, and vegetables. The wood product industry all but disappeared in the 1980s but has been redefined and is growing in concert with the concept of ecological forest management and best use of salvage wood from storms and urban forestry.

The Caribbean Hub works with the Territorial government of the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and many partners from University, Federal, state, and private organizations involved in land management and planning. The Caribbean Hub delivers science-based knowledge and practical information in  Spanish  and  English  to help farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners adapt to climate change and weather variability.

 USDA Northeast Climate Hub  is building network collaborations and  partnerships , connecting stakeholders to climate-related resources, and working to fill in information gaps where needed. The 12 Northeast states form a diverse and complex agricultural region. It includes the seven most densely populated states, but is also the most heavily forested region of the country. Production is varied with vegetables, horticulture, fruit production, and specialty crops supplementing dairy, poultry, and field and grain crops.

 Read more in our newsletters! 

The eight states of the  Midwest Climate Hub  cover much of the area often called the “Corn Belt”, as four of the top 5 corn state and six of the top seven soybean producing states are in this region. But this region offers a diversity of agricultural and forestry production beyond corn and soybean. Agriculture in the Midwest represents one of the most intense areas of production in the world and affects the global economy. In 2012, Midwestern states had a market value of crop and livestock products sold of over $120 billion, encompassing corn, soybean, livestock, vegetables, fruits, tree nuts, berries, nursery and greenhouse plants and complex forest ecosystems. The Midwest encompasses forests that support local communities and provide clean water to millions of Americans. Large numbers of hogs chickens, eggs and cattle are produced in the region.

The  USDA Northern Forests Climate Hub  (NFCH) develops and delivers science-based information to help natural resources managers and woodland owners integrate climate change information into planning, decision making, and management activities. As the name implies, the “Northern Forests” Hub provides particular focus to the forest sector in a 20-state footprint of the Upper Midwest and Northeast where we find not only 40% of the nation’s forests, but also more than 40% of its people. The Northern Forests Climate Hub collaborates with the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science (NIACS), and the USDA Climate Change Resource Center. Additionally, the Hub works nationally supporting other Hubs and organizations in ecosystem adaptation.

In 2020, the NFCH built upon the central tenets of our work, which is to provide:

• Technical support for land managers to respond to drought, heat stress, floods, pests, shifts in habitat suitability, sea level rise and coastal erosion of forests, and any other forest and ecosystem challenges in the context of climate change.
• Regional assessments on ecosystem vulnerability and adaptation planning.
• Outreach and education for land managers to understand climate change, and education on adaptation in order to minimize risks.

The  USDA Northern Plains Climate Hub  (NPCH) serves six states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. The NPCH is housed within the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Fort Collins, CO.

In 2020, the NPCH's accomplishments ranged from outreach at local and national events to science synthesis and tool development. For example, the Hub hosted interactive tradeshow booths at the Society for Range Management's annual conference, in collaboration with the USDA-NRCS. NPCH also synthesized ARS research for crop producers by developing a new webpage,  "No-Till: From Science to Practice."  Lastly, the Hub expanded Grass-Cast, an innovative decision support tool, highlighted below!

The  Northwest Climate Hub  serves Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington with information and technology to guide climate-informed decision making. We work with farmers, ranchers, forest landowners, Native American tribes, natural resource managers, and technology transfer specialists to generate sustainable and productive working landscapes in the Northwest.

The Northwest Climate Hub (NWCH)is headquartered at the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station. This year NWCH welcomed a new director,  Dr. Jessica Halofsky , located in Olympia, Washington, who also directs the  Western Wildland Environmental Threats Assessment Center . The Hub also welcomed  Dr. Hailey Wilmer , a research social scientist based in Juneau, Alaska.

Read our  monthly newsletter  to learn more!

The  USDA Southeast Climate Hub (SECH)  is part of the USFS, Southern Research Station, Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center and is located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. SECH serves 11 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

The  Southern Plains Climate Hub (SPCH)  is located in El Reno, Oklahoma, approximately 30 miles west of Oklahoma City. It is housed at the ARS's Grazing lands Research Lab. It serves three states in the southern Great Plains: Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.

This year brought a number of changes to the Southern Plains Climate Hub. Dr. David Brown, SPCH Director, transitioned to a new job in Arizona. He was succeeded first by Dr. Curtis Dell (ARS co-lead, Northeast Hub), and then Dr. Caitlin Rottler (SPCH Postdoctoral Fellow), both as Acting Directors. Collaborator and Grazing lands Research Lab Director Dr. Jean Steiner retired, as did collaborator Dr. Jurgen Garbrecht.

We look forward to welcoming a new Director in FY21, and to continuing to fulfill our mission.

The  Southwest Climate Hub (SWCH)  is located in Las Cruces, New Mexico, at the ARS's Jornada Experimental Range. The Southwest Climate Hub covers a large and very diverse region, serving the driest U.S. states (Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah), and Hawai'i and the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands.

Find out more in the  Southwest Hub Bulletin! 

As you can see, through this brief preview of the top accomplishment in each region, the Climate Hubs have had a highly productive year. Each year since their establishment in 2014, the Climate Hubs network has built on the accomplishments, partnerships, tools, and networks from the previous year to have an ever-broadening ripple effect on building regional climate literacy and resilience. Their accomplishments are a testament to the dedication of the regional staff and their partners.

The Climate Hubs will continue to expand their efforts in the coming year as a new U.S. Forest Service lead rotates into the two-year lead role (as is stipulated in the Hubs Charter). Over the past few months, the Climate Hubs program has worked hard to refine and align their strategic goals, outputs, outcomes, and metrics based on the findings of the 5-year review, and feedback from stakeholders and partners. The Climate Hubs program will be a major contributor to the upcoming National Climate Assessment, with many regional directors serving in chapter leadership roles. Finally, the Climate Hubs will continue to expand their efforts to co-produce regionally relevant information and tools in a changing climate.