Alternative Crops Climate Adaptation Science project

Climate change is predicted to impact agriculture, ranching, and food security globally. Our overall project objective is to identify alternative crops that will provide producers with viable options over the next 80 years based on climate change projections. Farmers will benefit from this compilation of alternative options, giving them agency in deciding how to best move forward in their production to maintain economic viability. We used expert opinion to identify an array of alternative crops for our study region. We then identified the climate tolerance of these crops and use downscaled climate projections to identify the suitability for each crop in the expected future climate. Additionally, we sourced economic data from the National Agricultural Statistical Survey to gather information about how much farmers could make growing any given crop, using modern crop budgets sources for university extension offices and yield and price data from 1990-2020. We engaged stakeholders and disseminated our findings through a town hall meeting with local farmers, a website, and through USU extension.