Agricultural Advisors’ Climate Risk Perceptions: 2013-14 Interview Data

<p>Fifty-seven agricultural advisors in 3 Midwestern states (Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska) were interviewed from Dec 2013-April 2014 about their perceptions of climate-related impacts and risks, and how climate issues play a role in the advice they provide to farmers. A series of open-ended interview questions were used to broach a diversity of inter-related, yet distinct, topics such as climate beliefs, financial considerations, Farm Bill impacts, and more.</p>

<p>Agricultural advisors are technical specialists who advise corn farmers on a variety of issues such as farm management practices, conservation practices, and economic issues. Agricultural advisors interviewed for this study include Certified Crop Advisors (CCAs), staff at conservation agencies, agricultural bankers, and university Extension personnel located in Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska. With the exception of agricultural bankers, interviewees were selected from a list of advisors who completed the 2012 climate needs assessment survey (for details see Prokopy, L.S. et al. 2013. “Agricultural Advisors: A Receptive Audience for Weather and Climate Information?” Weather, Climate, and Society, 5:162-167). Agricultural bankers were identified by manually contacting relevant organizations.  </p>

<p>This publication includes the interview guide that was used to facilitate the interviews with each agricultural advisor along with the detailed transcript for each of the fifty-seven interviews conducted. All identifying information has been removed from the transcripts to protect the identity of the interviewee. </p>

<p>Support for this this research was provided by: NOAA Sectoral Application Research Program (SARP) Award Number NA13OAR431012, project titled "Evaluating the Impact of Extreme Drought on Farm Advisors’ Perceptions of Climate Risks in the U.S. Corn Belt"</p>