On Friday, April 27, Dr. Jerry Hatfield from USDA’s National Laboratory for Agriculture and The Environment visited campus. During his time in College Station, he met with researchers from the Grand Challenge Team, the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture, as well as graduate students from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. In these meetings, Dr. Hatfield described some of the innovative work being done at USDA, current interdisciplinary collaborations, and his thoughts on future adaptation strategies for agriculture.
The seminar, titled” Climate Impacts on Agriculture: developing effective adaptation strategies and practices”, detailed current knowledge on the expected impacts of climate change to agriculture through the use of local and national studies. Some examples included: future changes to the yield gap for crops in Indiana and Iowa; the distribution and abundance of pests such as the invasive brown marmorated stink bug; and distribution of palmer amaranth. In order to respond to these changes, Dr. Hatfield went on to suggest adaptation strategies for cropping and livestock systems.
More information and material from the seminar can be found here.
The adaptation workbook Dr. Hatfield described can be found here.
Building Climate Resilience: Seeking Sustainable Solutions for Water, Agriculture and Biodiversity in Arid Regions 