Do advisors perceive climate change as an agricultural risk? An in-depth examination of Midwestern U.S. Ag advisors’ views on drought, climate change, and risk management

Authors

Sarah P. Church, Purdue UniversityFollow
Michael Dunn, Northern Research Station, Roslin, Midlothian, UKFollow
Nicholas Babin, Sierra Nevada CollegeFollow
Amber Saylor Mase, University of Wisconsin ExtensionFollow
Tonya Haigh, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Linda Stalker Prokopy, Purdue UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

10-2017

Citation

Published in Agriculture and Human Values, 2017. DOI 10.1007/s10460-017-9827-3

Comments

Copyright © 2017 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. Used by permission.

Abstract

Through the lens of the Health Belief Model and Protection Motivation Theory, we analyzed interviews of 36 agricultural advisors in Indiana and Nebraska to understand their appraisals of climate change risk, related decision making processes and subsequent risk management advice to producers. Most advisors interviewed accept that weather events are a risk for US Midwestern agriculture; however, they are more concerned about tangible threats such as crop prices. There is not much concern about climate change among agricultural advisors. Management practices that could help producers adapt to climate change were more likely to be recommended by conservation and Extension advisors, while financial and crop advisors focused more upon season-to-season decision making (e.g., hybrid seeds and crop insurance). We contend that the agricultural community should integrate long-term thinking as part of farm decision making processes and that agricultural advisors are in a prime position to influence producers. In the face of increasing extreme weather events, climatologists and advisors should work more closely to reach a shared understanding of the risks posed to agriculture by climate change.