Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Project Summaries
USDA is investing $3 billion in approximately 140 projects under Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. Learn more about the national effort: Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Overview Brochure (PDF, 2.3 MB). Details on selected projects are provided below.
Multi State Research Efforts Focus on Climate Data & Monitoring
Climate information—historical, real-time, and predictive—is vital for the sustainable management of agriculture and natural resources. A committee of researchers and Extension educators from Land-grant Universities coordinates climate data collection and use in the western United States. Their work is supported in part by the Hatch Multistate Research Fund through USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Climate information—historical, real-time and predictive—is vital for the sustainable management of agriculture and natural resources. Climate change poses major challenges to agriculture and natural resources in the western United States. Climate data are key to practices, tools, legislation, programs and policies that protect and enhance water, soil and air. With so many different entities collecting climate data and myriad ways of storing and distributing data, it can be difficult to access relevant, reliable climate information. Good communication and coordination are needed, especially to address regional issues. A committee of researchers and Extension educators from Land-grant Universities coordinates climate data collection and use in the western United States. Their work is supported in part by the Hatch Multistate Research Fund through USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. For more than 30 years, the committee has leveraged existing climate data collection, analysis and distribution infrastructure and technologies to meet agriculture and natural resource management needs in the western U.S. The group has played a critical role in coordinating these groups and networks. In times of increasingly tight budgets, this multistate committee is essential to ensuring the sustainability and economic viability of climate networks and partnerships. With members in multiple states, the committee can facilitate efficient climate monitoring and widely promote the use of climate data and products for agriculture, water management, industry, emergency preparedness, transportation, policymaking, education and other purposes. Achievements To improve climate data and tools, the committee: Evaluated how well existing climate data products and services are meeting user needs, identified gaps in climate monitoring networks and explored remedial options. Developed and encouraged use of new tools, such as more accurate soil moisture sensors, that improve data quality. Increased state-level climate data collection to help ensure high-quality data. To make climate data collection more collaborative and efficient, the committee: Developed standards for siting and maintaining weather stations and archiving data and metadata. Developed technologies to cost-effectively gather and distribute data from various sources. Coordinated climate data collection among multiple agencies. Encouraged inter-agency support to help climate monitoring networks obtain enough funding and personnel to provide consistent, high-quality data and minimize operational and maintenance costs. Contributed to the Community Collaborative Rain Hail and Snow Network, a low-cost, low-tech, volunteer-based precipitation monitoring network that is administered by Colorado State University. To increase access to climate data and tools, the committee: Developed best practices and technologies for manipulating, distributing and presenting climate data to allow easy use for agriculture and natural resource management. Shared climate-related information via partner websites and other outlets. Facilitated the creation of climate models, impact assessments, drought advisories and other products that incorporate climate data from multiple sources (including satellite, radar and ground observations) for policymakers, water managers and other users. Expanded the AgriMet program and fostered cooperative relationships with private, tribal, local, state and federal agencies, making it the most commonly used source for climate data on farms in the northwestern U.S. Created the PRISM Climate Group at Oregon State University, providing state-of-the-art weather and climate maps and products, which are downloaded over 30,000 times a day for use in agriculture, natural resource management, engineering, energy, economics and more. How Are Climate Data & Tools Used? Drought and flood mitigation: Climate data, tools and products helped the Arizona Governor’s Drought Task Force, Arizona Game and Fish, and local livestock producers plan for and respond to droughts. Arizona scientists also helped the Navajo, Hopi and White Mountain Apache tribes develop drought mitigation plans. California scientists worked with the National Weather Service, NASA, local water agencies and others to monitor snowpack and snowmelt and predict potential flood hazards and water supply issues. Three reservoir operators in California are using climate data to better control their water supply and reduce flood hazards. Proactive actions and early response can minimize the harmful impacts of droughts and floods on the environment, economy, and communities. Farm and ranch management: After using AgriMet data to schedule irrigation, a potato grower in Idaho reported annual power savings between $14,000-17,000. Another grower in Idaho reported a 15% increase in potato yield after using AgriMet data for irrigation scheduling, resulting in increased revenue of $60,000. In Arizona, scientists helped wine grape growers access and use temperature data to protect grape yield and quality from frosts and high temperatures. Arizona scientists also worked with the USDA Southwest Climate Hub to develop best practices and tools for monitoring rangeland precipitation. Crop insurance: PRISM’s weather and climate maps are delivered to approximately 6,000 crop insurance adjusters and underwriters nationwide. PRISM data have improved the quality and integrity of the USDA Risk Management Agency crop insurance program, saving taxpayer dollars by reducing inappropriate payments and improving insurance ratings. Wildfire management: Nevada’s Desert Research Institute and Western Regional Climate Center collaborated with fire managers in Nevada and California to use the Evaporative Demand Drought Index for seasonal fire danger outlooks and real-time operations. Storm prediction: California scientists worked with federal, local and academic collaborators to combine advanced observations, forecasts, modeling and other tools for storm hazard reduction. Dust control: New Mexico State University weather stations and cameras provided the New Mexico Department of Transportation and the National Weather Service with valuable information on the sources of dust on I-10. Lawn and garden irrigation: AgriMet is used as the main source of data for residential lawn “Smart Controllers” in the Northwest. These controllers apply water only when it is needed, helping homeowners save water and money. Public health: Montana State University scientists helped develop a comprehensive report that details how climate change impacts the health of Montanans, both now and in the future. Learn more about the Climate Data and Monitoring project here.
Agrivoltaics Could Bring Agriculture and Renewable Energy Together
Renewable energy production is growing in the United States, but expanding an energy system built on renewables – like solar or wind – means locating infrastructure closer to where those resources are either abundant and/or easily distributed. Research supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is developing options where solar energy production and agriculture are partners rather than competitors for land. Renewable energy production is growing in the United States, but expanding an energy system built on renewables – like solar or wind – means locating infrastructure closer to where those resources are either abundant and/or easily distributed. Research supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is developing options where solar energy production and agriculture are partners rather than competitors for land. Led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the Sustainably Co-locating Agricultural and Photovoltaic Electricity Systems (SCAPES) project is researching agrivoltaic systems—fields with both crops and solar panels—in a variety of land and climate types. Additionally, the project features a combination of research, education and Extension activities at the University of Arizona, Colorado State University, Auburn University, the University of Illinois Chicago and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. “Co-locating photovoltaic systems within productive pasture and crop land -- aptly named agrivoltaic systems -- not only provides potential economic benefit but could go a long way toward mitigating barriers to acceptance of photovoltaics for agriculture, as this synergy is a sustainable solution that does not compete for land. We are very happy to fund this collaborative project,” said Steven J. Thomson, National Program Leader. Supported by NIFA’s Sustainable Agriculture Systems program, the project brings together people from multiple disciplines to take a complete look at the different dimensions of moving towards the use of more agrivoltaics in the United States. The SCAPES project is working to provide a comprehensive analysis of the potential of agrivoltaics. Its goal is to maintain or increase crop yield; increase the combined (food and electricity) productivity of land; and diversify and increase farm profitability with diverse crops (row crops, forage and specialty crops) across three biophysically diverse regions in the U.S.: rainfed Illinois, dryland Colorado and irrigated Arizona. SCAPES couples field experiments across three states with farm-scale economic analysis, farmer survey and a system modelling approach to extrapolate not only production outcomes but economic outcomes as well. Additionally, the project’s economic and Extension teams are examining strategies to overcome adoption barriers for agrivoltaics. Watch how the SCAPES project is focusing on agrivoltaic systems—fields with both crops and solar panels—in a variety of land and climate types.
Protect Your Investments in the Soil: USDA’s Modernized Lab Data Mart Website Provides User-Friendly, State-of-the-Art Data | Natural Resources Conservation Service
The newly updated Lab Data Mart website, also known as the National Cooperative Lab Characterization Database, brings valuable soil data in an interactive map.
Issue Summary: Global carbon markets are starting to mature as fears of greenwashing are being realized. Meanwhile, the scale and effectiveness of the carbon market industry’s role in regenerative agriculture is still un...
Diversifying Anaerobic Respiration Strategies to Compete in the Rhizosphere
The rhizosphere is the interface between plant roots and soil where intense, varied interactions between plants and microbes influence plants' health and growth through their influence on biochemical cycles, such as the carbon, nitrogen, and iron cycles. The rhizosphere is also a changing environment where oxygen can be rapidly limited and anaerobic zones can be established. Microorganisms successfully colonize the rhizosphere when they possess specific traits referred to as rhizosphere competence. Anaerobic respiration flexibility contributes to the rhizosphere competence of microbes. Indeed, a wide range of compounds that are available in the rhizosphere can serve as alternative terminal electron acceptors during anaerobic respiration such as nitrates, iron, carbon compounds, sulfur, metalloids, and radionuclides. In the presence of multiple terminal electron acceptors in a complex environment such as the rhizosphere and in the absence of O2, microorganisms will first use the most energetic option to sustain growth. Anaerobic respiration has been deeply studied, and the genes involved in anaerobic respiration have been identified. However, aqueous environment and paddy soils are the most studied environments for anaerobic respiration, even if we provide evidence in this review that anaerobic respiration also occurs in the plant rhizosphere. Indeed, we provide evidence by performing a BLAST analysis on metatranscriptomic data that genes involved in iron, sulfur, arsenate ...
Lettuce Soil Microbiome Modulated by an L-α-Amino Acid-Based Biostimulant
Maintenance of soil health is of foremost importance to sustain and increase crop productivity, while meeting the demand of a rising global population. Soil microbiome is gaining increasing attention as a modulator of soil health. Microbial communities confer traits to the soil as a living organism, which functions holistically and conforms part of the plant holobiont, reassembling the human-gut axis. Novel strategies in biostimulant development advocate for modulation of the native soil microbiome and the reinforcement of microbial networking to outpace pathogen inclusion. Consequently, we hypothesize that Terramin® Pro may promotes beneficial microorganisms, depending on the native microbiota of soil, which would lead to an improvement of crop performance indicators. We proposed a soil microbiome-based approach to characterize the effect of an L-α-amino acid based biostimulant (Terramin® Pro) on resulting plant phenotypes in lettuce cultivars (Lactuca sativa L.) to address our hypothesis. First, product application promoted Actinobacteria group in assorted soils with different track of agronomic practices. Secondly, biostimulant application improved chlorophyll content in particular soils deviating from standard conditions, i.e., sick or uncultivated ones. Specially, we observed that product application at 30 L ha−1 improved lettuce phenotype, while potentially promoted entomopathogenic fungi (Beauveria and Metarhizium spp.) and suppressed other lettuce disease-related fungi (Olpidium spp.) in nematode-infested soils. Further investigations could deepen into Terramin® Pro as a sustainable prebiotic strategy of soil indigenous microbiota, through in-house microbiome modulation, even in additional crops.
The Agricultural Baseline Database's Visualization tool allows users to illustrate the 10-year projection data, and is updated annually in November. The Visualization tool covers projections for major U.S. field crops (corn, sorghum, barley, oats, wheat, rice, soybeans, and upland cotton) and livestock (beef, pork, poultry and eggs, and dairy) commodities.
Agriculture data sharing: Conceptual tools in the technical toolbox and implementation in the Open Ag Data Alliance framework
There are several composable, reusable concepts for designing privacy-focused systems in agriculture.
Data privacy concepts can be deployed via the OADA framework.
Clear privacy design patterns exis...
Central Intelligence Platform
This will be the core framework where the AI models reside and operate. This workstream proposes a self-describing digital asset catalog as a foundation for community use, and will eventually lead to a cross-correlation AI engine for deeper pattern analysis.
Secure AI Connectivity Fabric
This track is building secure connectivity between AI models, data resources and the cross-correlation engine. It will use application layer messaging techniques found in other open source projects, in conjunction with a new policy engine
The Transformative Partnership Platform on Agroecology
pspan style="font-size:16px;"A joint initiative to address critical knowledge gaps about agroecological transitions, to provide evidence to underpin advocacy and inform policy makers and donors about the potential of agroecological approaches to foster innovation that can sustainably improve livelihood and landscape resilience. /span/p
Growers must efficiently manage field inputs while reducing the risk of yield losses to maximize profitability season after season. Fertilizers are significant variable costs in production, and tools are available to assess their need. This article describes best management practices for soil testing, report interpretation, and assessing fertilizer needs for crops in North America.
