Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Category
Social Sciences/Humanities
Abstract/Artist Statement
In Montana, farmers may use phrases like “drought is always two weeks away” to describe the inevitable and uncertain impacts of weather and climate on their operations. Better understanding how farmers are affected by and can (or cannot) adapt to both present day and future impacts is a burgeoning area of social science research. One part of adaptation includes farmers’ material changes—the “things” that enable (or constrain) adaptation—including crop selection, machinery, and inputs. Another part is non-material factors—the “ideas” that enable (or constrain) adaptation—including farmers’ use of climate information, their ability to overcome barriers, and how they weigh the tradeoffs of a myriad factors to make decisions.
This presentation will focus on those non-material factors that influence a farmers’ adaptation to impacts like drought and climate change in Montana. How farmers perceive their agency to adapt may be linked to their perceptions of weather, technology, economies, and the practices and programs they use to mitigate risk. In turn, these perceptions may influence their ability to expand their own capacity to adapt. One potential tool for farmers to adapt is climate information. Climate information broadly includes a variety of measurements such as snowpack, soil moisture, 3-month forecasts, and 2050 projections. How farmers employ these tools not only helps us understand how climate information can be improved to be more useful for farmers across the state, but it can also help us understand how farmers conceptualize their agency and how their capacity to adapt interacts with a range of factors in a complex decision-making process.
This research includes preliminary findings from 30 interviews with farmers and mixed operators from 18 counties in Montana, the focus of a master’s thesis in resource conservation. These findings are a subset of work from a larger project which includes a mailed survey of farmers and ranchers across the state and 60 in-depth interviews. In partnership with the Montana Climate Office, the larger project uniquely used a mixed-methods approach to assess farmers’ perceptions of a suite of climate information and other factors that may influence their ability to adapt. Our results have the potential to inform policy interventions to aid farmers’ adaptation and to improve the utility of climate information to the agricultural community. Both outcomes carry implications for the resilience of Montana’s agricultural sector in the face of increasing climate impacts with potentially broad relevance to other agricultural areas and the growing body of social theory of climate adaptation.
Mentor Name
Laurie Yung
“Two Weeks Away:” How Montana Farmers Adapt to Drought
UC 326
In Montana, farmers may use phrases like “drought is always two weeks away” to describe the inevitable and uncertain impacts of weather and climate on their operations. Better understanding how farmers are affected by and can (or cannot) adapt to both present day and future impacts is a burgeoning area of social science research. One part of adaptation includes farmers’ material changes—the “things” that enable (or constrain) adaptation—including crop selection, machinery, and inputs. Another part is non-material factors—the “ideas” that enable (or constrain) adaptation—including farmers’ use of climate information, their ability to overcome barriers, and how they weigh the tradeoffs of a myriad factors to make decisions.
This presentation will focus on those non-material factors that influence a farmers’ adaptation to impacts like drought and climate change in Montana. How farmers perceive their agency to adapt may be linked to their perceptions of weather, technology, economies, and the practices and programs they use to mitigate risk. In turn, these perceptions may influence their ability to expand their own capacity to adapt. One potential tool for farmers to adapt is climate information. Climate information broadly includes a variety of measurements such as snowpack, soil moisture, 3-month forecasts, and 2050 projections. How farmers employ these tools not only helps us understand how climate information can be improved to be more useful for farmers across the state, but it can also help us understand how farmers conceptualize their agency and how their capacity to adapt interacts with a range of factors in a complex decision-making process.
This research includes preliminary findings from 30 interviews with farmers and mixed operators from 18 counties in Montana, the focus of a master’s thesis in resource conservation. These findings are a subset of work from a larger project which includes a mailed survey of farmers and ranchers across the state and 60 in-depth interviews. In partnership with the Montana Climate Office, the larger project uniquely used a mixed-methods approach to assess farmers’ perceptions of a suite of climate information and other factors that may influence their ability to adapt. Our results have the potential to inform policy interventions to aid farmers’ adaptation and to improve the utility of climate information to the agricultural community. Both outcomes carry implications for the resilience of Montana’s agricultural sector in the face of increasing climate impacts with potentially broad relevance to other agricultural areas and the growing body of social theory of climate adaptation.