Location: Sustainable Agricultural Water Systems Research
2025 Annual Report
Objectives
The USDA California Climate Hub program will enable climate-informed decision-making through the successful development of science-based, region-specific syntheses, information products, decision support tools and technologies for agricultural, forestry and natural resource managers, and where possible provide assistance to enhance adoption and implementation of the same. The aforementioned will be accomplished through investments via three primary pathways: (i) data and information syntheses; (ii) tool and technology development, curation and implementation support; and (iii) convening to support technical assistance, training and information exchange. The work will be conducted as the California USDA Climate Change Hub (CACH) and will be coordinated with ARS, NRCS, USFS broadly and locally, and other USDA and non-USDA organizations in accordance with guidance found in the USDA Climate Change Hubs Charter, and Terms of Reference. The focus of these activities will be the regions natural and working lands, inclusive of all farms, ranches, forests and other production and natural systems however with special attention to agro-climate applications in specialty crop and forestry contexts.
Objective 1: Enable climate-smart decision-making by developing science-based, region-specific information, tools and technologies for agricultural and natural resource managers, and provide assistance where possible to enhance adoption and implementation of the same.
Objective 2: Expand and enhance each Hub’s research and communication capacity and ensure integration of ARS research outcomes from across the region into Hub outreach assets.
Objective 3: Provide capacity to expand and enhance the hub’s climate-science, social-science, and economic-science resources and tools via enhanced collaboration with ARS research teams and other research partners to ensure impactful integration of ARS research outcomes from across the region into Hub outreach assets.
Approach
The CACH program will co-develop and produce science-based syntheses to elucidate expected climate impacts, stressors and/or disturbances using largely readily available climate and weather data. These outputs will lead to products to report and communication climate-linked impacts to natural and working land interests and assets that are place- and/or resource-based including climate scenarios (forecasts) and vulnerability assessments. Efforts will also include the translation of climate and weather data to communicate current conditions, extreme events and lookout forecasts. The program will also support and/or co-develop products resulting from novel frameworks, stakeholder need (or barrier) assessments, technologies or techniques leading to the advancement of practices founded in climate adaptation and mitigation science. Products may include but are not limited to peer reviewed, government, trade or technical assistance papers, reports, bulletins or articles.
Investments and products that result from synthesized information sets or tools leading to an improved interpretation of and/or new understanding of changing natural and working land management systems in context of climate change in the form of decision support tools, toolkits, dashboards, factsheets, agriculture or forestry alerts will remain a core program focus. Generally speaking, this can include outputs akin to agro-climate or other climate informed agriculture or forestry decision support systems or web-based applications. These products will provide a better understanding of climate change information (literacy), facilitating improved management practices to both adapt and mitigate the effects associated with climate change.
Designing, developing and organizing opportunities for information exchange, content appropriate/specific conferences, workshops, symposia, dialogs, field days, site demonstrations, trainings through convening of focused groups of managers, practitioners, scientists, technical assistance provider’s etc. Additionally, we will regularly produce, develop and disseminate information products in the form of newsletters, blogs, etc. using a variety of media including social, trade and popular outlets. CACH staff will contribute and serve on advisory and steering committees, give lectures, webinars, presentations to audiences that support the broader mission and function of the USDA Climate Hub program and needs and requests of stakeholders. We will also continually evaluate (assess) and communicate the needs of producers and managers to the science community as well as sharing science-based knowledge and applications to those that can act on that information.
Progress Report
This report documents FY 2025 progress for project 2032-12610-002-000D, titled, “The USDA Climate Hubs – Supporting Natural and Working Lands Resilience by Co-Developing and Communicating Research-Informed Agro-Climate Practices”, which began in June 2023.
Research related to Objective 1 focused on decision relevant research and synthesizing data and information. Accomplishments under this focus area advanced ARS's understanding of how changing growing conditions affect select high value specialty crops in California and to a more limited degree across the Southwest. Additionally, efforts were conducted including farmer and rancher perceptions of changing growing conditions and a more detailed understanding of the support and resources needed by those groups to adapt, mitigate risk, and enhance productivity. Effects of extreme events on specialty crops, rangeland conditions, forage availability, and crop pest pressures were explored. Interactions among evapotranspiration, precipitation, soil moisture, and irrigation are being investigated for the Central Valley of California. The role of changing growing conditions on select forest tree species to guide management approaches is being conducted. Continued efforts include support for the State of California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force in partnership with the USDA Forest Service on the 2025 action plan. An investigation on the role of season growing season shifts, heat waves, and cold snaps is affecting rice yield in the Sacramento Valley growing region of California.
In support of Objective 2, ARS researchers in Davis, California, focused on developing, curating, and supporting the use of tools and technologies. During this reporting period, researchers increased the capacity of the CalAgroClimate decision support tool compendium with a crop specific agroclimatic module. In partnership with the USDA Forest Service, Cal Fire and University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, they developed the reforestation toolshed website as a one stop shop of all-lands reforestation decision support tools, data, and resources.
Under Objective 3, the focus this period was convening partners for technical assistance, training, and knowledge exchange. ARS's efforts to build resilience and mitigate risk, the California Climate Hub (CACH) collaborated with several agencies to deliver targeted trainings for U.S. Forest Service staff and partners on data-driven tools to achieve wildfire resilience. ARS researchers also conducted six in person trainings for National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) conservation planners and partners to support their client’s interest in building resilience, reduce risk, and increase agricultural productivity. ARS researchers developed a monitoring and assessment webinar series with the Sierra Nevada Conservancy for regional fire capacity programs in the Sierra Nevada region of California. Regular program news, products, events, and services continue to be made available via program newsletters and the USDA Climate Hub program website.
Accomplishments
1. A new web-based compendium supports science-based reforestation applications. Large, high-severity wildfires are the leading cause of land cover change in the Western U.S. Tree planting is the gold standard for restoring forest cover, but existing science-based guidance can be hard to find and is often not user-friendly or organized by forest type or activity. To address this, ARS scientists in Davis, California, developed the Reforestation Toolshed (reforestationtoolshed.com)—a free and user-friendly web-based site of curated tools and resources to help federal forest managers and private landowners make informed reforestation decisions.
2. Building resilience for California’s wine grape industry in the face of changing growing conditions and weather extremes. California produces over 85% of U.S. wine, but the industry is increasingly challenged by extreme weather, including heatwaves, drought, and wildfire smoke. ARS scientists in Davis, California, working with academic partners from University of California, Davis and Cornell University, evaluated these stressors and developed practical adaptation strategies including enhancing soil health for drought resilience and incorporating technology for irrigation scheduling based on real-time plant physiology measurements to buffer heat wave impacts. Their research also provides new insights into the exposure of specific grape varieties and regions, helping the industry make informed decisions around plant material selection to navigate changing conditions.