By Karie Boone, Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, Washington State University Washington State is working towards the goal set by HB-1799 to reduce organic waste taken to landfills by 75% by 2030. An important alternative destination for organic wastes—such as manure, yard debris, food waste, wood and garden waste—is composting facilities, which process […]
By Janelle Christensen (she/her),USDA Northwest Climate Hub In The Dalles, Oregon, dryland wheat farmers are using innovative farming practices that help them prepare for extreme weather caused by climate change. The benefits of these practices extend far beyond improved climate resilience. They also reduce the impact farming can have on the local ecosystem. As a […]
By Alex Kirpatrick, PhD (they/them), Communication Scientist, Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, Washington State University Artificial intelligence (AI) is filtering your spam, gatekeeping your newsfeed, chatting with you online, and underpinning many of your regular activities. Many vaunt the potential of AI in agriculture to help land-managers adapt to uncertain and extreme weather, […]
By Christine Buhl, PhD, Oregon Department of Forestry Hot droughts have led to an increase in damaged and dead trees across the Pacific Northwest. However, many resources are available to help landowners create forests that are more resilient and better prepared for a changing climate. This post highlights current strategies from universities and natural resource […]
By Tim Nicosia, USDA Northwest Climate Hub Forest managers have been slow to include biochar in management plans despite an expanding body of research demonstrating biochar’s efficacy for improved vegetation growth, restored soil health, and improving air quality impacts. Enhanced understanding of costs, benefits, drawbacks and overall economic feasibility among forest managers could change this […]
By Karie Boone, Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources, Washington State University For decades, federal agencies, practitioners and academics across the Northwest have promoted transitioning farmers to more efficient irrigation systems with the intent of reducing agricultural water withdrawals and making more water available for other uses such as municipal, industrial and flows for […]
By Lulu Chen, Intern at the AgAID Institute, Washington State University Can data be a game changer for farmers in the face of climate change? Farmers are at the forefront of risk and uncertainty in the face of a rapidly changing environment. Irregular weather patterns, severe temperatures, and shifting precipitation levels create significant challenges to […]
Morgan Lawrence, USDA Northwest Climate Hub You may know hazelnuts (also called filberts) for their starring role in everyone’s favorite hazelnut-chocolate spread. Or perhaps you’ve enjoyed a delicious hazelnut latte while eating a hazelnut-filled truffle. But did you know that Oregon produces 99% of U.S. hazelnuts, and Washington produces the other 1%? Under the right […]
By Karie Boone, Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, Washington State University, and Clark Seavert, Oregon State University For the inland Pacific Northwest, climate change predictions including wetter springs and drier, hotter summers leads to production system uncertainties and risks for dryland, small grain farmers. Annual precipitation is projected to increase by about 5-15% […]
By Tyler Harris, Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center, Oregon State University With climate change, growers in the Pacific Northwest are facing a myriad of new challenges. These include a longer fire season and more frequent fires, warmer and drier summers, and increased drought potential in summer. A question that is becoming more pertinent every day […]
