USDA-NIFA Climate Portfolio: Climate Professional Survey Report Prepared November 2018: Jackie M. Getson1, Anders E. Sjöstrand1, Brennan G. Radulski1, Sarah P. Church1, Jerry L. Hatfield2, Linda S. Prokopy1 1Natural Resources Social Science Lab Department of Forestry and Natural Resources Purdue University 2National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment Agricultural Research Service United States Department of Agriculture Acknowledgements: This project has been funded (award number 2016-67003-24895) by the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA). The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the USDA-NIFA, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. The authors would like to thank Ian Gesell for his work on this project. Recommended Citation: Getson, J.M., Sjostrand A.E., Radulski, B.G., Church, S.P., Hatfield, J.L, and Prokopy, L. S. (2018). USDA- NIFA Climate Portfolio: Climate Professional Survey Report. West Lafayette: Purdue University. Table of Contents 1 Introduction .........................................................................................................................................................1 2 Methods ................................................................................................................................................................3 2.1 Questionnaire development ...........................................................................................................................3 2.2 Questionnaire recipients ................................................................................................................................3 2.3 Questionnaire distribution .............................................................................................................................3 2.4 Questionnaire analysis ...................................................................................................................................4 3 Results ...................................................................................................................................................................5 3.1 Response rate .................................................................................................................................................5 3.2 Portfolio outcomes and knowledge gaps .......................................................................................................5 3.3 Climate change and agroecosystem .............................................................................................................25 3.4 Stakeholders ................................................................................................................................................36 3.4.1 Agribusinesses ..................................................................................................................................42 3.4.2 Crop advisors ....................................................................................................................................46 3.4.3 Crop and/or livestock producers .......................................................................................................50 3.4.4 General Public ..................................................................................................................................56 3.4.5 Policymakers ....................................................................................................................................61 3.5 Demographics ..............................................................................................................................................66 3.6 Additional comments ..................................................................................................................................68 4 References ..........................................................................................................................................................74 Appendix A: USDA-NIFA Climate Portfolio Climate Professional Survey……………………………….A-1 Purdue University, USDA-NIFA Climate Portfolio: Climate Professional Survey Report i Tables Table 1. Response Rate ..............................................................................................................................................5 Table 2. Additional project outcomes.........................................................................................................................7 Table 3. Largest contribution of project .....................................................................................................................9 Table 4. Remaining knowledge gaps ........................................................................................................................13 Table 5. Project only additional comments ..............................................................................................................21 Table 6. Key areas to focus climate and agroecosystem research code descriptions ...............................................27 Table 7. Key areas to focus climate and agroecosystem research subcode descriptions ..........................................28 Table 8. Key areas to focus climate change and agroecosystem most frequent code and subcodes combinations..29 Table 9. Ideal spatial scale to perform climate and agroecosystem research ...........................................................32 Table 10. Recommended length of funding cycles ..................................................................................................34 Table 11. Formal training on how to communicate with stakeholders .....................................................................37 Table 12. Informal training on how to communicate with stakeholders ..................................................................39 Table 13. Main priority stakeholder .........................................................................................................................41 Table 14. Climate projections for agribusiness ........................................................................................................42 Table 15. Challenges to communication with agribusinesses ..................................................................................43 Table 16. Climate projections for crop advisors .......................................................................................................46 Table 17. Challenges to communication with crop advisors ....................................................................................47 Table 18. Climate projections for crop and/or livestock producers ..........................................................................50 Table 19. Challenges to communication with producers..........................................................................................51 Table 20. Climate projections for the general public ...............................................................................................56 Table 21. Challenges to communication with the general public .............................................................................57 Table 22. Climate projections for policymakers ......................................................................................................61 Table 23. Challenges to communication with policymakers ....................................................................................62 Table 24. Climate-related work as part of job ..........................................................................................................66 Table 25. Decision making role for climate-related funding ....................................................................................67 Table 26. Additional comments ...............................................................................................................................68 Figures Figure 1. Project outcomes achieved ..........................................................................................................................6 Figure 2. Climate professionals’ views on climate change ......................................................................................26 Figure 3. Climate professionals’ views on climate change strategies ......................................................................34 Figure 4. Scientists’ obligations to climate change strategies ..................................................................................35 Figure 5. Stakeholders ..............................................................................................................................................41 Figure 6. Terminology usage with agribusinesses ....................................................................................................44 Figure 7. Perception of agribusinesses’ views on climate change ............................................................................45 Figure 8. Terminology usage with crop advisors .....................................................................................................48 Figure 9. Perception of crop advisors’ views on climate change .............................................................................49 Figure 10. Terminology usage with crop and/or livestock producers ......................................................................54