Abstract
Climate-friendly best management practices for mitigating and adapting to climate change (cfBMPs) include changes in crop rotation, soil management and resource use. Determined largely by precipitation gradients, specific agroecological systems in the inland Pacific Northwestern U.S. (iPNW) feature different practices across the region. Historically, these farming systems have been economically productive, but at the cost of high soil erosion rates and organic matter depletion, making them win-lose situations. Agronomic, sociological, political and economic drivers all influence cropping system innovations. Integrated, holistic conservation systems also need to be identified to address climate change by integrating cfBMPs that provide win-win benefits for farmer and environment. We conclude that systems featuring short-term improvements in farm economics, market diversification, resource efficiency and soil health will be most readily adopted by farmers, thereby simultaneously addressing longer term challenges including climate change. Specific ‘win-win scenarios’ are designed for different iPNW production zones delineated by water availability. The cfBMPs include reduced tillage and residue management, organic carbon (C) recycling, precision nitrogen (N) management and crop rotation diversification and intensification. Current plant breeding technologies have provided new cultivars of canola and pea that can diversify system agronomics and markets. These agronomic improvements require associated shifts in prescriptive, precision N and weed management. The integrated cfBMP systems we describe have the potential for reducing system-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by increasing soil C storage, N use efficiency (NUE) and by production of biofuels. Novel systems, even if they are economically competitive, can come with increased financial risk to producers, necessitating government support (e.g., subsidized crop insurance) to promote adoption. Other conservation- and climate change-targeted farm policies can also improve adoption. Ultimately, farmers must meet their economic and legacy goals to assure longer-term adoption of mature cfBMP for iPNW production systems.
Highlights
Agriculture is an important player in climate change
The integrated climate-friendly Best Management Practices” (cfBMPs) systems we describe have the potential for reducing system-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by increasing soil C storage, N use efficiency (NUE) and by production of biofuels
This review focuses on wheat (Triticum aestivum)-based cropping systems of the Inland Pacific Northwest of the USA, and has three objectives: (i) describe the historical evolution of inland Pacific Northwestern U.S (iPNW) wheat (Triticum aestivum) based cropping systems and efforts to achieve economic and environmental goals, (ii) review farm-level biophysical, socio-economic and agronomic decision drivers that include cfBMPs and potentially shape win-win scenarios across iPNW agroecological zones, and (iii) describe integrated cfBMPs’ potential abilities to improve adaptability and flexibility of cropping systems that contribute to system-wide GHG reductions
Summary
Agriculture is an important player in climate change. The contributions of global agriculture to greenhouse gas (GHG). A report to the Energy and Commerce Committee of the U.S House of Representatives made the following recommendations: (i) translate, distill and deliver climate science research information in user-friendly formats and tools, (ii) provide financial incentives to encourage farmer adoption of what we will refer to as “climate-friendly Best Management Practices” (cfBMPs), and (iii) provide crop producers with farm level economic enterprise costs and returns of adapting cfBMPs, with the guiding principle of identifying systems that provide economically attractive pathways to advancing farm level climate change adaptation and mitigation (GAO, 2014) Addressing these recommendations has required detailed characterization and modeling of biophysical drivers associated with crop growth and production across different agroecological cropping zones. Balancing farm profits while reducing environmental degradation is a main challenge in identifying effective winwin strategies for the iPNW and similar wheat growing regions
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