New pilot app supports Missouri farmers' participation in climate-smart agriculture programs - Phelps County Focus
New pilot app supports Missouri farmers’ participation in climate-smart agriculture programs | News | phelpscountyfocus.com
Missouri is home to 95,000 farms — the second highest number of farms per state in the country. Farming is a way of life for people here, one that is increasingly threatened by the effects of a changing climate. Now more than ever, reforming the ways farmers practice their craft is vital for survival. In 2023, MU implemented the $25 million, statewide Missouri CRCL Project — funding that more than half of is going directly to farmers in the form of eight tailored incentive payments to support the adoption of climate-smart practices.
As part of the distribution of funds, the Missouri CRCL Project launched an app designed to expand the access to incentive payments for a diverse range of Missouri producers. Now, supported by a $650,000 National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) award from the Department of Agriculture, University of Missouri farm specialist Kelly Wilson and her team are working to refine the app to make it accessible, inclusive and user-friendly to as diverse a range of Missouri farmers as possible.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”