Navigating climate change: impacts on water stress and agricultural production in Nebraska

Nebraska, located in the U.S. “Corn Belt,” is well known for its agricultural and livestock production, generating around $31.1 billion in agricultural cash receipts in 2023. But how will climate change impact long-term agricultural production, and how can we adapt to changes to ensure water security and food supply for future generations?

In this episode, DWFI Communications Specialist Arianna Elnes talks to DWFI Research Assistant Professor Ivo Gonçalves, whose recent study explores the future of corn production in Nebraska. DWFI Senior Program Manager Renata Rimšaitė also joins to offer examples of sustainable water management strategies.

Key takeaways from Ivo’s study, How can Future Climate Change Affect the Corn Production System in Nebraska, USA?

• Climate change effects crop life cycle, growth and development
• To adapt, new varieties will need to be developed (but they will likely require more water)
• Efficient irrigation is essential to ensure consistent, high crop yields as temperatures and weather patterns change.
• There is a need for innovation in water management for sustained food and water security

Guests:

Ivo Zuition Gonçalves, Ph.D, Research Assistant Professor, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute

Renata Rimšaitė, Ph.D, Senior Program Manager, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute

Episode 38 - Irrigation expansion’s varying impacts on nutrition

Irrigation expansion can provide the water necessary to increase food production for our growing world. It can also be a means for moving farmers from simply producing enough food for their families to generating more income through domestic markets or export of additional production.

However, increasing use of irrigation can have varying impacts on the nutrition of the local communities and it’s important to consider these costs and benefits when striving to reduce poverty, end hunger and protect our water resources.

In this episode of the Water for Food Podcast, DWFI Director of Communications and Public Relations Frances Hayes talks with experts in irrigation and nutrition as they dive into the interconnectedness of irrigation, water availability and nutrition. Guests include Dr. Piyush Mehta and Assistant Professor Dr. Kyle Davis, both in the Department of Geography & Spatial Sciences at the University of Delaware.

View the research mentioned in the episode here.

ILIMS Deputy Director Jude Cobbing - Opportunities of Irrigation and Mechanization

In November 2023, the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute announced a new USAID Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Irrigation and Mechanization Systems (ILIMS). ILIMS enhances global food security by generating research-based solutions to support the growth of vibrant irrigation and mechanization markets; develops strong institutions and local capacity for their sustainability; and fosters opportunities for equitable access for smallholder farmers.

In this episode, DWFI Communications Specialist Arianna Elnes speaks with the new ILIMS Deputy Director Jude Cobbing about his background and interest in ILIMS, the opportunities he sees with irrigation and mechanization, and upcoming projects for ILIMS. For more information, and to respond to RFA’s, visit: waterforfood.nebraska.edu/irrigandmech

Drought is a prolonged dry period that can occur anywhere in the world and results in a water shortage. Unlike some other disasters, drought has a slow onset and a prolonged impact on health, agriculture, economies, energy and the environment.

An estimated 55 million people globally are affected by droughts every year and as many as 700 million people are at-risk of being displaced as a result of drought by 2030. As of June 4, 2024, more than 10 percent of the U.S. is experiencing a drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. In fact, drought is one of the costliest and deadliest climate-related disasters in the United States

In this episode of the Water for Food Podcast, DWFI Director of Communications and Public Relations Frances Hayes chats with experts in drought and health who shed light on this complex topic, including the areas of respiratory concerns, stress among farmers, engagement with the public health community through the Drought and Public Health Roadmap and a global public health perspective. Guests include Dr. Yeongjin Gwon, Rachel Lookadoo, JD and Dr. Jesse Bell of the University of Nebraska Medical Center and affiliated with DWFI, as well as Dr. Jesse Berman of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

If you or a loved one is experiencing or affected by a mental health, substance use, or suicidal crisis, please call or text “988” (or chat online on the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline website) for free, confidential, and immediate help.

Farmers are the original agtech innovators. As the population grows, and water resources become scarcer, there is a need for continued innovation in agricultural technologies, and a ready network to foster and accelerate them. The 2024 Nebraska Agtech Innovation Ecosystem Map, jointly published by Water for Food and The Combine AgTech Incubator by Invest Nebraska, outlines the ecosystem for entrepreneurs and all actors to connect with resources in the agtech community. In this podcast episode, DWFI Communications Specialist Arianna Elnes talks to program manager for The Combine, Josh DeMers and research program manager Water for Food, Ankit Chandra about Nebraska’s distinct and evolving agtech innovation ecosystem.

View and download the map at https://waterforfood.nebraska.edu/news-and-events/news/2024/03/dwfi-invest-nebraska-release-2024-nebraska-agtech-innovation-ecosystem-map

Upcoming Agtech Connect: https://www.agtechconnect.co/

The Fifth National Climate Assessment is federally mandated by Congress and released every four years to serve as the foremost review of research on the current and future impacts of climate change in the United States.

In this episode of the Water for Food Podcast, DWFI Director of Communications and Public Relations Frances Hayes discusses key findings of the report with three of its co-authors. DWFI Faculty Fellows Andrea Basche and Tonya Haigh co-authored the Northern Great Plains chapter, which includes Nebraska. DWFI Director of Water, Climate and Health Jesse Bell, who leads the Water, Climate and Health Program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, co-authored the chapter on human health. The authors share their take on regional differences related to climate change, who is most affected by its impacts and what bright spots exist.

View the full assessment here. Find webinars on each topic hosted by the U.S. Global Change Research Program here.

Aakanksha Melkani, a postdoctoral research associate at the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, researches the economic implications of drought in the United States, specifically on agricultural sectors. In this edition of the Water for Food Podcast, we are sharing an episode of Nebraska on Tap, a podcast produced by the Middle Republican Natural Resources District in Nebraska. Host of the show, Heather Dizmang, discusses Aakansha’s findings so far, as well as her time in Africa studying maize production.

The Melting Cryosphere and Food & Water Security, with Randall Ritzema, Tika Gurung, and Nick Brozović

A 2023 report called Water, ice, society, and ecosystems in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: An Outlook (HI-WISE), published by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), was an urgent call for how disappearing snow and ice in the Hindu Kush Himalayas will impact water resources for nearly two billion people. 

But the cryosphere exists elsewhere, too, as part of the globe’s hydrological system. Populations and ecosystems of The Andes, California and Nebraska, for example, all rely on a healthy cryosphere for water. With a changing climate, what are the implications to food and water security? How do we adapt? 

In this episode, DWFI Communications Specialist Arianna Elnes discusses the changing cryosphere with DWFI Research Program Scientist Randall Ritzema, who contributed to Chapter Three of the HI-WISE report; University of Nebraska-Lincoln Graduate Student of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Tika Gurung, who studies glaciers in the Himalayas; and DWFI Director of Policy Nick Brozović.

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute is co-hosting a webinar on the Water-Food Nexus in Mountain Systems on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024 at 3-4 P.M. UTC (9-10 A.M. CT). The link to register, and the recording after, is available at go.unl.edu/waterfoodnexus. 

For more on Water for Food’s work visit waterforfood.nebraska.edu