Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded $6 million to 10 universities to help farmers and ranchers cope with the effects of climate change.
- The grants range from $25,000 — to the University of Minnesota for a climate science conference — to $1 million to Oklahoma State University, which will develop water management resources and beef cattle that are adaptable to drought.
- In announcing the grants, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack referenced longer growing seasons, more extreme weather events, drought, floods, and extreme temperatures as examples of climate change problems that affect farmers and ranchers.
Dive Insight:
Will these universities face political heat from climate change deniers? The other grants include: $900,000 to the University of Colorado to study vulnerability and adaptation to climate change in Oregon, $250,000 to Florida International University to study a certain toxicity in grape juice for wine making created in warmer climates and $550,000 to Iowa State University to examine factors in climate adaptation and the protection of natural resources, grassland and wetlands.
Other universities receiving grants are Michigan State University, $975,000; Montana State University, $800,000; Cornell University, $600,000; Pennsylvania State University, $750,000; and West Virginia University, $150,000.