The key to climate resilience is in agriculture
Patterns of adaptation and resilience are evident throughout Ventura County. One of the most productive agricultural counties in the country, Ventura grows more than 30 multimillion dollar crops, and does so predominantly on small farms of less than 50 acres.
The County’s challenges related to water supply, labor costs, development pressures, and new land use policies are requiring growers to adapt in big and new ways. All of this compounds with the growing climate threats they face in a County that is warming faster than any other in the lower 48 United States.
To understand what adapting to these threats might look like, CEC interviewed farmers, ranchers, and those that support them to inform a new report, “Cultivating Resilience In Ventura County: Protecting Against Agricultural Vulnerabilities And Bouncing Forward After Disaster.”
Completed in cooperation with the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office of Ventura County and the UC Cooperative Extension of Ventura County, we sought out points of common interest as well as difficulties expressed by the diverse stakeholders. We then translated these into clear recommendations that the community can begin acting on, starting now:
Those that have succeeded within the dynamic industry of farming are inherently resilient. And yet, with the coming decades of climate extremes, rugged individualism will not be enough. This report – and the resulting stakeholder meetings we will hold in the coming year – provide concrete ideas on how we can come together as a community and do better.
Wishing you health,
Sigrid Wright, CEO
Community Environmental Council
P.S. You can get the full backstory on the report in our press release.