Droughts, wildfires, and heavy rains threaten farms, so farmers and ranchers are speaking up and letting policymakers know they support climate action.

More than 2,000 farmers have signed a letter expressing their concern about increasingly extreme weather and calling for investments in agricultural solutions.

Michael Happ of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition says his group will deliver the letter to Capitol Hill.

“It’s going to show that, hey, there are a whole lot of farmers whose lives are affected by climate change, that the increased frequency and ferocity of these disasters is not good for a sustainable operation – sustainable in any sense of the word,” he says.

In the letter, the farmers commit to helping tackle the issue – for example, by producing renewable energy, using conservation practices, and increasing the carbon in their soil.

Some farmers are already taking action.

“We’re really excited by all the things people are doing on soil health. People are using cover crops. They’re reducing their tillage,” Happ says. “They’re doing really, really, advanced grazing management with climate in mind.”

But for these strategies to be widely adopted, farmers say they need support. So the letter calls for policies that help advance agricultural solutions to climate change.

Reporting credit: ChavoBart Digital Media.