Grant Provides Decision Support Tool for Extreme Weather Events

September 16, 2024

Knoxville, TN

Agroecosystems
Our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Commitment

Ninety percent of crop losses in the United States occur due to extreme weather. Flash floods and droughts are increasing in severity, but farmers have limited information on how to manage crop, soil and water in response to changing climate conditions. The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) is providing a $434,038 Seeding Solutions grant to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT Knoxville) and the UT Institute of Agriculture, to develop and test a weather-based tool to bolster field operations across the Tennessee River Basin and surrounding southeast US regions in the face of both long- and short-term weather hazards. UT Knoxville is providing matching funds for a total investment of $966,119 over the three-year project.

FFAR is excited to help address the growing urgency of planning for extreme weather events, Advanced water management represents underutilized tools to address climate-related challenges. Kathleen Boomer, Ph.D.
Scientific Program Director
Sustaining Vibrant Agroecosystems

Current guidance often focuses on average weather and climate conditions, thus providing limited information about how best to manage crops and field conditions during growing seasons affected by extreme weather. Using novel combinations of models and monitoring data, including satellites and terrestrial monitoring, UT Knoxville researchers, led by Dr. John Schwartz, director of the Tennessee Water Resources Research Center and UT professor, are developing a decision support tool allowing stakeholders to prepare for unpredictable conditions brought about by flash floods and drought.

The researchers are exploring how existing hydrologic and crop models can be combined with historical trends and current monitoring data to inform crop choice, irrigation needs and management and hazard mitigation planning. Results will help minimize crop losses and increase yield, maximize water use efficiency and enhance the resilience of agricultural systems to climate change.

The decision support tool for row crop producers being developed by our UT research team will provide them useful predictive information, particularly on short-term weather hazards, considering in recent years weather patterns in this region have more often shifted to a wetter spring followed by a flash drought early summer, creating producer challenges when to plant and whether irrigation is needed. Dr. John Schwartz
Director, Tennessee Water Resources Research Center

For more information about this research, visit the Creating a Decision Support Tool for Droughts & Floods grant page on FFAR’s website.

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Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research

The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) builds public-private partnerships to fund bold research addressing big food and agriculture challenges. FFAR was established in the 2014 Farm Bill to increase public agriculture research investments, fill knowledge gaps and complement the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s research agenda. FFAR’s model matches federal funding from Congress with private funding, delivering a powerful return on taxpayer investment. Through collaboration and partnerships, FFAR advances actionable science benefiting farmers, consumers and the environment.

Connect: @FoundationFAR

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