Farmers Need Support to Mitigate Climate Change, Farmers Union Member Tells Senate Ag Committee

Mar 12, 2021

Like nearly all American farmers and ranchers, Clay Pope has experienced more frequent and severe weather extremes in recent years as a result of climate change.

But with the support of voluntary, incentive-based government programs, the Oklahoma Farmers Union member and sixth-generation rancher has made his family’s operation more resilient to unpredictable precipitation patterns and wild temperature swings, as he told the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry during a hearing today. The expansion of these programs and the development of new ones could help farmers facing similar difficulties.

No part of the country has been spared the effects of climate change, but the symptoms vary drastically depending on the region. For Pope, it has meant “ice storms, changes in rainfall patterns, milder overall winters, record wildfires and, most recently, a historic cold snap that broke all previous records.” It’s hard to deny that “something is going on.”

To adapt to these challenges, he and his family have shifted to production methods that “minimize soil disturbance, maintain residue cover on the soil, keep something growing on the land as much as possible, and incorporate livestock into the system,” Pope told the committee. By building soil health, these practices have not only prepared his farm to bounce back more quickly from flooding, drought, freezes, and heat, but it has also cut their input expenditures, increased yields, and reduced soil erosion. “Our investment in soil health has helped us better prepare our farm for climate change in a way that has helped both our productivity and the environment.”

These kinds of adjustments often require a significant amount of time, money, and expertise, which is why Pope didn’t make them alone; he received “technical assistance and financial help from an Environmental Quality Incentive Program contract…NRCS, the local conservation district and…the Conservation Stewardship Program.” In order to assist other farmers like him, Pope urged the committee to “build on the UDSA’s voluntary, incentive-based conservation programs that allow for produce choice and flexibility.”

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.