FSU News Release:

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Now, thanks to efforts by researchers at seven universities, a new set of tools is helping to provide better long-term forecasts for the agricultural industry.

The Southeast Climate Consortium (SECC) has announced the development of AgroClimate, (http://AgroClimate.org), a new, improved Web site to help farmers and foresters make more informed decisions to minimize climate risks to agriculture. The new site replaces AgClimate.org, which the SECC launched in 2004. Since that time, SECC scientists have been working in partnership with Agricultural Extension Services to get information from farmers, extension agents and forest managers to develop new tools and outlooks. The Florida Climate Office at Florida State University provides the climate data tools for the new Web site.

“AgroClimate aims to translate state-of-the-art science and climate forecasts from the fields of climatology, economics, agriculture and forestry into understandable information that farmers can use to manage risks caused by climate variability,“ said Clyde Fraisse, climate extension specialist for the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. “This Web site provides simple displays of how temperatures and rainfall in the southeastern United States are affected by sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean and how they affect agriculture.”

FSU Robert O. Lawton Professor Emeritus James O’Brien has led the effort in developing the climate science base on which AgroClimate has been established. He points to the “strong cooperation among scientists and extension specialists from diverse disciplines to combine advanced computer models, climate and agriculture” as the linchpin of success for developing this decision support system.

“The development of first AgClimate and now the improved AgroClimate would not have been possible without strong support from the SECC states and from three federal agencies, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency and the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Services,” said James Jones, a distinguished professor in the agricultural and biological engineering department at the University of Florida. He also points to the partnership between the SECC and Extension Services in the SECC states as key to the success of AgroClimate.

The Southeast Climate Consortium includes Auburn University, Florida State University, North Carolina State University, University of Alabama-Huntsville, University of Florida, University of Georgia and University of Miami. Probabilities from AgroClimate tools are based on more than 100 years of data.