Climate adaptation information needs of limited resource farmers in California.

Climate adaptation information needs of limited resource farmers in California. | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Climate adaptation information needs of limited resource farmers in California. Namah Taku-Forchu, Vikram Koundinya, Lauren E. Parker, Samuel Ikendi, and 8 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4676276/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract California’s agricultural production is facing ever-growing challenges due to climate change. We conducted a needs assessment of farmers in California in 2023, to better understand their climate change challenges, experiences, and resource and information needs. This study employed a convergent parallel mixed-methods design with a questionnaire created and distributed using Qualtrics. Out of the 341 usable survey responses post-data cleaning, 75 selected were limited-resource farmers, socially disadvantaged farmers, and first generation farmers. Two focus groups were conducted in the Central Valley of California involving 19 smallholder Hmong farmers to ascertain the climate-related impacts experienced by these farmers, delve into the strategies to tackle climate change risks, and identify climate change information and resources needed to mitigate challenges. The survey and focus group show similar findings, indicating that farmers are very concerned about several issues, including increased uncertainty in irrigation water availability, increased crop damage due to extreme heat, and worsening drought severity on their farms. Survey and focus group results also revealed farmers are changing their irrigation practices to mitigate climate-related risks, particularly extreme heat and severe drought on their farms. Focus group discussions emphasized adaptations like using shading and adjusting planting seasons to protect crops, while survey results highlighted the adaptation strategies aimed at soil health improvement, including building organic matter, mulching, and adopting reduced or no-till approaches. While already implementing climate adaptation strategies to mitigate risks, these farmers also expressed needs for more education on specific adaptation practices, including weather prediction tools, methods to enhance soil health, and efficient irrigation practices. Additionally, they sought guidance about applying for government funding opportunities, access to insurance, and climate adaptive strategies. Finally, Hmong farmers broadly indicated they preferred in-person workshops featuring climate-related information presented through videos and hands-on activities, which could effectively enhance their ability to adapt to climate change challenges. Climate change needs assessment extension program development smallholder farmer. 1 Introduction Climate change is altering global weather patterns, including those in California, and both directly and indirectly impacting agriculture. Changes include temperature increases, heat waves, and droughts as well as shifting patterns of water availability and periodic scarcity. Indirect effects include weed, pest and disease pressure, and even factors like wildfire smoke (Green 2021; Parker et al. 2022; Pathak et al. 2018). For example, the 2015 record breaking drought led to 540,000 acres of farmland being fallowed, resulting in the loss of 21,000 jobs and a decrease of $2.7 billion in revenue for the state’s economy (Howitt et al. 2015). The severe conditions also caused thousands of domestic wells to run dry, disproportionately impacting disinvested and rural communities in California. Research studies in California have highlighted farmers’ lived experiences and observations of severe weather changes over time, alluding to heatwaves, droughts, and flooding, conditions that negatively impact agriculture in the state (Pathak et al. 2018) and acknowledging that the climate is different now than in the past (Petersen-Rockney 2022a). Research shows that there is an urgent need to assist farmers in California and surrounding communities as climate change worsens (Lum 2018). In California, irrespective of farmers’ belief in climate change they still implement climate adaptation practices on their farms (Petersen-Rockney 2022b) to mitigate climate change risks, and farmers’ climate risk perception centers on farmers’ firsthand experience with the effects of climate change, and notably on their perceived changes in water availability (Haden et al. 2012). Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices provide a suite of approaches that growers can consider implementing on their farms to reduce climate change risks. CSA enhances food security by supporting the sustainable increase in agricultural productivity and income, climate change adaptation and resilience, and opportunities geared at reducing greenhouse gas emissions (FAO 2013; Fusco et al. 2020; Lipper et al. 2014; Singh and Singh 2017). Leveraging the uptake of climate-smart practices by small-scale, socially disadvantaged farmers in California is vital to reducing climate change risks. A needs assessment was conducted in 2023, to ascertain California farmers, ranchers, and technical service providers' climate change challenges, adaptation approaches, and their resources and information needs to mitigate climate change risks. The needs assessment was an initial phase of a larger project, the multifaceted pathways to climate smart agriculture, with farmers, ranchers, and technical assistance providers. We surveyed farmers in California and organized focus groups with Hmong farmers in the Central Valley in California. For this study, we focused on limited resources, socially disadvantaged, and first generation farmers in California. Limited resource farmers are defined as farmers having low farm sales and low household income for 2 years in a row while socially disadvantaged farmers are farmers who have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudices because of their identity as members of a group without regard to their individual quality (USDA 2024). Many of their operations are small-scale farms, which are primarily family-owned with a gross cash farm income of less than $350,000 (Hoppe and MacDonald 2013). Small-scale farms produce a substantial amount of food per acre of land (Dahlquist-Willard et al. 2015) and contribute considerably to US food availability (Godfray et al. 2010). Moreover, they are often generalized as beginning farmers (operated a farm for less than 10 years) under many programs, which potentially hampers effectiveness of outreach and support efforts (Munden-Dixon et al. 2018; USDA 2024). Carolan (2018) referenced first generation farmer, beginning, as someone who has operated a farm or ranch for not more than 10 consecutive years, which is in line with the USDA definition of beginning farmers (USDA 2024). The Central Valley is home to Hmong American families (Lee 2005). The Hmong farmers are part of an ethnic minority and socially disadvantaged group among Asian or Asian-American farmers, subject to facing racial and ethnic prejudices (USDA 2024), and experienced difficulty accessing resources available to them due in part to language barriers (Dahlquist-Willard et al. 2015). The Hmong farmers typically operate on a small-scale with limited resources, managing an average farm size of about 5.6 acres (Thao et al. 2019). However, Hmong farmers, like other small-scale farmers, struggle to maintain crop production in the face of extreme climate events. Research on small-scale, limited-resource, minority farmers, including Hmong farmers, is an understudied population in the US (Thao 2021). Gaining a more comprehensive understanding of limited-resource farmers' needs can facilitate targeted allocation and mobilization of resources for strategic planning and decision-making. This needs assessment survey and focus group findings would guide the organization of training sessions and workshops aimed at equipping farmers with the necessary knowledge and resources to effectively manage climate change risks. Also, both results will guide the development of extension and educational programs to enhance the adoption of climate adaptation approaches to reduce climate change impacts for farmers in California. 2 Methods and Procedures 2.1 Research design We employed a convergent parallel mixed-method survey design (Creswell and Creswell 2017). We combined quantitative survey and qualitative focus group methods to identify limited-resource farmers and Hmong smallholder farmers’ climate-related concerns, impacts, adaptation strategies, and information and resource needs to mitigate climate change risks. 2.2 Data collection A survey questionnaire was designed in a participatory and culturally responsive manner (Koundinya et al. 2023) and distributed via Qualtrics using emails purchased from the Farm MarketID (FMID). Project partners also distributed the survey using QR Codes and anonymous links. Face and content validity were established through expert review of the questionnaire by all project team leads and 16 people who served as expert validation panel, which included the 10 regional leads for the cropping system and rangeland, an education and training core team member, 4 Agricultural and Natural Resources (ANR) specialists, and a university professor. The final usable dataset generated after accounting for bots/spam infiltration and incomplete responses was 341 and it is available in Pinzon et al. (2023). Out of these usable data, ( n = 75) were identified as limited resource and socially disadvantaged farmers. Out of these 341 usable data, 75 participants selected: I am “a socially disadvantaged farmer (e.g., a farmer who has been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudices because of their identity as members of a group without regard to their individual quality,” “a limited resource farmer (having low income from sales and low household income for 2 years in a row,” and “a first generation farmer” in the survey. For purposes of this study, the term, limited-resource farmers will be used more frequently to represent the socially disadvantaged, limited-resource farmers, and first generation farmers. Reliability was established using Cronbach Alpha, and results show high internal consistency (ɑ=0.949). Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 28 and descriptive results were presented using tables. Two focus groups were conducted with Hmong farmers in the Central Valley, California. Each focus group and the members of the groups were treated as cases and data were collected, analyzed case-wise, interpreted, and presented both on a case-by-case basis and collectively while negotiating distinctiveness and similar aspects from their responses (Cresswell and Poth 2018). The participants in our focus groups were purposely recruited by the project team in collaboration with the Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) Small Farms and Community Educators. Focus groups were conducted on March 1, 2023, in Merced (five farmer participants), and on March 8, 2023, during a farm field tour for Hmong farmers in Fresno (14 farmer participants) located in the Central Valley of California. The Fresno focus group members were recruited via their participation in a United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG). A gift card ($25 USD) was provided to all participants to incentivize participation. The interview guide consisted of 11 open-ended questions to guide the focus group discussions on climate change impacts and challenges, the adaptation practices and approaches, and resources and information needed to reduce climate change risks. The focus group questions were developed to understand farmers' climate-related impacts on their farming operations, approaches to reduce climate change risks, and farmers' resources and information needs. The focus group guide was reviewed by our interdisciplinary research team based on individual expertise in climate change, agriculture, extension education, program evaluation, small farms, and social science research methods. Six research team members (the project director, two project managers, a postdoctoral scholar, and two Extension experts) participated in conducting the interviews. Two research team members were native Hmong speakers and served as enumerators and moderators. To support a natural flow of conversation (Isreal and Galindo-Gonzalez 2008), we began with relationship building by welcoming our interviewees into the room where we organized tables in a square formation to encourage face-to-face interactions. Focus group moderators introduced the research team and the team leader presented the project goals and objectives. Following the Internal Review Board (IRB) protocol, consent information was read, and verbal consent was required before the focus group conversation began. To be culturally responsive, we chose not to audio record the focus group conversations because Small Farms and Community Educators expressed concerns that some farmers might feel uncomfortable speaking while being recorded. Group moderators began the conversation by asking participants to share their experiences with climate change on their farm operations. Our two Hmong-speaking research team members who served as moderators guided the conversations and took notes. Four of the English-speaking team members also took notes and memos especially when farmers responded in English. The two focus group conversations lasted for approximately 60 minutes each. 2.3 Data analysis For data analysis and interpretation, Hmong-speaking moderators first met with the project team members to debrief, discuss, and compile transcripts and emerging themes from the conversations. We adopted a narrative analysis approach with in-depth reading, looking for perspectives with similar themes and those that appeared distinct among the cases from and across the groups. We wrote analytic memos while inductively extracting themes and generating meaning from the data (Lincoln and Guba 1985; Saldana 2016). We shared our emergent themes using a Google shared document merging the differences and commonalities of narratives members found. We reached a consensus and merged the final results based on the themes identified from the protocol guide and the focus group results. We examined our subjective reflections to reduce study bias by reporting research findings based on participants’ voices and notes taken during the discussions to increase the credibility of findings. The results are presented in the form of thick descriptions (Lincoln and Guba 1985) incorporating word verbatim statements and sharing insights from the results. 3 Results and Discussion 3.1 Farmer’s demographic results The demographic results of the respondents were more males ( n = 59, 78.7% ). More than half ( n = 38, 55.9% ) were white, followed by Hispanic/Latinx, or Spanish origin ( n = 16, 23.5% ), and Asian/Asian American ( n = 10, 14.7% ) and had a mean age of 58.5 years. These farmers grow diverse crops, but fruits ( n = 43, 57.3% ) and nuts ( n = 32, 42.7% ) were most prominent. They also produce some vegetables ( n = 12, 16% ). The focus group results show that about a third of the participants were male ( n = 13, 68.42% ). Majority of the focus group participants ( n =17, 89.47% ) grow mixed vegetables and are diverse crop growers producing some permanent crops, which is in line with other studies finding that Hmong farmers in California grow diverse crops (Dahlquist-Willard et al. 2020; Thao et al. 2019). 3.2 Climate Change Concerns of Limited-Resource Farmers in California 3.2.1 Climate-related impacts The survey results in Table 1 show that farmers were very concerned ( 62.7% ) about increased uncertainty in water available for irrigation and reduced groundwater availability ( 55.4%) on their farms. Increased crop damage due to extreme heat events was the most temperature-related impact farmers were very concerned about ( 40% ), while increased drought severity was the most disaster-related impact farmers were very concerned about (44%) on their farms. Table 1: Extent of concern of climate-related impacts experienced by limited resource farmers Note: The overall needs assessment data for the extent of concern of climate-related impacts on farmers’ operations in California can be accessed in Ikendi et al., 2024. 3.2.2 Climate-related impacts experienced by Hmong farmers In our first focus group question on what climate-related impacts Hmong farmers were experiencing, three themes emerged from the focus group analysis: temperature, drought, and flooding . Related to the temperature theme, high temperatures and extreme heat resonated as impacting farming operations. A farmer from Merced said, “hot weather has ‘burned’ my plants and vegetables, or sometimes my plants don’t emerge at the seedling stage. For example, bell peppers are burned/brown on the skin, and cilantro and green onions do not emerge from seeds or bolt early.” Another farmer from Fresno recounted, “chillies on my farm burn from intense heat and soil temperatures.” Yet another farmer from Fresno echoed that “my lemon grass leaves wilt, burn, and/or are stunted due to extreme heat.” Similarly, another farmer in Merced said, “during summer my tomatoes are splitting.” These perceptions are consistent with prior research demonstrating that the projected extreme heat resulting from climate change exerts stress on crops, leading to limited crop production and reductions in crop quality (Parker et al. 2020). Unusual and unprecedented cold temperatures resonated as impacting farming operations. As recounted by another farmer in Merced, “repeated and unexpected freezes in February and March make it hard to prep early spring season crops.” The theme of drought was another climate change challenge that emerged. Drought is a severe issue in California, affecting agriculture. The 2012-2016 drought was associated with a drastic decrease in snowpack and water sources in the Sierra Mountains, a great source of irrigation water for California (Greene 2021). Drought is causing farmers to plant less and reduces yields. A farmer in Fresno said, “if there is no water, farmers may stop farming or find other land to farm…. drought has reduced planting; increased fallowing which is not voluntary.” Drought has impacted water sources and water availability for farmers in California. The participants in the two focus groups alluded that their major water sources were private agriculture/domestic wells. A farmer in Fresno echoed, “large farmers dig wells to go thousands of feet and safeguard water to use during drought periods, while we as small-scale growers are only able to dig a couple hundred feet.” Another farmer recounted, “large farms irrigating their crops suck up much water and reduce groundwater – difficult for small farms like ours to irrigate at the same time with the large farms.” Drought has led to an increase in farm irrigation practices with farmers shifting to drip irrigation to mitigate droughts. A farmer in Fresno recounted, “I now use two lines of drip tape with manually widened holes per row because I need more water, especially when it is hot.”. As narrated by a farmer from Merced, “I am now using drip tape and only watering at night after or near sunset because it’s more effective.” Howitt et al. (2014) posit that the impact of drought in California led to increased cost of groundwater use, revenue losses to crop farming, and increased food crop prices. Another theme that emerged was flooding. Farmers were asked if they have experienced flooding due to too much rain or unpredictable rain? and how has this flooding affected their farm operations? Not so much was discussed by farmers on flooding due to unprecedented and unpredicted rainfall. I believe farmers didn’t discuss this since during the focus group conversation growers were in the middle of their largest, most unpredictable (impactful) rainfall for the first time since 2017/2018 in California. No farmer in Merced brought up flooding as an issue in their farming operations. About 60% of farmers in Merced have been farming for 5 years or less and were in the course of experiencing their first impactful rainfall since they started farming. Moreover, only farmers in Fresno, did express flooding due to unpredictable and unprecedented rainfall. When we probed into the Hmong farmers’ experiences with flooding, a farmer from Fresno recounted “flooding caused my plants to die and crop loss.” A second Fresno farmer said, “bad weather / flooding of fields forced me to be unable to do field work which caused planting my crops to a later date than usual timing.” In addition, we also asked Hmong farmers what other challenges they were experiencing on their farms due to climate change. Wildfire and smoke were other challenges raised. A farmer in Fresno recounted, “wildfire and smoke contaminate the wind, air, plants and leaves too much dust on leaves, requiring me to wash leaves and plants; potentially making my fruits and vegetables unmarketable.” A second farmer said, “As small farmers, if we lose our crops, we cannot survive, small farmers can’t recover as compared to large farmers.” This is because Hmong farmers have small farm size compared to large-scale farmers and this limits their ability to access financial and insurance coverage when faced with a loss compared to large-scale farmers. 3.3 Strategies for reducing climate change risks To reduce climate change risk, farmers were asked to select the adaptation practices they are currently implementing to reduce climate change risks on their farms. The survey results show that more than half ( 57.3% ) of the limited resource farmers are currently changing their irrigation practices. These farmers are also building soil organic matter ( 46.5% ), and others are improving soil health through mulching ( 43.8% ), reduced or no-till practices ( 43.1% ), and the use of cover crops ( 41.1% ) on their farms. Table 2: Adaptation practices currently implemented by limited resource farmers to reduce climate change risks 3.3.1 Strategies to reduce climate change risks by Hmong farmers Our second focus group question was to understand what strategies limited-resource farmers have used to reduce climate change risks on their farm operations. The themes that emerged from the focus group discussions included frequent watering, shading, and irrigation strategies . These strategies were used to mitigate extreme and high temperatures and drought on farmers’ operations. In terms of what farmers were doing to combat extreme heat on their farm operations, farmers stated that they water more frequently and that they implement shading strategies. A farmer from Fresno recounted “high temperatures requiring the need to water more frequently.” However, frequent watering and providing plants with too much water cause plants to rot triggering substantial losses to farmers. A tomato farmer from Merced narrated “adding more water to tomatoes results in rotting tomatoes [too much water]. Whereas heat has been burning the leaves and branches, watering more to reduce this loss causes “roots to rot,” as stated by one Merced farmer. To mitigate the climate change challenges due to extreme heat, Hmong farmers are using shades to protect crops during hot weather. With respect to shading, a farmer in Merced said, “I grow peas on a trellis – blooms, and leaves are shedding from plants as they grow.” Another farmer in Fresno recounted “in the last years, I have used black shade structures to protect plants from direct sunlight and high temperatures. Other strategies highlighted by farmers include planting crops with a short planting to harvesting period and irrigating frequently. A Fresno farmer said, “I am planting shorter season crops.” Another farmer in Fresno recounted, “I irrigate more frequently, with shorter cycles of watering, but more frequent intervals.” Also, farmers highlighted some strategies they were using to combat drought. A farmer from Fresno recounted “our crop cycles are different from the past; we use high tunnels for various benefits – starting crops earlier or extending crop season.” Farmers are also strategic with regard to irrigation scheduling. However, our conversation did not include strategies to reduce risks associated with precipitation and flooding. 3.4 Resources and information needs 3.4.1 Need for information on adaptation practices Next, we asked farmers to indicate their level of need for information on adaptation practices. The survey results in Table 3 show limited-resource farmers' need for information on climate-related issues. Applying for government assistance (78.6%), secure access to insurance (74.3%), transition to renewable energy for farm use (71.8%), build soil organic matter (68.9%) and reduce reliance on groundwater (67.6%) were the top five information needs. These percentages were calculated by combining the number of respondents who selected some need and high need on a Likert-type scale. Table 3: Need for information by limited resource farmers Note: The values of some needs and high needs are in percentages. The number of observations (n) is based on the total responses for each Likert-type scale question. 3.4.2 Hmong farmer's resources and information needs Finally, to understand farmers' resource and information needs, we asked Hmong farmers about their usage of weather decision and prediction tools and what their climate adaptation information needs were. The following themes emerged from the focus group interview: place-based knowledge, decision-support tools (DSTs)/biophysical data, funding, soil/crop rotation management practices, and economics/funding. For place-based knowledge, farmers indicated that they used their intuition and common-sense knowledge, as recounted by a farmer in Fresno, “I have a long-time experience in farming, I use my own sense and knowledge of weather and when is best to plant.” Other farmers were interested in DSTs; a Fresno farmer said, “I am interested in regular updates on weather predictions and potential disasters.” A farmer in Merced said, “I need information about weather tools, soil testing … and crop rotation that would help me to know what to add after each succession of crops.” Farmers also talked about the need for information and the topics they would like covered in extension education events; for example, a farmer in Merced said “I am interested in information on seed selection for drought tolerant species, equipment access …. maybe soil testing.” Another farmer in Merced noted, “I need information in regulating outdoors vs indoor temperatures; bugs/pests, material for freezing versus high heat [for hoop houses and greenhouses].” Farmers also highlighted the need for information regarding funding to help cover the cost of trying a new program on their farm. A farmer in Merced said, “I need information on funding support; and cost-benefit analysis on trying a project on my farm.” We further asked farmers how they want the climate change information to be disseminated to them. A farmer in Merced shared, “In-person teaching, joint classroom, and hands-on activities – perhaps watching videos together” will work best for them. Another farmer in Merced added, “I would not want to watch videos online by myself.” In-person training for the farmers so that farmers can discuss together the feasible strategies are some recommendations from the Hmong farmers during the focus group conversation. 4 Conclusion and Recommendations Extreme weather and climate change are having a significant impact on limited resources and small-scale Hmong farmers in California. Our survey results revealed that, farmers are very concerned about several issues, including the increased uncertainty in water availability for irrigation and ground water availability, increased crop damage caused by extreme heat, and worsening severity of drought on their farms. Our focus group findings reveal similar challenges. Specifically, farmers expressed concerns about increased crop damage due to extreme heat, and the escalating severity of droughts on their farms. The impacts of wildfire and smoke were other concerns highlighted by Hmong farmers. Climate change challenges are requiring farmers in California to adopt climate adaptive practices. Both the survey and focus group results indicated similar findings among limited-resource farmers in California, who are changing irrigation practices to mitigate climate change risks associated with extreme heat and drought on their farms. Additionally, the focus group results highlighted the use of shades to protect crops during hot weather and adjustments to crop planting seasons. In contrast, adaptive strategies aimed at improving soil health, such as building soil organic matter, mulching, and adopting reduced or no-till approaches, were specifically highlighted in the survey results. Although limited-resource farmers, including Hmong farmers in California, are implementing some climate adaptation strategies such as altering irrigation practices, frequent watering, shading, mulching, and reduced or no-till approaches to mitigate climate change risks, they indicated a need for more information on accessing financial assistance to implement adaptation practices and assessing climate-based decision support and monitoring tools. Limited-resource farmers including Hmong smallholder farmers, face multifaceted challenges. Overall, farmers expressed the highest need for support with government assistance and insurance access. Specifically, Hmong farmers indicated the need for information accessing funding to cover the cost of trying new programs on their farms to reduce climate change risks. They also requested information on adaptation practices and tools, including soil testing, crop rotation, irrigation efficiency, and transition to renewable energy for farm use. Specifically, Hmong farmers seek guidance on utilizing weather tools and are also requesting information on bug and pest management. On this basis, we recommend that Extension and local agricultural programs organize in-person and hands-on training specifically focused on the information needs highlighted by limited-resource and Hmong farmers. We also recommend that, in addition to already existing training on practices (which extension does a lot of), extension should prioritize supporting limited-resource and immigrant farmers (such as Hmong) farmers in accessing government resources, financial planning tools, and decision support technologies as evident from our needs assessment and focus groups. Extension training and workshops should focus on topics including transitioning to renewable energy, the use of weather monitoring tools, cost-benefit analysis, methods for improving soil health, irrigation and water management and pests management. Extension agents who are multilingual should participate in designing and conducting the training to ensure relevance and accessibility (Taku-Forchu et al. 2023a) and develop materials and outreach strategies that are inclusive of these farmer’s languages and cultural contexts. We recommend that limited-resource farmers as well as Hmong farmers be provided with long-term climate and seasonal weather prediction tools to help them with long-term agriculture planning (CalAgroClimate, n.d.). For example, CalAgroClimate (calagroclimate.org) is a web-based climate data visualization tool and resource repository on climate and agriculture that provides specific crop and climate information to California farmers (Johnson et al. 2023). Hmong farmers highlighted their preference for in-person, joint classroom, and hands-on activities so that farmers can discuss together what strategies are best suited to mitigate climate change risk in their farming operations. We recommend that in-person workshops and training should be organized, providing Hmong farmers with hands-on activities that will increase Hmong farmers' ability to make informed climate-based decisions on their farming operations. Providing limited-resource farmers with the support to access climate adaptation resources and implement practices to mitigate climate change impacts is vital, especially as they are the most likely to be impacted by extreme climate events and least likely to access support after a climate disaster. 5 Implications Climate change poses a threat to food production in California. Our research highlights the need for extension and agricultural professionals to leverage information on applying for government funding, access to financial risk management, water management strategies, soil health, crop rotation, pest management, cost-benefit analysis, implementing hands-on activities and group based video learning opportunities on climate-related information during training and workshops. Also, to mitigate climate change risks, extension and agricultural professionals need to re-orient their teaching and training approaches to foster long-term agricultural planning such as providing limited-resource farmers including Hmong farmers with accessible long-term climate prediction tools to help reduce climate change risks on their farms. Farmer-to-farmer learning, which is the provision of training by farmers to their peers (Franzel et al. 2019) is important especially when working with small-scale indigenous and limited-resource farmers. Farmers were identified as a key source of information for their peers with farmers indicating a strong preference to receive agricultural-related information from other farmers (Taku-Forchu et al. 2023b). Research shows that farmer-to-farmer learning has been successful, and farmers rely on their peers as their primary information source for agricultural innovation (Franzel et al. 2019). Organizing farmer-to-farmer field days where fellow farmers who have successfully implemented certain adaptation practices or doing things differently from other farmers in their community and are willing to show their peers to follow such approaches while learning from the process is important (Habermann et al. 2022). Language and communication barriers was an issue since some Hmong farmers could not speak English. Extension and technical assistance providers should develop training manuals, training videos incorporating their local language, including fostering peer-to-peer learning in the development of information and resources to improve farmers’ understanding of climate change and climate adaptation practices (Johnson et al. 2023). Extension and agricultural stakeholders should organize educational programs, workshops, and training to communicate and disseminate information on climate adaptation practices taking into consideration resources and information needs identified in the findings to foster adaptation more rapidly for California limited-resource farmers including Hmong farmers to enhance their resilience to climate change. Declarations Funding This work was funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Grant Number 2022-68017-36358. Acknowledgments We want to thank all the farmers in California who completed the online survey and provided data for this study. We also appreciate all Hmong farmers in the Central Valley, California who participated in the focus group discussions. Author contribution All authors who are part of the multifaceted pathways to climate-smart agriculture grant project contributed to the conception and design of the study. Namah Taku-Forchu led material preparation and data collection. Moreover, all authors reviewed, edited, and made changes to the survey questionnaire and focus group questions. Samuel Ikendi analyzed the survey data. Namah Taku-Forchu developed the first draft of the manuscript. Vikram Koundinya and Lauren Parker provided the first and second intense reviews of the manuscript, and all authors edited, commented, and provided feedback. In addition, all authors have read and approved the final manuscript. Conflict of Interest The authors declare they have no conflict of interest. Research Involving Human Subjects This study was approved for human research under Institutional Review Board Number 1841798-2 by the University of California, Davis. 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Land Use Policy , 79 , 179-189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.08.011 Creswell JW, Creswell JD (2017) Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications. Creswell JW, Poth CN (2018) Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches. SAGE. Dahlquist-Willard R, Espinoza MLR, Yang M, Engelskirchen G, Feenstra G (2020) Challenges and Opportunities for Small Farms Marketing Dried Moringa Products in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Western Economics Forum, 18(2), 61-64. https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.308126 Dahlquist-Willard RM, Sowerwine J, Yang M, Vue S, Chang X (2015) Southeast Asian farms in Fresno County. University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperative Extension. FAO (2013) Climate-Smart Agriculture Sourcebook. 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Nairobi, Kenya, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). https://cgspace.cgiar.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/035da3a8-ec91-46b5-930d-5947a1593fd6/content. Haden VR, Niles MT, Lubell M, Perlman J, Jackson LE (2012) Global and local concerns: what attitudes and beliefs motivate farmers to mitigate and adapt to climate change?. PloS one, 7(12), e52882. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0052882 Hoppe RA, MacDonald JM (2013) The revised ERS farm typology: Classifying U.S. farms to reflect today’s agriculture. Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. https://primary.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2013/may/the-revised-ers-farm-typology-classifying-u-s-farms-to-reflect-todays-agriculture/ Howitt R, MacEwan D, Medellín-Azuara J, Lund JR, Sumner D (2015) Economic analysis of the 2015 drought for California agriculture. University of California, Davis, CA: Center for Watershed Sciences. https://watershed.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk8531/files/products/2021-05/Final_Drought%20Report_08182015_Full_Report_WithAppendices.pdf Howitt R, Medellín-Azuara, J, MacEwan D, Lund JR, Sumner, D. (2014). Economic analysis of the 2014 drought for California agriculture. University of California, Davis, CA: Center for Watershed Sciences. https://www.circleofblue.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Economic_Impact_of_the_2014_California_Water_Drought_0.pdf Ikendi S, Pinzón N, Koundinya V, Taku-Forchu N, Roche LM, Ostoja SM, ... & Pathak TB (2024). Climate smart agriculture: Assessing needs and perceptions of California's farmers. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems , 8 , 1395547. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2024.1395547 Israel GD, Galindo-Gonzalez S (2008) Using focus group interviews for planning or evaluating extension programs: AEC 387/PD036, rev. 5/2008. EDIS, 2008(5). https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/pd036 Johnson D, Parker LE, Pathak TB, Crothers L, Ostoja SM (2023) Technical assistance providers identify climate change adaptation practices and barriers to adoption among California agricultural producers. Sustainability, 15(7), 5973. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15075973 Koundinya V, Taku-Forchu N, Pinzon N, Parker L, Cooper M, Ostoja S, Roche L, Ikendi S, Pathak T (2023, October 9–14) Collecting needs assessment data using participatory and culturally responsive strategies for a climate-smart agriculture project (Poster presentation). American Evaluation Association (AEA) Annual Conference: The power of story. Indianapolis, Indiana: United States. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/374842286 Lee GY (2005) The shaping of traditions: agriculture and Hmong society. Hmong Studies Journal, 6, 1-33. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=1cd9f17c3c04cc04ef87c2cc4f1ef2f7c4ca71f7 Lincoln YS, Guba EG (1985) Naturalistic inquiry. SAGE. Lipper L, Thornton P, Campbell BM, Baedeker T, Braimoh A, Bwalya M, ... & Torquebiau EF (2014) Climate-smart agriculture for food security. Nature climate change, 4(12), 1068-1072. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2437 Lipper L, Zilberman D (2018) A short history of the evolution of the climate smart agriculture approach and its links to climate change and sustainable agriculture debates. In climate smart agriculture: Building resilience to climate change; Lipper, L., McCarthy, N., Zilberman, D., Asfaw, S., Branca, G., (eds); Natural Resource Management and Policy, 52; Springer Nature: Basel, Switzerland; pp. 13–30. https://doi.org/ 10.1007/978-3-319-61194-5_2 Lum L (2018) Climate impacts on agriculture: Lessons from CalCAN listening sessions. CalCAN, California Climate & Agriculture Network (CalCAN). https://calclimateag.org/climate-impacts-on-agriculture-lessons-from-calcan-listening-sessions/ Munden-Dixon K, Tate K, Cutts B, Roche L (2018) An uncertain future: climate resilience of first-generation ranchers. The Rangeland Journal, 41(3), 189-196. https://doi.org/10.1071/RJ18023 Parker LE, McElrone AJ, Ostoja S, Forrestel EJ (2020) Extreme heat effects perennial crops and strategies for sustaining future production. Plant Science, 295, 110397. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plantsci.2019.110397 Parker LE, Zhang N, Abatzoglou JT, Ostoja SM, Pathak TB (2022) Observed changes in agroclimate metrics relevant for specialty crop production in California. Agronomy, 12(1), 205. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12010205 Pathak TB, Maskey ML, Dahlberg JA, Kearns F, Bali KM, Zaccaria D (2018) Climate change trends and impacts on California agriculture: a detailed review. Agronomy, 8(3), 25. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy8030025 Petersen-Rockney M (2022a) Farmers adapt to climate change irrespective of stated belief in climate change or farm advisor reinforcement of (Dis)belief: A case study in Northern California. Research Square. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1281622/v1 Petersen-Rockney M (2022b) Farmers adapt to climate change irrespective of stated belief in climate change: a California case study. Climatic Change, 173(3-4), 23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-022-03417-9 Saldana J (2016) The coding manual for qualitative researchers. SAGE. Singh R, Singh GS (2017) Traditional agriculture: a climate-smart approach for sustainable food production. Energy, Ecology and Environment, 2, 296-316. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40974-017-0074-7 Taku-Forchu N, Ikendi S, Koundinya V, Dahlquist-Willard R, Thaoxaochay L et al (2023a, November 28-30). Climate change related impacts and experiences among Hmong farmers in the San Joaquin Valley, California (Paper presentation). National Association of Extension Program & Staff Development Professionals (NAEPSDP) Annual Conference: Extension elevated. Salt Lake City, UT, United States. Taku-Forchu N, Qu S, Lambert MD, Retallick MS, Ulmer JD, Opit G P (2023b) Maize farmers’ use, preference, and trustworthiness of information sources and communication channels in Dormaa, Ghana: A gender comparison.," Journal of Applied Communications, (107)3. https://doi.org/10.4148/1051-0834.2479 Thao C, Burke N, Ha S, Joyce A (2019) Pesticide knowledge, attitudes, and practices among small-scale hmong farmers in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Journal of Integrated Pest Management, 10(1), 32. https://doi.org/10.1093/jipm/pmz030 Thao C (2021) Hmong farmer narratives of pesticide use in the Central Valley, California. Dissertation, University of California, Merced. USDA (2024). Socially disadvantaged, beginning, limited resource, and female farmers and ranchers. https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-economy/socially-disadvantaged-beginning-limited-resource-and-female-farmers-and-ranchers/ Tables Table 1: Extent of concern of climate-related impacts experienced by limited resource farmers Climate-Related Impacts n Extent of Concern Concerned (%) Very Concerned (%) Water-related impacts Increased uncertainty in water availability for irrigation 75 18.7 62.7 Reduced groundwater availability 74 18.9 55.4 Reduced water availability for irrigation 75 20.0 53.3 Increased crop/water stress 75 26.0 45.3 Temperature-related impacts Increased crop damage due to extreme heat 75 21.3 40.0 Increased farm loss due to climate-related disaster 74 36.5 31.1 Increased frost damage 74 28.4 21.6 Increased pest and disease pressure 75 29.3 21.3 Reduced chill accumulations 74 29.7 10.8 Disasters-related impacts Increased drought severity 75 26.7 44.0 Increased crop loss due to climate-related disaster 75 34.7 33.3 Increased crop damage due to wildfire or smoke 75 20.0 20.0 Increased wildfires severity 75 28.0 17.3 Increased flooding 75 17.3 14.7 Table 2: Adaptation practices currently implemented by limited resource farmers to reduce climate change risks Adaptation Practices n Currently Implementing (%) Change irrigation practices 75 57.3 Build soil organic matter 71 46.5 Mulching 73 43.8 Reduce soil disturbance (reduce or no-till) 72 43.1 Use of cover crops 73 41.1 Reduce reliance on groundwater 74 29.3 Transition to renewable energy for farm use 74 28.4 Apply for government assistance 72 26.4 Secure access to insurance 74 23.0 Use of drought tolerant varieties 74 23.0 Change market strategy 73 20.5 Increase ecosystem services through farm scaping 74 14.9 Reduce input use 73 12.3 Water harvesting 75 10.7 Concentrate surface water on less acreage 72 9.7 Reduce dependency on fossil fuels 74 8.1 Table 3: Need for information by limited resource farmers Need for Information on adaptation practices n Level of Need Some Need High Need Financial assistance and security Apply for government assistance 70 34.3 44.3 Secure access to insurance 70 42.9 31.4 Earn off-farm income 71 35.2 25.4 Energy transition Transition to renewable energy for farm use 71 35.2 36.6 Reduce dependency on fossil fuels 70 28.6 27.1 Water management Water harvesting 75 40.0 24.0 Change irrigation practices 75 41.3 21.3 Reduce reliance on groundwater 74 51.4 16.2 Concentrate surface water on less acreage 74 44.6 9.5 Soil and crop management Build soil organic matter 74 48.6 20.3 Use of drought tolerant varieties 75 37.3 20.0 Use of cover crops 75 34.7 17.3 Mulching 75 44 10.7 Market and production strategy Change market strategy 68 44.1 17.6 Reduce input use 71 38 16.9 Switch to new crops 75 30.7 14.7 Add on-farm enterprise 68 35.3 13.2 Increase ecosystem services through farm scaping 70 47.1 8.6 Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Dahlquist-Willard","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"ANR: University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ruth","middleName":"M.","lastName":"Dahlquist-Willard","suffix":""},{"id":331310613,"identity":"41d76611-a1f3-400a-931f-4b0f3d0340a2","order_by":10,"name":"Mark H. Cooper","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of California Davis","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mark","middleName":"H.","lastName":"Cooper","suffix":""},{"id":331310614,"identity":"862e0c59-1430-455b-9cd7-4d01dc160933","order_by":11,"name":"Tapan B. Pathak","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of California Merced","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tapan","middleName":"B.","lastName":"Pathak","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-07-02 20:11:48","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4676276/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4676276/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":64532775,"identity":"25398ad9-bad6-4655-a171-a100eb771b7c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-09-14 17:18:27","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":597447,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4676276/v1/8793f53f-e735-414e-a9a6-6a9734c17105.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"Climate adaptation information needs of limited resource farmers in California.","fulltext":[{"header":"1 Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eClimate change is altering global weather patterns, including those in California, and both directly and indirectly impacting agriculture.\u0026nbsp;Changes\u0026nbsp;include temperature increases, heat waves, and droughts as well as shifting patterns of water availability and periodic scarcity. Indirect effects include weed, pest and disease pressure, and even factors like wildfire smoke (Green 2021; Parker et al. 2022; Pathak et al. 2018). For example,\u0026nbsp;the\u0026nbsp;2015\u0026nbsp;record breaking drought led to 540,000 acres of farmland being fallowed, resulting in the loss of 21,000 jobs and a decrease of $2.7 billion in revenue for the state\u0026rsquo;s economy (Howitt et al. 2015). The\u0026nbsp;severe\u0026nbsp;conditions also caused thousands of domestic wells to run dry, disproportionately impacting disinvested and rural communities in California.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eResearch studies in California have highlighted farmers\u0026rsquo; lived experiences and observations of severe weather changes over time, alluding to heatwaves, droughts, and flooding, conditions that negatively impact agriculture in the state (Pathak et al. 2018) and acknowledging that the climate is different now than in the past (Petersen-Rockney 2022a). Research shows that there is an urgent need to assist farmers in California and surrounding communities as climate change worsens (Lum 2018).\u0026nbsp;In California, irrespective of farmers\u0026rsquo; belief in climate change they still implement climate adaptation practices on their farms (Petersen-Rockney 2022b) to mitigate climate change risks, and farmers\u0026rsquo; climate risk perception centers on farmers\u0026rsquo; firsthand experience with the effects of climate change, and notably on their perceived changes in water availability (Haden et al. 2012).\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices provide a suite of approaches that growers can consider implementing on their farms to reduce climate change risks. CSA enhances food security by supporting the sustainable increase in agricultural productivity and income, climate change adaptation and resilience, and opportunities geared at reducing greenhouse gas emissions (FAO 2013; Fusco et al. 2020; Lipper et al. 2014; Singh and Singh 2017). Leveraging the uptake of climate-smart practices by small-scale, socially disadvantaged farmers in California is vital to reducing climate change risks.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA needs assessment was conducted in 2023, to ascertain California farmers, ranchers, and technical service providers\u0026apos; climate change challenges, adaptation approaches, and their resources and information needs to mitigate climate change risks. The needs assessment was an initial phase of a larger project, the multifaceted pathways to climate smart agriculture, with farmers, ranchers, and technical assistance providers. We surveyed farmers in California and organized focus groups with Hmong farmers in the Central Valley in California.\u0026nbsp;For this study, we focused on limited resources, socially disadvantaged, and first generation farmers in California. Limited\u0026nbsp;resource farmers are\u0026nbsp;defined as farmers\u0026nbsp;having low farm sales and low household income for 2 years in a row while socially disadvantaged farmers are farmers who have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudices because of their identity as members of a group without regard to their individual quality (USDA 2024). Many of their\u0026nbsp;operations are small-scale farms, which are primarily\u0026nbsp;family-owned with a gross cash farm income of less than $350,000 (Hoppe and MacDonald 2013). Small-scale farms produce a substantial amount of food per acre of land (Dahlquist-Willard et al. 2015) and contribute considerably to US food availability (Godfray et al. 2010). Moreover, they are often generalized as beginning farmers (operated a farm for less than 10 years) under many programs, which potentially hampers effectiveness of outreach and support efforts\u0026nbsp;(Munden-Dixon et al. 2018; USDA 2024).\u0026nbsp;Carolan (2018) referenced first generation farmer, beginning, as someone who has operated a farm or ranch for not more than 10 consecutive years, which is in line with the USDA definition of beginning farmers (USDA 2024).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe\u0026nbsp;Central\u0026nbsp;Valley is home to Hmong American families (Lee 2005).\u0026nbsp; The Hmong farmers are part of an ethnic minority and socially disadvantaged group among Asian or Asian-American farmers, subject to facing racial and ethnic prejudices\u0026nbsp;(USDA 2024), and experienced difficulty accessing resources available to them due in part to language barriers (Dahlquist-Willard et al. 2015). The Hmong farmers typically operate on a small-scale with limited resources, managing an average farm size of about 5.6 acres (Thao et al. 2019).\u0026nbsp;However,\u0026nbsp;Hmong farmers, like other small-scale farmers, struggle to maintain crop production in the face of extreme climate events.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eResearch on small-scale, limited-resource, minority farmers, including Hmong farmers, is an understudied population in the US (Thao 2021). Gaining a more comprehensive understanding of limited-resource farmers\u0026apos; needs can facilitate targeted allocation and mobilization of resources for strategic planning and decision-making. This needs assessment survey and focus group findings would guide the organization of training sessions and workshops aimed at equipping farmers with the necessary knowledge and resources to effectively manage climate change risks. Also, both results will guide the development of extension and educational programs to enhance the adoption of climate adaptation approaches to reduce climate change impacts for farmers in California.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2 Methods and Procedures","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2.1 Research design\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe employed a convergent parallel mixed-method survey design (Creswell and Creswell 2017).\u0026nbsp;We combined quantitative survey and qualitative focus group methods to identify limited-resource farmers and Hmong smallholder farmers\u0026rsquo; climate-related concerns, impacts, adaptation strategies, and information and resource needs to mitigate climate change risks.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2.2 Data collection\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA survey questionnaire was designed in a participatory and culturally responsive manner (Koundinya et al. 2023) and distributed via Qualtrics using emails purchased from the Farm MarketID (FMID). Project partners also distributed the survey using QR Codes and anonymous links. Face and content validity were\u0026nbsp;established through expert review of the questionnaire by all project team leads and 16 people who served as expert validation panel, which included the 10 regional leads for the cropping system and rangeland, an education and training core team member, 4\u0026nbsp;Agricultural and Natural Resources\u0026nbsp;(ANR) specialists, and a university professor. The final usable\u0026nbsp;dataset generated\u0026nbsp;after accounting for bots/spam infiltration and incomplete responses was \u003cem\u003e341\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003eand it\u0026nbsp;is available in\u0026nbsp;Pinzon et al. (2023). Out of these usable data, (\u003cem\u003en = 75)\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003ewere identified as limited resource and socially disadvantaged farmers. Out of these 341 usable data, \u003cem\u003e75\u003c/em\u003e participants selected: I am\u0026nbsp;\u0026ldquo;a socially disadvantaged farmer (e.g., a farmer who has been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudices because of their identity as members of a group without regard to their individual quality,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;a limited resource farmer (having low income from sales and low household income for 2 years in a row,\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;and \u0026ldquo;a first generation farmer\u0026rdquo; in the\u0026nbsp;survey. For purposes of this study, the term, limited-resource farmers will be used more frequently to represent the socially disadvantaged, limited-resource farmers, and first generation farmers. Reliability was established using Cronbach Alpha, and results show high internal consistency (ɑ=0.949). Data were\u0026nbsp;analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 28 and descriptive results were presented using tables.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwo focus groups were conducted with Hmong farmers in the\u0026nbsp;Central Valley, California. Each focus group and the members of the groups were treated as cases and data were collected, analyzed case-wise, interpreted, and presented both on a case-by-case basis and collectively while negotiating distinctiveness and similar aspects from their responses (Cresswell and Poth 2018). The participants in our focus groups were\u0026nbsp;purposely\u0026nbsp;recruited by the project team in collaboration with the Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) Small Farms and Community Educators.\u0026nbsp;Focus groups were conducted on March 1, 2023, in Merced (five farmer participants), and on March 8, 2023, during a farm field tour for Hmong farmers in Fresno (14 farmer participants) located in the Central Valley of California. The Fresno focus group members were recruited via their participation in a United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG).\u0026nbsp;A gift card\u0026nbsp;($25 USD)\u0026nbsp;was provided to all participants to incentivize participation.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe interview guide\u0026nbsp;consisted of 11 open-ended questions to guide the focus group discussions on climate change impacts and challenges, the adaptation practices and approaches, and resources and information needed to reduce climate change risks.\u0026nbsp;The focus group questions were developed to understand farmers\u0026apos; climate-related impacts on their farming operations, approaches to reduce climate change risks, and farmers\u0026apos; resources and information needs. The focus group guide was reviewed by our interdisciplinary research team based on individual expertise in climate change, agriculture, extension education, program evaluation, small farms, and social science research methods.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSix research team members (the project director, two project managers, a postdoctoral scholar, and two Extension experts) participated in conducting the interviews. Two research team members were native Hmong speakers and served as enumerators and moderators. To support a natural flow of conversation (Isreal and Galindo-Gonzalez 2008), we began with relationship building by welcoming our interviewees into the room where we organized tables in a square formation to encourage face-to-face interactions. Focus group moderators introduced the research team and the team leader presented the project goals and objectives. Following the Internal Review Board (IRB) protocol, consent information was read, and verbal consent was required before the focus group conversation began. To be culturally responsive, we chose not to audio record the focus group conversations because Small Farms and Community Educators expressed concerns\u0026nbsp;that some farmers might feel uncomfortable speaking while being recorded. Group moderators began the conversation by asking participants to share their experiences with climate change on their farm operations. Our two Hmong-speaking research team members who served as moderators guided the conversations and took notes. Four of the English-speaking team members also took notes and memos especially when farmers responded in English. The two focus group conversations lasted for approximately 60 minutes each.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2.3 Data analysis\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor data analysis and interpretation, Hmong-speaking moderators first met with the project team members to debrief, discuss, and compile transcripts and emerging themes from the conversations. We adopted a narrative analysis approach with in-depth reading, looking for perspectives with similar themes and those that appeared distinct among the cases from and across the groups. We wrote analytic memos while inductively extracting themes and generating meaning from the data (Lincoln and Guba 1985; Saldana 2016). We shared our emergent themes using a Google shared document merging the differences and commonalities of narratives members found. We reached a consensus and merged the final results based on the themes identified from the protocol guide and the focus group results. We examined our subjective reflections to reduce study bias by reporting research findings based on participants\u0026rsquo; voices and notes taken during the discussions to increase the credibility of findings. The results are presented in the form of thick descriptions (Lincoln and Guba 1985) incorporating word verbatim statements and sharing insights from the results.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"3 Results and Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.1 Farmer\u0026rsquo;s demographic results\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe demographic results of the respondents were more males (\u003cem\u003en = 59, 78.7%\u003c/em\u003e). More than half (\u003cem\u003en = 38, 55.9%\u003c/em\u003e) were white, followed by Hispanic/Latinx, or Spanish origin (\u003cem\u003en = 16, 23.5%\u003c/em\u003e), and Asian/Asian American (\u003cem\u003en = 10, 14.7%\u003c/em\u003e) and had a mean age of 58.5 years. These farmers grow diverse crops, but fruits (\u003cem\u003en = 43, 57.3%\u003c/em\u003e) and nuts (\u003cem\u003en = 32, 42.7%\u003c/em\u003e) were most prominent. They also produce some vegetables (\u003cem\u003en = 12, 16%\u003c/em\u003e).\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe focus group results show that about a third of the participants were male (\u003cem\u003en = 13, 68.42%\u003c/em\u003e). Majority of the focus group participants (\u003cem\u003en =17, 89.47%\u003c/em\u003e) grow mixed vegetables and are diverse crop growers producing some permanent crops, which is in line with other studies finding that Hmong farmers in California grow diverse crops (Dahlquist-Willard et al. 2020; Thao et al. 2019).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.2 Climate Change Concerns of Limited-Resource Farmers in California\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.2.1 Climate-related impacts\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe survey results in Table 1 show that farmers were very concerned (\u003cem\u003e62.7%\u003c/em\u003e) about increased uncertainty in water available for irrigation and reduced groundwater availability (\u003cem\u003e55.4%)\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003eon their farms. Increased crop damage due to extreme heat events was the most temperature-related impact farmers were very concerned about (\u003cem\u003e40%\u003c/em\u003e), while increased drought severity was the most disaster-related impact farmers were very concerned about (44%) on their farms.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable 1:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eExtent of concern of climate-related impacts experienced by limited resource farmers\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNote:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eThe overall needs assessment data for the extent of concern of climate-related impacts on farmers\u0026rsquo; operations in California can be accessed in Ikendi et al., 2024.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.2.2 Climate-related impacts experienced by Hmong farmers\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn our first focus group question on what climate-related impacts Hmong farmers were experiencing, three themes emerged from the focus group analysis: \u003cem\u003etemperature, drought, and flooding\u003c/em\u003e. Related to the \u003cu\u003etemperature\u003c/u\u003e theme, high temperatures and extreme heat resonated as impacting farming operations. A farmer from Merced said, \u0026ldquo;hot weather has \u0026lsquo;burned\u0026rsquo; my plants and vegetables, or sometimes my plants don\u0026rsquo;t emerge at the seedling stage. For example, bell peppers are burned/brown on the skin, and cilantro and green onions do not emerge from seeds or bolt early.\u0026rdquo; Another farmer from Fresno recounted, \u0026ldquo;chillies on my farm burn from intense heat and soil temperatures.\u0026rdquo; Yet another farmer from Fresno echoed that \u0026ldquo;my lemon grass leaves wilt, burn, and/or are stunted due to extreme heat.\u0026rdquo; Similarly, another farmer in Merced said, \u0026ldquo;during summer my tomatoes are splitting.\u0026rdquo; These perceptions are consistent with prior research demonstrating that the projected extreme heat resulting from climate change exerts stress on crops, leading to limited crop production and reductions in crop quality (Parker et al. 2020). Unusual and unprecedented cold temperatures resonated as impacting farming operations. As recounted by another farmer in Merced, \u0026ldquo;repeated and unexpected freezes in February and March make it hard to prep early spring season crops.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe theme of \u003cu\u003edrought\u003c/u\u003e was another climate change challenge that emerged. Drought is a severe issue in California, affecting agriculture. The 2012-2016 drought was associated with a drastic decrease in snowpack and water sources in the Sierra Mountains, a great source of irrigation water for California (Greene 2021). Drought is causing farmers to plant less and reduces yields. A farmer in Fresno said, \u0026ldquo;if there is no water, farmers may stop farming or find other land to farm\u0026hellip;. drought has reduced planting; increased fallowing which is not voluntary.\u0026rdquo; Drought has impacted water sources and water availability for farmers in California. The participants in the two focus groups alluded that their major water sources were private agriculture/domestic wells. A farmer in Fresno echoed, \u0026ldquo;large farmers dig wells to go thousands of feet and safeguard water to use during drought periods, while we as small-scale growers are only able to dig a couple hundred feet.\u0026rdquo; Another farmer recounted, \u0026ldquo;large farms irrigating their crops suck up much water and reduce groundwater \u0026ndash; difficult for small farms like ours to irrigate at the same time with the large farms.\u0026rdquo; Drought has led to an increase in farm irrigation practices with farmers shifting to drip irrigation to mitigate droughts. A farmer in Fresno recounted, \u0026ldquo;I now use two lines of drip tape with manually widened holes per row because I need more water, especially when it is hot.\u0026rdquo;. As narrated by a farmer from Merced, \u0026ldquo;I am now using drip tape and only watering at night after or near sunset because it\u0026rsquo;s more effective.\u0026rdquo; Howitt et al. (2014) posit that the impact of drought in California led to increased cost of groundwater use, revenue losses to crop farming, and increased food crop prices.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnother theme that emerged was \u003cu\u003eflooding.\u003c/u\u003e Farmers were asked if they have experienced flooding due to too much rain or unpredictable rain? and how has this flooding affected their farm operations? Not so much was discussed by farmers on flooding due to unprecedented and unpredicted rainfall. I believe farmers didn\u0026rsquo;t discuss this since during the focus group conversation growers were in the middle of their largest, most unpredictable (impactful) rainfall for the first time since 2017/2018 in California. No farmer in Merced brought up flooding as an issue in their farming operations. About 60% of farmers in Merced have been farming for 5 years or less and were in the course of experiencing their first impactful rainfall since they started farming. Moreover, only farmers in Fresno, did express flooding due to unpredictable and unprecedented rainfall. When we probed into the Hmong farmers\u0026rsquo; experiences with flooding, a farmer from Fresno recounted \u0026ldquo;flooding caused my plants to die and crop loss.\u0026rdquo; A second Fresno farmer said, \u0026ldquo;bad weather / flooding of fields forced me to be unable to do field work which caused planting my crops to a later date than usual timing.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn addition, we also asked Hmong farmers what other challenges they were experiencing on their farms due to climate change. Wildfire and smoke were other challenges raised. A farmer in Fresno recounted, \u0026ldquo;wildfire and smoke contaminate the wind, air, plants and leaves too much dust on leaves, requiring me to wash leaves and plants; potentially making my fruits and vegetables unmarketable.\u0026rdquo; A second farmer said, \u0026ldquo;As small farmers, if we lose our crops, we cannot survive, small farmers can\u0026rsquo;t recover as compared to large farmers.\u0026rdquo; This is because Hmong farmers have small farm size compared to large-scale farmers and this limits their ability to access financial and insurance coverage when faced with a loss compared to large-scale farmers.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.3 Strategies for reducing climate change risks\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo reduce climate change risk, farmers were asked to select the adaptation practices they are currently implementing to reduce climate change risks on their farms. The survey results show that more than half (\u003cem\u003e57.3%\u003c/em\u003e) of the limited resource farmers are currently changing their irrigation practices. These farmers are also building soil organic matter (\u003cem\u003e46.5%\u003c/em\u003e), and others are improving soil health through mulching (\u003cem\u003e43.8%\u003c/em\u003e), reduced or no-till practices (\u003cem\u003e43.1%\u003c/em\u003e), and the use of cover crops (\u003cem\u003e41.1%\u003c/em\u003e) on their farms.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable 2:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eAdaptation practices currently implemented by limited resource farmers to reduce climate change risks\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.3.1 Strategies to reduce climate change risks by Hmong farmers\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur second focus group question was to understand what strategies limited-resource farmers have used to reduce climate change risks on their farm operations. The themes that emerged from the focus group discussions included frequent \u003cem\u003ewatering, shading, and irrigation strategies\u003c/em\u003e. These strategies were used to mitigate extreme and high temperatures and drought on farmers\u0026rsquo; operations. In terms of what farmers were doing to combat extreme heat on their farm operations, farmers stated that they water more frequently and that they implement shading strategies. A farmer from Fresno recounted \u0026ldquo;high temperatures requiring the need to water more frequently.\u0026rdquo; \u0026nbsp;However, frequent watering and providing plants with too much water cause plants to rot triggering substantial losses to farmers. A tomato farmer from Merced narrated \u0026ldquo;adding more water to tomatoes results in rotting tomatoes [too much water]. Whereas heat has been burning the leaves and branches, watering more to reduce this loss causes \u0026ldquo;roots to rot,\u0026rdquo; as stated by one Merced farmer. To mitigate the climate change challenges due to extreme heat, Hmong farmers are using shades to protect crops during hot weather. With respect to shading, a\u0026nbsp;farmer in Merced said, \u0026ldquo;I grow peas on a trellis \u0026ndash; blooms, and leaves are shedding from plants as they grow.\u0026rdquo; Another farmer in Fresno recounted \u0026ldquo;in the last years, I have used black shade structures to protect plants from direct sunlight and high temperatures. Other strategies highlighted by farmers include planting crops with a short planting to harvesting period and irrigating frequently. A\u0026nbsp;Fresno farmer\u0026nbsp;said, \u0026ldquo;I am planting shorter season crops.\u0026rdquo; Another farmer in Fresno recounted, \u0026ldquo;I irrigate more frequently, with shorter cycles of watering, but more frequent intervals.\u0026rdquo; Also, farmers highlighted some strategies they were using to combat drought. A farmer from\u0026nbsp;Fresno recounted \u0026ldquo;our crop cycles are different from the past; we use high tunnels for various benefits \u0026ndash; starting crops earlier or extending crop season.\u0026rdquo; Farmers are also strategic with regard to irrigation scheduling. However, our conversation did not include strategies to reduce risks associated with precipitation and flooding.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.4 Resources and information needs\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.4.1 Need for information on adaptation practices\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNext, we asked farmers to indicate their level of need for information on adaptation practices. The survey results in Table 3 show limited-resource farmers\u0026apos; need for information on climate-related issues. Applying for government assistance (78.6%), secure access to insurance (74.3%), transition to renewable energy for farm use (71.8%), build soil organic matter (68.9%) and reduce reliance on groundwater (67.6%) were the top five information needs. These percentages were calculated by combining the number of respondents who selected some need and high need on a Likert-type scale.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable 3:\u003c/strong\u003e Need for information by limited resource farmers\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNote:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eThe values of some needs and high needs are in percentages. The number of observations (n) is based on the total responses for each Likert-type scale question.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.4.2 Hmong farmer\u0026apos;s resources and information needs\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFinally, to understand farmers\u0026apos; resource and information needs, we asked Hmong farmers about their usage of weather decision and prediction tools and what their climate adaptation information needs were. The following themes emerged from the focus group interview: \u003cem\u003eplace-based knowledge, decision-support tools (DSTs)/biophysical data, funding, soil/crop rotation management practices, and economics/funding.\u003c/em\u003e For place-based knowledge, farmers indicated that they used their intuition and common-sense knowledge, as recounted by a farmer in Fresno, \u0026ldquo;I have a long-time experience in farming, I use my own sense and knowledge of weather and when is best to plant.\u0026rdquo; Other farmers were interested in DSTs; a Fresno farmer said, \u0026ldquo;I am interested in regular updates on weather predictions and potential disasters.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;A farmer in Merced said, \u0026ldquo;I need information about weather tools, soil testing \u0026hellip; and crop rotation that would help me to know what to add after each succession of crops.\u0026rdquo; Farmers also talked about the need for information and the topics they would like covered in extension education events; for example, a farmer in Merced said \u0026ldquo;I am interested in information on seed selection for drought tolerant species, equipment access \u0026hellip;. maybe soil testing.\u0026rdquo; \u0026nbsp; Another farmer in Merced noted, \u0026ldquo;I need information in regulating outdoors vs indoor temperatures; bugs/pests, material for freezing versus high heat [for hoop houses and greenhouses].\u0026rdquo; Farmers also highlighted the need for information regarding funding to help cover the cost of trying a new program on their farm. A farmer in Merced said, \u0026ldquo;I need information on funding support; and cost-benefit analysis on trying a project on my farm.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe further asked farmers how they want the climate change information to be disseminated to them. A farmer in Merced shared, \u0026ldquo;In-person teaching, joint classroom, and hands-on activities \u0026ndash; perhaps watching videos together\u0026rdquo; will work best for them. Another farmer in Merced added, \u0026ldquo;I would not want to watch videos online by myself.\u0026rdquo; In-person training for the farmers so that farmers can discuss together the feasible strategies are some recommendations from the Hmong farmers during the focus group conversation.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"4 Conclusion and Recommendations","content":"\u003cp\u003eExtreme weather and climate change are having a significant impact on limited resources and small-scale Hmong farmers in California.\u0026nbsp;Our survey results revealed that, farmers are very concerned about several issues, including the increased uncertainty in water availability for irrigation and ground water availability, increased crop damage caused by extreme heat, and worsening severity of drought on their farms. Our\u0026nbsp;focus group findings reveal similar challenges. Specifically, farmers expressed concerns about increased crop damage due to extreme heat,\u0026nbsp;and the escalating severity of droughts on their farms. The impacts of wildfire and smoke were other concerns highlighted by Hmong farmers. Climate change challenges are requiring farmers in California to adopt climate\u0026nbsp;adaptive\u0026nbsp;practices. Both the survey and focus group results indicated similar findings among limited-resource farmers in California, who are changing irrigation practices to mitigate climate change risks associated with extreme heat and drought on their farms. Additionally, the\u0026nbsp;focus group\u0026nbsp;results highlighted\u0026nbsp;the use of shades\u0026nbsp;to protect crops during hot weather and adjustments to crop planting seasons. In contrast,\u0026nbsp;adaptive\u0026nbsp;strategies aimed at improving soil health, such as building soil organic matter, mulching, and adopting reduced or no-till approaches, were specifically highlighted in the survey results. Although limited-resource farmers, including Hmong farmers in California, are implementing some climate adaptation strategies such as altering irrigation practices, frequent watering, shading, mulching, and reduced or no-till approaches to mitigate climate change risks, they indicated a need for more information on\u0026nbsp;accessing\u0026nbsp;financial assistance to implement adaptation practices and assessing climate-based decision support and monitoring tools.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLimited-resource\u0026nbsp;farmers including Hmong smallholder farmers, face multifaceted challenges. Overall,\u0026nbsp;farmers\u0026nbsp;expressed the highest\u0026nbsp;need for support with government assistance and insurance access. Specifically, Hmong farmers indicated the need for information accessing funding to cover the cost of trying new programs on their farms to reduce climate change risks. They also requested information on adaptation\u0026nbsp;practices and tools, including soil testing, crop rotation, irrigation efficiency, and transition to renewable energy for farm use. Specifically, Hmong farmers seek guidance on utilizing weather tools and are also requesting information on bug and pest management.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn this basis, we recommend that Extension and local agricultural programs organize in-person and hands-on training specifically\u0026nbsp;focused on the information needs highlighted by limited-resource and Hmong farmers. We also recommend that,\u0026nbsp;in addition to already existing training on practices (which extension does a lot of), extension should prioritize supporting limited-resource and immigrant farmers (such as Hmong) farmers in accessing government resources, financial planning tools, and decision support technologies as evident from our needs assessment and focus groups.\u0026nbsp;Extension training and workshops should focus on topics including transitioning to renewable energy, the use of weather monitoring tools, cost-benefit analysis, methods for improving soil health, irrigation and water management and pests management. Extension agents who\u0026nbsp;are multilingual should participate in designing and conducting the training to\u0026nbsp;ensure relevance and accessibility (Taku-Forchu et al. 2023a) and develop materials and outreach\u0026nbsp;strategies that are inclusive of these farmer\u0026rsquo;s languages and cultural contexts.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe recommend that limited-resource farmers as well as Hmong farmers be provided with long-term climate and seasonal weather prediction tools to help them with long-term agriculture planning (CalAgroClimate, n.d.). For example, CalAgroClimate (calagroclimate.org) is a web-based climate data visualization tool and resource repository on climate and agriculture that provides specific crop and climate information to California farmers (Johnson et al. 2023). Hmong farmers highlighted their preference for in-person, joint classroom, and hands-on activities so that farmers can discuss together what strategies are best suited to mitigate climate change risk in their farming operations. We recommend that in-person workshops and training should be organized, providing Hmong farmers with hands-on activities that will increase Hmong farmers\u0026apos; ability to make informed climate-based decisions on their farming operations. Providing limited-resource farmers with the support to access climate adaptation resources and implement practices to mitigate climate change impacts is vital, especially as they are the most likely to be impacted by extreme climate events and least likely to access support after a climate disaster.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"5 Implications","content":"\u003cp\u003eClimate change poses a threat to food production in California. Our research highlights the need for extension and agricultural professionals to leverage information on applying for government funding, access to financial risk management, water management strategies, soil health, crop rotation, pest management, cost-benefit analysis, implementing hands-on activities and group based video learning opportunities on climate-related information during training and workshops. Also, to mitigate climate change risks, extension and agricultural professionals need to re-orient their teaching and training approaches to foster long-term agricultural planning such as providing limited-resource farmers including Hmong farmers with accessible long-term climate prediction tools to help reduce climate change risks on their farms. Farmer-to-farmer learning, which is the provision of training by farmers to their peers (Franzel et al. 2019) is important especially when working with small-scale indigenous and limited-resource farmers. Farmers were identified as a key source of information for their peers with farmers indicating a strong preference to receive agricultural-related information from other farmers (Taku-Forchu et al. 2023b). Research shows that farmer-to-farmer learning has been successful, and farmers rely on their peers as their primary information source for agricultural innovation (Franzel et al. 2019). Organizing farmer-to-farmer field days where fellow farmers who have successfully implemented certain adaptation practices or doing things differently from other farmers in their community and are willing to show their peers to follow such approaches while learning from the process is important (Habermann et al. 2022). Language and communication barriers was an issue since some Hmong farmers could not speak English. Extension and technical assistance providers should develop training manuals, training videos incorporating their local language, including fostering peer-to-peer learning in the development of information and resources to improve farmers\u0026rsquo; understanding of climate change and climate adaptation practices (Johnson et al. 2023). Extension and agricultural stakeholders should organize educational programs, workshops, and training to communicate and disseminate information on climate adaptation practices taking into consideration resources and information needs identified in the findings to foster adaptation more rapidly for California limited-resource farmers including Hmong farmers to enhance their resilience to climate change.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis work was funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Grant Number 2022-68017-36358.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcknowledgments\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe want to thank all the farmers in California who completed the online survey and provided data for this study. We also appreciate all Hmong farmers in the Central Valley, California who participated in the focus group discussions.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor contribution\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll authors who are part of the multifaceted pathways to climate-smart agriculture grant project contributed to the conception and design of the study. Namah Taku-Forchu led material preparation and data collection. Moreover, all authors reviewed, edited, and made changes to the survey questionnaire and focus group questions. Samuel Ikendi analyzed the survey data. Namah Taku-Forchu developed the first draft of the manuscript. Vikram Koundinya and Lauren Parker provided the first and second intense reviews of the manuscript, and all authors edited, commented, and provided feedback. In addition, all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConflict of Interest \u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare they have no conflict of interest.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResearch Involving Human Subjects \u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis study was approved for human research under Institutional Review Board Number 1841798-2 by the University of California, Davis.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSupplementary materials\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eData and data cleaning resulting from bots and spam during data collection - The following is a pre-print version available online open access at \u0026ldquo;AI-powered fraud and the erosion of online survey integrity: An analysis of 31 fraud detection strategies.\u0026rdquo; https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/95tka\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe comprehensive needs assessment survey results for farmers in California can be accessed in the article \u0026ldquo;Climate smart agriculture: accessing the needs and perceptions of California\u0026rsquo;s farmers\u0026rdquo;: https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2024.1395547\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCalAgroClimate (n.d.) 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Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92798-5_24 \u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFusco G, Melgiovanni M, Porrini D, Ricciardo TM (2020) How to improve the diffusion of climate-smart agriculture: What the literature tells us. Sustainability, 12(12), 5168. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12125168\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGreene C (2021) Drought isn\u0026rsquo;t just water, it is living: Narratives of drought vulnerability in California\u0026rsquo;s San Joaquin Valley. Geoforum, 121, 33-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.02.007\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHabermann B, Crane TA, Gichuki L, Worku T (2022) Research protocol: Producer-led Scaling from the Farm with Adaptation Pioneers. Nairobi, Kenya, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). https://cgspace.cgiar.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/035da3a8-ec91-46b5-930d-5947a1593fd6/content.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHaden VR, Niles MT, Lubell M, Perlman J, Jackson LE (2012) Global and local concerns: what attitudes and beliefs motivate farmers to mitigate and adapt to climate change?. PloS one, 7(12), e52882. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0052882\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHoppe RA, MacDonald JM (2013) The revised ERS farm typology: Classifying U.S. farms to reflect today\u0026rsquo;s agriculture. Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. https://primary.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2013/may/the-revised-ers-farm-typology-classifying-u-s-farms-to-reflect-todays-agriculture/\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHowitt R, MacEwan D, Medell\u0026iacute;n-Azuara J, Lund JR, Sumner D (2015) Economic analysis of the 2015 drought for California agriculture. University of California, Davis, CA: Center for Watershed Sciences. https://watershed.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk8531/files/products/2021-05/Final_Drought%20Report_08182015_Full_Report_WithAppendices.pdf \u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHowitt R, Medell\u0026iacute;n-Azuara, J, MacEwan D, Lund JR, Sumner, D. (2014). Economic analysis of the 2014 drought for California agriculture. University of California, Davis, CA: Center for Watershed Sciences. https://www.circleofblue.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Economic_Impact_of_the_2014_California_Water_Drought_0.pdf\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIkendi S, Pinz\u0026oacute;n N, Koundinya V, Taku-Forchu N, Roche LM, Ostoja SM, ... \u0026amp; Pathak TB (2024). Climate smart agriculture: Assessing needs and perceptions of California\u0026apos;s farmers. \u003cem\u003eFrontiers in Sustainable Food Systems\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003e8\u003c/em\u003e, 1395547. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2024.1395547\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIsrael GD, Galindo-Gonzalez S (2008) Using focus group interviews for planning or evaluating extension programs: AEC 387/PD036, rev. 5/2008. EDIS, 2008(5). https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/pd036\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJohnson D, Parker LE, Pathak TB, Crothers L, Ostoja SM (2023) Technical assistance providers identify climate change adaptation practices and barriers to adoption among California agricultural producers. Sustainability, 15(7), 5973. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15075973\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKoundinya V, Taku-Forchu N, Pinzon N, Parker L, Cooper M, Ostoja S, Roche L, Ikendi S, Pathak T (2023, October 9\u0026ndash;14) Collecting needs assessment data using participatory and culturally responsive strategies for a climate-smart agriculture project (Poster presentation). American Evaluation Association (AEA) Annual Conference: The power of story. Indianapolis, Indiana: United States. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/374842286\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLee GY (2005) The shaping of traditions: agriculture and Hmong society. Hmong Studies Journal, 6, 1-33. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1\u0026amp;type=pdf\u0026amp;doi=1cd9f17c3c04cc04ef87c2cc4f1ef2f7c4ca71f7\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLincoln YS, Guba EG (1985) Naturalistic inquiry. SAGE.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLipper L, Thornton P, Campbell BM, Baedeker T, Braimoh A, Bwalya M, ... \u0026amp; Torquebiau EF (2014) Climate-smart agriculture for food security. Nature climate change, 4(12), 1068-1072. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2437\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLipper L, Zilberman D (2018) A short history of the evolution of the climate smart agriculture approach and its links to climate change and sustainable agriculture debates. In climate smart agriculture: Building resilience to climate change; Lipper, L., McCarthy, N., Zilberman, D., Asfaw, S., Branca, G., (eds); Natural Resource Management and Policy, 52; Springer Nature: Basel, Switzerland; pp. 13\u0026ndash;30. https://doi.org/ 10.1007/978-3-319-61194-5_2\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLum L (2018) Climate impacts on agriculture: Lessons from CalCAN listening sessions. CalCAN, California Climate \u0026amp; Agriculture Network (CalCAN). https://calclimateag.org/climate-impacts-on-agriculture-lessons-from-calcan-listening-sessions/ \u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMunden-Dixon K, Tate K, Cutts B, Roche L (2018) An uncertain future: climate resilience of first-generation ranchers. The Rangeland Journal, 41(3), 189-196. https://doi.org/10.1071/RJ18023\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eParker LE, McElrone AJ, Ostoja S, Forrestel EJ (2020) Extreme heat effects perennial crops and strategies for sustaining future production. Plant Science, 295, 110397. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plantsci.2019.110397 \u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eParker LE, Zhang N, Abatzoglou JT, Ostoja SM, Pathak TB (2022) Observed changes in agroclimate metrics relevant for specialty crop production in California. Agronomy, 12(1), 205. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12010205\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePathak TB, Maskey ML, Dahlberg JA, Kearns F, Bali KM, Zaccaria D (2018) Climate change trends and impacts on California agriculture: a detailed review. Agronomy, 8(3), 25. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy8030025 \u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePetersen-Rockney M (2022a) Farmers adapt to climate change irrespective of stated belief in climate change or farm advisor reinforcement of (Dis)belief: A case study in Northern California. Research Square. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1281622/v1 \u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePetersen-Rockney M (2022b) Farmers adapt to climate change irrespective of stated belief in climate change: a California case study. Climatic Change, 173(3-4), 23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-022-03417-9\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSaldana J (2016) The coding manual for qualitative researchers. SAGE.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSingh R, Singh GS (2017) Traditional agriculture: a climate-smart approach for sustainable food production. Energy, Ecology and Environment, 2, 296-316. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40974-017-0074-7\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTaku-Forchu N, Ikendi S, Koundinya V, Dahlquist-Willard R, Thaoxaochay L et al (2023a, November 28-30). Climate change related impacts and experiences among Hmong farmers in the San Joaquin Valley, California (Paper presentation). National Association of Extension Program \u0026amp; Staff Development Professionals (NAEPSDP) Annual Conference: Extension elevated. Salt Lake City, UT, United States.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTaku-Forchu N, Qu S, Lambert MD, Retallick MS, Ulmer JD, Opit G P (2023b) Maize farmers\u0026rsquo; use, preference, and trustworthiness of information sources and communication channels in Dormaa, Ghana: A gender comparison.,\u0026quot; Journal of Applied Communications, (107)3. https://doi.org/10.4148/1051-0834.2479\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThao C, Burke N, Ha S, Joyce A (2019) Pesticide knowledge, attitudes, and practices among small-scale hmong farmers in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Journal of Integrated Pest Management, 10(1), 32. https://doi.org/10.1093/jipm/pmz030\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThao C (2021) Hmong farmer narratives of pesticide use in the Central Valley, California. Dissertation, University of California, Merced. \u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUSDA (2024). Socially disadvantaged, beginning, limited resource, and female farmers and ranchers. https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-economy/socially-disadvantaged-beginning-limited-resource-and-female-farmers-and-ranchers/\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"},{"header":"Tables","content":"\u003cp\u003eTable 1: Extent of concern of climate-related impacts experienced by limited resource farmers\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"636\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"59.276729559748425%\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eClimate-Related Impacts\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"7.547169811320755%\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"33.17610062893082%\" colspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eExtent of Concern\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"42.654028436018955%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eConcerned (%)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"57.345971563981045%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eVery Concerned (%) \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"100%\" colspan=\"4\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWater-related impacts\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"59.276729559748425%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIncreased uncertainty in water availability for irrigation\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"7.547169811320755%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e75\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.150943396226415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e18.7\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.0251572327044%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e62.7\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"59.276729559748425%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eReduced groundwater availability\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"7.547169811320755%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e74\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.150943396226415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e18.9\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.0251572327044%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e55.4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"59.276729559748425%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eReduced water availability for irrigation\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"7.547169811320755%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e75\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.150943396226415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e20.0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.0251572327044%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e53.3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"59.276729559748425%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIncreased crop/water stress\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"7.547169811320755%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e75\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.150943396226415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e26.0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.0251572327044%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e45.3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"100%\" colspan=\"4\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eTemperature-related impacts\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"59.276729559748425%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIncreased crop damage due to extreme heat\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"7.547169811320755%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e75\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.150943396226415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e21.3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.0251572327044%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e40.0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"59.276729559748425%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIncreased farm loss due to climate-related disaster\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"7.547169811320755%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e74\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.150943396226415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e36.5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.0251572327044%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e31.1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"59.276729559748425%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIncreased frost damage\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"7.547169811320755%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e74\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.150943396226415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e28.4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.0251572327044%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e21.6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"59.276729559748425%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIncreased pest and disease pressure\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"7.547169811320755%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e75\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.150943396226415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e29.3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.0251572327044%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e21.3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"59.276729559748425%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eReduced chill accumulations\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"7.547169811320755%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e74\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.150943396226415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e29.7\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.0251572327044%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e10.8\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"100%\" colspan=\"4\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDisasters-related impacts\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"59.276729559748425%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIncreased drought severity\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"7.547169811320755%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e75\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.150943396226415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e26.7\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.0251572327044%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e44.0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"59.276729559748425%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIncreased crop loss due to climate-related disaster\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"7.547169811320755%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e75\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.150943396226415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e34.7\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.0251572327044%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e33.3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"59.276729559748425%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIncreased crop damage due to wildfire or smoke\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"7.547169811320755%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e75\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.150943396226415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e20.0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.0251572327044%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e20.0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"59.276729559748425%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIncreased wildfires severity\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"7.547169811320755%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e75\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.150943396226415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e28.0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.0251572327044%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e17.3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"59.276729559748425%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIncreased flooding\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"7.547169811320755%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e75\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.150943396226415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e17.3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"19.0251572327044%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e14.7\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable 2:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eAdaptation practices currently implemented by limited resource farmers to reduce climate change risks\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"615\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.609756097560975%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAdaptation Practices\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.634146341463415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"29.75609756097561%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCurrently\u0026nbsp;Implementing (%)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.609756097560975%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eChange irrigation practices\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.634146341463415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e75\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"29.75609756097561%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e57.3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.609756097560975%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBuild soil organic matter\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.634146341463415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e71\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"29.75609756097561%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e46.5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.609756097560975%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMulching\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.634146341463415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e73\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"29.75609756097561%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e43.8\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.609756097560975%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eReduce soil disturbance (reduce or no-till)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.634146341463415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e72\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"29.75609756097561%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e43.1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.609756097560975%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUse of cover crops\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.634146341463415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e73\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"29.75609756097561%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e41.1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.609756097560975%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eReduce reliance on groundwater\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.634146341463415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e74\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"29.75609756097561%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e29.3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.609756097560975%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTransition to renewable energy for farm use\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.634146341463415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e74\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"29.75609756097561%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e28.4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.609756097560975%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eApply for government assistance\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.634146341463415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e72\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"29.75609756097561%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e26.4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.609756097560975%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSecure access to insurance\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.634146341463415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e74\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"29.75609756097561%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e23.0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.609756097560975%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUse of drought tolerant varieties\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.634146341463415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e74\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"29.75609756097561%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e23.0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.609756097560975%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eChange market strategy\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.634146341463415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e73\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"29.75609756097561%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e20.5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.609756097560975%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIncrease ecosystem services through farm scaping\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.634146341463415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e74\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"29.75609756097561%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e14.9\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.609756097560975%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eReduce input use\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.634146341463415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e73\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"29.75609756097561%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e12.3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.609756097560975%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eWater harvesting\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.634146341463415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e75\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"29.75609756097561%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e10.7\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.609756097560975%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eConcentrate surface water on less acreage\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.634146341463415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e72\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"29.75609756097561%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e9.7\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.609756097560975%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eReduce dependency on fossil fuels\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"14.634146341463415%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e74\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"29.75609756097561%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e8.1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable 3:\u003c/strong\u003e Need for information by limited resource farmers\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"622\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.948553054662376%\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNeed for Information on adaptation practices\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.57556270096463%\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"32.47588424437299%\" colspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLevel of Need\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"50.495049504950494%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSome Need\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"49.504950495049506%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eHigh Need\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"100%\" colspan=\"4\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eFinancial assistance and security\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.948553054662376%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eApply for\u0026nbsp;government\u0026nbsp;assistance\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.57556270096463%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e70\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.39871382636656%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e34.3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.077170418006432%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e44.3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.948553054662376%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSecure access to insurance\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.57556270096463%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e70\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.39871382636656%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e42.9\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.077170418006432%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e31.4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.948553054662376%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eEarn off-farm income\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.57556270096463%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e71\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.39871382636656%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e35.2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.077170418006432%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e25.4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"100%\" colspan=\"4\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEnergy transition\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.948553054662376%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTransition to renewable energy for farm use\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.57556270096463%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e71\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.39871382636656%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e35.2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.077170418006432%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e36.6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.948553054662376%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eReduce dependency on fossil fuels\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.57556270096463%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e70\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.39871382636656%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e28.6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.077170418006432%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e27.1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"100%\" colspan=\"4\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWater management\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.948553054662376%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eWater harvesting\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.57556270096463%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e75\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.39871382636656%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e40.0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.077170418006432%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e24.0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.948553054662376%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eChange irrigation practices\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.57556270096463%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e75\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.39871382636656%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e41.3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.077170418006432%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e21.3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.948553054662376%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eReduce reliance on groundwater\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.57556270096463%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e74\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.39871382636656%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e51.4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.077170418006432%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e16.2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.948553054662376%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eConcentrate surface water on less acreage\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.57556270096463%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e74\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.39871382636656%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e44.6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.077170418006432%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e9.5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"100%\" colspan=\"4\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSoil and crop management\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.948553054662376%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBuild soil organic matter\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.57556270096463%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e74\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.39871382636656%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e48.6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.077170418006432%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e20.3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.948553054662376%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUse of\u0026nbsp;drought\u0026nbsp;tolerant varieties\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.57556270096463%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e75\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.39871382636656%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e37.3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.077170418006432%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e20.0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.948553054662376%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUse of cover crops\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.57556270096463%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e75\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.39871382636656%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e34.7\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.077170418006432%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e17.3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.948553054662376%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMulching\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.57556270096463%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e75\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.39871382636656%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e44\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.077170418006432%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e10.7\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"100%\" colspan=\"4\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMarket and production strategy\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.948553054662376%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eChange market strategy\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.57556270096463%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e68\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.39871382636656%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e44.1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.077170418006432%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e17.6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.948553054662376%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eReduce input use\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.57556270096463%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e71\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.39871382636656%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e38\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.077170418006432%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e16.9\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.948553054662376%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSwitch to new crops\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.57556270096463%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e75\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.39871382636656%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e30.7\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.077170418006432%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e14.7\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.948553054662376%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAdd on-farm enterprise\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.57556270096463%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e68\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.39871382636656%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e35.3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.077170418006432%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e13.2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"55.948553054662376%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIncrease ecosystem services through farm scaping\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"11.57556270096463%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e70\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.39871382636656%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e47.1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"16.077170418006432%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e8.6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Climate change, needs assessment, extension program development, smallholder farmer.","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4676276/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4676276/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eCalifornia’s agricultural production is facing ever-growing challenges due to climate change. We conducted a needs assessment of farmers in California in 2023, to better understand their climate change challenges, experiences, and resource and information needs. This study employed a convergent parallel mixed-methods design with a questionnaire created and distributed using Qualtrics. Out of the 341 usable survey responses post-data cleaning, 75 selected were limited-resource farmers, socially disadvantaged farmers, and first generation farmers. Two focus groups were conducted in the Central Valley of California involving 19 smallholder Hmong farmers to ascertain the climate-related impacts experienced by these farmers, delve into the strategies to tackle climate change risks, and identify climate change information and resources needed to mitigate challenges. The survey and focus group show similar findings, indicating that farmers are very concerned about several issues, including increased uncertainty in irrigation water availability, increased crop damage due to extreme heat, and worsening drought severity on their farms. Survey and focus group results also revealed farmers are changing their irrigation practices to mitigate climate-related risks, particularly extreme heat and severe drought on their farms. Focus group discussions emphasized adaptations like using shading and adjusting planting seasons to protect crops, while survey results highlighted the adaptation strategies aimed at soil health improvement, including building organic matter, mulching, and adopting reduced or no-till approaches. While already implementing climate adaptation strategies to mitigate risks, these farmers also expressed needs for more education on specific adaptation practices, including weather prediction tools, methods to enhance soil health, and efficient irrigation practices. Additionally, they sought guidance about applying for government funding opportunities, access to insurance, and climate adaptive strategies. Finally, Hmong farmers broadly indicated they preferred in-person workshops featuring climate-related information presented through videos and hands-on activities, which could effectively enhance their ability to adapt to climate change challenges.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Climate adaptation information needs of limited resource farmers in California.","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-08-21 09:00:00","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4676276/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"0d7c41bc-2ff2-413a-b749-0945e4167da2","owner":[],"postedDate":"August 21st, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-09-14T17:10:21+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-08-21 09:00:00","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-4676276","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-4676276","identity":"rs-4676276","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}