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Abstract
Excerpts: California agriculture is not immune to the risks of climate change and specialty crops may be uniquely vulnerable to the expected climatic changes. California’s climate has changed since record-keeping began in the late 1800s. Warmer temperatures and earlier snowmelt have been observed and in a warming world, we can expect changes in the frequency, duration, and intensity of droughts, floods, and heatwaves. Warming winter temperatures will reduce the accumulation of winter chill that is needed for fruit and nut crops, warmer springs may advance bloom in crops like almonds, and warmer summers may mean earlier harvest for tomatoes. Warmer temperatures can also influence the timing and intensity of pest pressure while extreme heat events place additional stress on crops and the water resources that farmers rely on to manage the heat. All of these changes may have profound impacts on California’s specialty crop production. In fact, some estimates suggest that climate change could reduce yields of specialty crops such as avocados, walnuts, and table grapes by as much as 40% by the end of the century. In light of the downward pressure climate change may place on California agriculture, adaptation will be critical for maintaining the state’s specialty crop production in the decades to come. This workbook provides resources and guidance for California’s agricultural producers and technical service providers to help them identify actions for increasing resilience to a changing climate. The workbook was developed with specialty crop production in mind, but it contains useful climate adaptation information for many agricultural production systems.