CORVALLIS, Ore. — Oregon State University is finalizing an assessment asking farmers and ranchers across the state what they need to better weather extreme heat and drought.

The project was funded in 2021 as part of a larger $100 million emergency drought relief package approved by lawmakers in Salem.

Berit Dinsdale, a postdoctoral scholar for OSU, said she interviewed 59 agricultural producers. Their conversations focused on two main questions: what are farmers and ranchers already doing to improve resiliency to heat and drought, and what additional support would they like to see?

Interviews wrapped up at the end of March, and Dinsdale said she is now analyzing the responses.

A report will likely be completed by the end of April, which will then be delivered back to the Legislature.

Dinsdale was hired in July 2022 to conduct the assessment. She has spent the last five months collaborating with OSU Extension Service faculty and attending industry meetings statewide to connect with producers representing a broad cross-section of Oregon agriculture.

While Dinsdale said she is not prepared to discuss specific outcomes, she did note several trends that emerged from her interviews.

First, she said there is no “one size fits all” approach to assist farmers and ranchers with heat and drought. Their feedback varied depending on their location, climate, farming operations and sociocultural attitudes.

“It’s really difficult to do a statewide assessment and have a blanket solution for things,” Dinsdale said.

In all, Dinsdale interviewed 16 producers from Central Oregon; 13 from Southern Oregon; 13 from Western Oregon, including Benton, Lane, Linn, Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties; eight from the northern Willamette Valley, including Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties; five from Eastern Oregon; and four from the Oregon coast.

Doing a statewide assessment is a good start, Dinsdale said, though local surveys are also needed to study each region’s unique issues more in depth.

“There’s just so many things that go into this,” she said.

Dinsdale said farmers and ranchers are already making good use of existing federal programs, such as the USDA’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program, or EQIP. The program provides cost-share funding for conservation measures that help save water, among other goals.

This has led to some innovative projects, Dinsdale said — some producers have installed more drip irrigation, while others have built new storage ponds or switched to growing less water-intensive crops.

“There’s been a lot of really creative solutions,” Dinsdale said.

As for what they need to combat worsening heat and drought in the future, Dinsdale said the responses are a bit more fuzzy.

Of course, Dinsdale said farms and ranches would like access to more water, though in many cases they know that is not always possible.

Instead, Dinsdale said producers emphasized lowering energy costs to help them make ends meet in difficult years. They also suggested updating cost-share parameters for assistance programs that better account for rising inflation.

Farmers and ranchers also want greater transparency around state water policies, clarifying who is making decisions and why, Dinsdale said.

“Sometimes farmers feel very frustrated that they’re being told this is how much water they’re getting, and they don’t feel like there’s much transparency about why and how decisions are being made,” she said.

Another recurring theme was that producers often feel like they are punished for breaking the rules, but not rewarded when they do something correctly.

“A lot of producers noted, for example, that they have paid out of pocket to upgrade their irrigation systems to conserve water, but that there is little to no recognition for that,” she said. “It seems that if there was also recognition and reward for good, water-conserving practices, that might go a long way in creating healthier and more collaborative relationships between producers and regulatory bodies.”

Dinsdale said the needs assessment does not include an economic analysis of losses due to heat and drought. That study, she said, is being done separately by OSU.