Introduction to the Workbook
The Climate Adaptation Workbook is a practical guide to understanding climate change impacts, Climate Informed Farming, and climate change adaptation strategies. This workbook includes worksheets to help farmers assess risks, choose solutions, and implement changes to improve their farm’s resilience.
The Climate Adaptation Workbook
Climate Challenges for Farmers
The most severe impacts of climate change in the Northeast include extreme precipitation, short-term drought, heat stress, warmer winters, late-spring freezes, increased pest pressure, and higher production costs—impacts that will intensify as temperature and precipitation extremes continue to grow.
Climate Smart Farming and Risk Management
A Climate Smart Farming approach recognizes changing conditions and helps farmers evaluate and experiment with different strategies, practices, and management decisions to protect crops and livestock, improve farm resiliency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and ensure sustainable farm incomes and food security. Agricultural adaptation is highly specific and depends on farm location and size, observed climate impacts, commodities produced, and costs. Climate Smart Farm planning helps producers prioritize their farm’s long-term sustainability and serve as stewards of their land.
This Workbook as a Starting Point
Most farmers in the Northeast report that increased extreme weather events, greater variability, and greater uncertainty are affecting their operations. While many are implementing and investing in practices that make their farm businesses more resilient to climate extremes, the decision-making process can feel ad hoc and overwhelming.
This workbook serves as a jumping-off point for farm adaptation, guiding a producer—or their agricultural advisor—through a structured set of steps to carefully consider on-farm adaptation options and work towards a more climate-resilient future. It offers a set of seven key priority areas for on-farm adaptation, with specific strategies farmers can consider, and then provides step-by-step worksheets to guide farmers in developing an adaptation plan for their farm.
This guide is not meant to diagnose problems or prescribe solutions—this workbook gives farmers the flexibility to select strategies that fit their operation and goals. Resources at the end of the workbook offer guidance on implementing specific strategies.
Acknowledgements
This workbook was developed over several years by researchers and education specialists from Cornell University and the USDA Northeast Climate Hub, who worked with farmers across the Northeast, Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Regional Agriculture specialists, the Cornell Climate Smart Farming Team, and undergraduate interns from Cornell University and Colgate University to develop a practical guide for farmers. The workbook draws in part on several other adaptation resources, including: the Cornell CSF Fact Sheet Climate Smart Farming in the Northeast: Six Key Strategies for Farmers; the USDA Climate Hubs workbook Adaptation Resources for Agriculture: Responding to Climate Variability and Change in the Midwest and Northeast; Laura Lengnick's Five Steps to Your Regenerative Climate Resiliency Plan: A Workbook for Farmers; the Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Fellowship Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Planning Tool; and the Adaptation Resources Workbook for California Specialty Crops: A Guide for Adaptation Planning.
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the following grants and programs: the USDA Forest Service Grant/Agreement (22-CS-11242306-093); the Upstate Institute at Colgate University for undergraduate interns' work with CCE Madison County; and the USDA NIFA AI Institute for Land, Economy, Agriculture & Forestry (AI-LEAF) agreement (NIFA 2023-67021-39829). We also appreciate the many reviewers who provided feedback on earlier drafts of the document.
Short Title: Northeast Climate Adaptation Workbook. Suggested citation: Cornell Climate Smart Farming Program. 2026. Northeast Climate Adaptation Workbook: Resiliency Planning and Practices for Farmers. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University.
Authors: Allison Chatrchyan, Candace Hulbert, Kristin Benson, Erin Lane, Elaina Alzaibak, Sarah Ficken, Yolanda Gonzalez, Sophia Lundberg, Willow Martin, Natalie McFadden, Dalton Mullins, Isabella Paganin-Newlands, and Savanna Shelnutt.
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