Media Contact:
Janie Hynson
Communications Manager
janie_hynson@ncsu.edu
[Raleigh, NC – September 25, 2020] — Today, on Global Day of Climate Action, the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) launched an online Climate Change and Food System Innovation Hub. CEFS is a partnership of North Carolina State University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. CEFS was founded in 1994 to address the impacts of agriculture on the environment. As the national conversation around food and agriculture has evolved, so has our perspective.
CEFS believes all people deserve access to healthy soils, clean air, and clean water and that climate mitigation, adaptation, and resiliency are critical to ensuring a thriving and equitable food system. Climate change threatens agricultural production, natural resources, and food security, with a disproportionate impact on farmers and communities of color.
CEFS conducts groundbreaking research to provide evidence-based solutions and resources for mitigating and adapting to climate change. CEFS’ field research is conducted on seven research units housed at CEFS’ Field Research, Education, and Outreach Facility located at Cherry Research Farm in Goldsboro, N.C. Research projects include cover crop use, measuring greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural fields, silvopasture, and more. For example, a 20-year experiment at the Farming Systems Research Unit is providing unique data on nutrient availability in the soil, as well as different levels of greenhouse gases released in the atmosphere by using different agricultural practices. Decades of breeding programs and pasture management experiments are contributing the building blocks to the unique silvopasture experiment at the Agroforestry Research Unit, a site established in 2007 when bare root tree seedlings were planted on previously used cropland.
In the Climate Change and Food System Innovation Hub, researchers, farmers, and other community members can find information about how CEFS initiatives and research programs are working to address climate change and specific strategies to increase the resiliency of farms and food systems.
Follow CEFS on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and join our email list to receive the latest updates and research findings. CEFS researchers are also available for interviews or to answer questions regarding specific climate change research areas.