Why It Matters

The Department of Agriculture is unprepared for climate-driven threats to American farms and forests, according to a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). Climate change is creating new disease and pest risks that could reshape agricultural production and forestry across the country, yet the USDA has not incorporated these threats into its climate-resilience planning and has taken few concrete steps to help farmers and land managers adapt.

The Big Picture

Invasive species, including diseases and pests, cost the U.S. agricultural and forestry sectors at least $550 billion from 1960 through 2020. Federal crop insurance alone could face additional annual payments of $300 million to $2.2 billion due to climate-related changes, according to the fiscal year 2024 President's Budget Analytical Perspectives.

The USDA has shared information with farmers and land managers about climate-related risks from specific diseases and pests, and its Climate Hubs have provided some research support and developed models to forecast potential outbreak risks, including risks involving the southern pine beetle.

But experts told GAO that funding and staffing supporting USDA's actions on climate-related disease and pest risks had decreased. In late 2023, USDA officials acknowledged the gap and stated that the USDA planned to integrate those risks into its climate-resilience planning in the future.

Programs that provide information and assistance for managing climate-related disease and pest risks, including the Climate Hubs, had lost staff and faced planned funding cuts. In April, GAO requested updated information from the USDA about the status and impact of these staffing and funding cuts. The USDA did not provide the requested updated information.

The Bottom Line

GAO recommended that the USDA conduct a nationwide assessment of climate-related risks from agricultural and forest diseases and pests and develop a strategy to manage risks identified by that assessment. Both recommendations remain open.

The USDA did not provide a written response stating whether it agreed or disagreed with GAO's recommendations.

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