Abstract

Agriculture is the primary economic sector in the central Great Plains. The nexus of climate change, shifting water resource availability, and a transforming energy sector places the region at a critical juncture. For this paper, we review what has been written about the impacts of climate variability on agriculture, with an emphasis on examples from Kansas and Nebraska from the historical period. While our findings reflect the detailed understanding that comes from qualitative assessment of the context and conditions specific to a place, we recognize the development of a resilient mindset within the region’s agricultural producers that have “weathered the storms” of the past. Our synthesis includes discussion of the magnitude of the climate variations, the types of agricultural adaptations, and an indication of the rate at which the agricultural sector responded.