Jeffrey Bloomquist, Farm Service Agency (FSA) Geographer, and former liaison to the USDA Midwest Climate Hub, was recently highlighted by FSA for his efforts to get the Agency certified "Weather-Ready."
As a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) "Weather-Ready Nation" (WRN) Ambassador, Bloomquist worked with his county offices in Minnesota and several other FSA state geographic information system (GIS) specialists to improve their weather preparedness and develop important relationships with local National Weather Service (NWS) offices. This work assists FSA field offices to become better prepared to track weather data for program administration, as well as have a higher level of understanding of weather patterns within their local areas.
Robert McCurry, state GIS specialist for the Maine FSA State Office, is also involved in the WRN effort. His work with the NWS after becoming a WRN Ambassador has been a mutually beneficial relationship. He states, “by being a WRN ambassador, we are provided several benefits. We can help NOAA by sharing their messages with our employees and stakeholders, increase weather awareness while also allowing for the opportunity for input from our stakeholders and employees on various NWS projects. In addition to promoting NOAA’s message, we develop a closer working relationship with our local NWS office(s), leading to increased awareness of available weather data resources FSA can use to enhance program delivery and outreach.”
FSA is using much of the work Bloomquist and others have already done to incorporate these efforts at a national level so that FSA state offices can take advantage of these partnerships with the NWS. This will provide them with the guidance needed to become certified WRN Ambassadors, in turn assisting their county offices to become better equipped to use weather data.
Become weather readyBy Mary Carey, 2016-2017 FSA Liaison, USDA Northeast Climate Hub