Climate Change and the Agricultural Sector in the San Francisco Bay Area: Changes in Viticulture and Rangeland Forage Production Due to Altered Temperature and Precipitation Patterns

Climate change has the potential to alter the San Francisco Bay Area’s agricultural production, a $2 billion industry. Two of the top sectors, wine and ranching, are examined in this paper.

Downscaled models suggest that forage production in Bay Area rangelands may be enhanced by future conditions in most years, at least in terms of peak standing crop. However, the timing of production is as important as its peak, and altered precipitation patterns could mean delayed germination and earlier senescence, resulting in shorter growing seasons. An increase in the frequency of extremely dry years also increases the uncertainty of forage availability.

Similarly, wine grape yields are projected to increase throughout much of the Bay Area, but wine grape quality may decline substantially under future climate conditions, as the crop ripens earlier during hotter months. The implications for these shifts in wine grape and forage production are that the aspects of Bay Area agriculture most sensitive to climate change are not yields, but subtler nuances of production such as quality and timing. Adaptive measures will need to be taken to maintain the economic viability of these enterprises.