More heavy rains are expected to increase runoff of these nutrients, which cause murky surface waters, dead zones and fish kills.

Farmers will reduce usage if they can, because they will save money, Brancel said.

“If you do it correctly, you know what happens? The climate changes. And it changes without focusing on the climate change, but focusing on all the attributes that have impacted and affected climate change.”

Already adapting

Whatever they believe, Kucharik said, farmers are already adapting. “Most of them will say no, I’m not really doing anything different. But the facts show that they’re planting earlier and earlier for their summer crops.”

Kucharik said he tries to stress facts that farmers can relate to, like extreme weather events.

Mitchell’s strategy: Talk about the weather, a safer topic. Focus on adaptation — not mitigation, since that would require them to acknowledge humans have caused climate change. Listen to farmers, who have plenty of their own ideas about what sustainability means.

And focus on opportunity, he said. Like new potential markets.