Before Jackson Watford  started his apprenticeship last May at Elk River Livestock in northwest Colorado, he didn't know much about regenerative ranching. He spent the summer moving fences and cattle nearly every day to prevent overgrazing and build healthy soil. Now, he's convinced it's the only way to go.

“It's definitely more work, but I really enjoy it and I think it's worth it in the end of the day,” he said.

Watford is a student at North Carolina State University. He spent the summer here working, earning credit towards the associate’s degree in agriculture business management he expects to wrap up in the spring. All the while, he’s been learning holistic ranching techniques.

“Just better for the environment. You're not tearing up the ground,” he said. “Improving the land.” That’s key for keeping the ranch afloat in a hotter, drier climate.

Agriculture is notoriously susceptible to the whims of the elements. Farmers and ranchers can see their entire livelihoods turn on one bad hailstorm or ill-timed heat wave, which are happening more and more as our planet continues to warm.

The good news is that there are ways to make farms and ranches more resilient in the face of extreme weather. But it takes special skills to do that work. Programs like the one Watford is in are helping to turn out a new generation of farmers and ranchers equipped to join the climate adaptation workforce.

“Hearing old timers talk, we used to get monsoons every day — used to be so wet,” said Davey Baron, who owns Elk River Livestock and hired Watford as his summer apprentice. “Now, we're dry, you know. We're dry more often.”

Adapting to a changing climate is now an essential skill for ranchers, he said. “If you're not managing differently for dry times, then you're not doing it correctly.”

The Quivira Coalition is the environmental ag group behind this apprentice program.  Program Director Leah Ricci said apprentices learn land stewardship in the field, from  veteran farmers and ranchers looking for help on the range.

“Some of them have talked with us about the challenge of finding labor, who care about the same things and are excited about moving fence, as often as they have to do to, get the grazing outcomes that they want,” he said.

Environmental stewardship has always been big in farming and ranching, according to Travis Park with the National Council for Agricultural Education. What's fresh is that climate literacy is now also part of the agriculture education curriculum.

“We want our students to understand the science of agriculture, and to understand the science of agriculture, we need to understand the science of climate change and make production decisions based on the science in both those areas,” he said.

There are more than a million students enrolled in those ag ed programs in high schools and colleges across the country. So, the future climate adaptation workforce is hearing that message loud and clear.