Extension Agent Perspectives of Climate, Seasonal Climate Forecasts, and the AgClimate Decision Support System 1 Norman Breuer 2 , Sanchayeeta Adhikarim 3 , Ricardo Brown-Salazar 4 , Jose A. Clavijo 5 , Heidi N. HansPetersen 6 , Nicholas C. Kawa 7 , Risa Patarasuk 3 , and Peter E. Hildebrand 8 ABSTRACT A rapid participatory appraisal (sondeo) was conducted in 13 counties in southwest and west-central Florida. The study explored the perspectives and attitudes of various extension agents regarding seasonal climate forecasts. Study topics included awareness of El Niño and La Niña phases, communication of potential impacts to farmer clients, and sources of climate information, with a special focus on AgClimate, a web-based decision support system developed by the Southeast Climate Consortium (SECC), http://AgClimate.org 9 . The study found that perspectives of seasonal climate forecasts and variability differed widely among agents. Also, respondents identified a number of issues in their counties regarding the use of predictive climate information: barriers to dissemination of information; the current drought; an aging farmer population; and continuous land use change from agriculture to other uses, primarily housing. We finish by discussing the findings, drawing conclusions, and suggesting recommendations that may be beneficial to the adoption of and adaptations to seasonal climate forecasts in Southwest and West Central Florida. Further interaction with the Southwest Florida Water Management District, additional training for county Extension Agents, and the use of mass media to disseminate climate information are recommended. 1 Disclaimer: All information presented, including all mention of the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) is based on perspectives of participating Extension agents and may not necessarily reflect objective realities. The SWFWMD has been working with complex hydrological models that use climate data as inputs for many years. No representative of the SWFWMD was interviewed for this report and it is not our intention to judge the merits of the policies, research, models, or management of the SWFWMD. 2 Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Miami. Corresponding author e-mail: nbreuer@ifas.ufl.edu 3 Department of Geography, University of Florida 4 Department of Interdisciplinary Ecology, University of Florida 5 Department of Agronomy, University of Florida 6 Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida 7 Department of Anthropology, University of Florida 8 Departments of Food and Resource Economics and Interdisciplinary Ecology, University of Florida 9 In August 2008 the name and address of AgClimate changed to AgroClimate and http://AgroClimate.org