Farmers in the Virgin Islands will now be able to get help from the newly created U.S. Department of Agriculture Climate Sub Hub in Puerto Rico announced Wednesday at a White House press conference led by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack.

The Sub Hub will be based at the U.S. Forest Service International Institute of Forestry in Rio Piedras, an arm of the USDA.

The Sub Hub will address issues important to tropical agriculture and forestry and will focus on a unique set of issues relative to the network of hubs.

“Climate change directly affects agriculture and forestry in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands,” Forest Service Sub Hub leader William Gould said. “And climate change impacts in other regions also affect the Caribbean’s supply and demand, the state of agriculture and forestry, food security and the culture of rural life.”

Vilsack said the Climate Hubs are part of the department’s broad commitment to developing the next generation of climate solutions so that agricultural leaders have the modern technologies and tools they need to adapt and succeed in the face of a changing climate.

“It’s a whole new day here,” he said at the press conference.

The hubs will provide outreach and information to producers on ways to mitigate risks, public education about the risks climate change poses to agriculture, ranchlands and forests, regional climate risk and vulnerability assessments, and centers of climate forecast data and information.

They will also link a broad network of partners participating in climate risk adaptation and mitigation that include universities, nongovernmental organizations, federal agencies such as the Interior Department and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Native nations and organizations, state departments of environment and agriculture, research centers, farm groups and more.

“There’s been a lot of effort in federal, state, local and nongovernmental agencies to collaborate on climate change,” Gould said.

He said it’s not clear if the Sub Hub designation comes with additional funding, but he pointed out that the hub plan has the full support of President Obama so he’s hopeful.

According to a Forest Service press release, farmers, ranchers and forest landowners in the Caribbean are facing an uncertain future and potential increases in risks to their operations due to increased likelihood of fires, increase in invasive pests, droughts, severe storms and floods.

“It will strengthen the ties between the science being developed and the needs of the people with the land,” Gould said.

Additionally the press release indicated local agriculture is tied to larger markets, with climate change affecting imported products and prices and the success of local agriculture. These events threaten the food supply and are costly for producers and rural economies. Such risks have implications not only for agricultural producers but for all Caribbean islanders.

Coffee, bananas, plantains, tropical fruits, ornamentals, root crops, poultry, cattle, dairy products, wood for fencing and artisanal uses are some of the principle products of agriculture and forestry in the Caribbean. A large segment of production is for subsistence use.

The Puerto Rico Sub Hub comes under the jurisdiction of the Southeast Hub, one of seven hubs across the country.