By Bill Duesing
In the face of increasingly disturbing news about the challenges
farmers face due to climate change, there is encouraging news. According to Kip
Kolesinskas, Consulting Conservation Scientist for the American Farmland Trust,
there are strategies farmers can use to adapt to the flooding, drought, heat
stress, insect invasions, less reliable weather and super weeds that are just
some of the increasing challenges that farmers are and will be facing with the
changing climate.
On a delightful but very dry first evening of autumn, CT NOFA and
its partners presented a workshop at
Massaro Community Farm in Woodbridge on ways farmers can address
some of these challenges.
Massaro Community Farm was established in 2008 with a mission to
"Keep Farming, Feed People and Build Community." A group of dedicated citizens convinced the
town that farming would be a better and more appropriate use of this former
dairy farm than sports fields would be. The Massaro family donated the 57 acre
farm to the town in 2007. Now in its sixth year with a farm manager, the farm
is certified organic and provides vegetables for a 175-member Community
Supported Agriculture program, sells at a New Haven farmers market and to a
number of restaurants. The farm also donates at least 10 percent of its produce
to those in need in Woodbridge, New Haven and other nearby towns. In just six
years, this program has provided almost 15 tons of healthy organic food to
organizations that feed hungry people.
At the workshop, Kolesinskas gave a presentation on the probable
effects of climate change and some of the ways they will affect farmers before
participants took a tour of the strategies used at Massaro farm, led by farm
manager Steve Munno.
According to Kolesinskas 2014 was the hottest year on record and
2015 looks like it will be hotter. Very warm days will get hotter, affecting
crops, animals, farm workers and pick your own customers. We will see fewer
very cold days, a longer freeze-free season with a later end to the growing
season. Farmers will see more rain, primarily in the winter, more extreme
rainfall events with longer dry periods and less predictable weather.
These changes will encourage more weeds, new pest insects,
diseases and more generations of insects each year. Kolesinskas provided three
levels of adaptation strategies for farmers: resistance, resilience and
transformation. That is, using management
actions to resist the effects of climate change, using proactive actions to
increase adaptive capacity to moderate the effects and then transitioning to a
new system. All of these strategies are
likely to be necessary to insure that we can eat in the future. All the places
where our food is grown are subject to the deleterious effects of climate
change. Consider the drought in California and the likelihood that much of
Florida's winter vegetable cropland will be under water during this century for
examples.
This community farm, producing a wide variety of
organically-grown food crops for the local community is a good example of the
kind of transformation that is needed and is happening now.
The pictures below and their captions illustrate and explain of
some of the strategies used at Massaro Farm. I've grouped them into five rough
categories: Keeping the soil covered, encouraging biodiversity and ecosystem
services, managing water, diversifying the farm's crops, growing environments
and markets, and more aggressive plants. All of these strategies are also
important for success with organic growing.
CT NOFA's partners in this workshop were the American Farmland
Trust, the University of Connecticut's Cooperative Extension System, the USDA's
Risk Management Agency and the Connecticut Department of Agriculture. In
addition, representatives of the USDA's Natural Resources Conservations Service who provided expert guidance and funding for much of the work at
this farm, were on hand. Contact the closest NRCS office to connect with their
expertise and funding options, including the organic initiative.
Massaro Community Farm's Adaptation Strategies
1. Keeping the soil covered
Growing plants protect soil from erosion while
they pump carbon from the atmosphere into the soil. In healthy soil,
underground organisms grab the carbon containing compounds and incorporate some
of them into humus.This kind of soil is also better able to absorb water. Avoiding synthetic fertilizers and pesticides
encourages more soil organisms which can store carbon and aerate soil.This cover crop of field peas and oats protects the soil from erosion and builds soil health. |
2. Increasing biodiversity is a key strategy for organic success and
adapting to climate change. A biodiverse farm environment provides a
number of ecosystem services, especially as it creates a habitat for
helpful birds and insects.
Non-native invasive species were removed and native species were planted to create this hedgerow which provides a windbreak and habitat for beneficial organisms. |
3. Managing Water
One important
goal is to keep water from eroding soil or running off the farm by
encouraging it to infiltrate to recharge aquifers.
Close up of the ditch which diverts water around the field to the left. The field no longer gets flooded and is usable earlier in the season. |
Just a slight and careful grading of this farm road directs water away from growing areas and toward infiltration in the wetland. |
4. Diversifying the Farm's Crops, Growing Environments and Markets
Climate
change will bring more uncertainty and variability. Growing a wider
variety of crops, for a longer season, using high tunnels to protect
sensitive crops such as tomatoes and to extend the growing and harvest
season and having multiple options for marketing the farm's produce all
help address that uncertainty. Massaro grows over 50 kinds of
vegetables. Weekly CSA shares can be adjusted depending on which crops
are successful and which don't do so well.
High tunnel with a new crop of radishes for fall harvest. At the rear are a few grafted tomatoes. They did well and Steve may grow more of those next year. |
Massaro Farm has two moveable high tunnels which provide options for growing environments and prevent the salt buildup that can happen in a fixed structure growing situation. |
5. More aggressive plants
Higher
levels of carbon dioxide and longer growing seasons increase the growth
of some plants, including poison ivy, increase its toxicity and make
herbicides and other control strategies less effective.This field has lots of poison ivy growing in it. It frequently can be controlled by regular mowing, but not here. Poison ivy is a native plant whose seeds are valuable bird food. |
No comments:
Post a Comment