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HOW OUR LOCALS FARMS ARE BATTLING
THE CHANGING WEATHER By Olivia Saunders
TOUGHER TIMES AHEAD FOR LOCAL FOOD GROWERS
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xtreme weather, brought about by changes to our climate, now poses significant risk to farmers throughout New England. While some changes may be beneficial, local farmers are likely to experience yield losses associated with increased frequency of high temperatures,
on modernizing their irrigation equipment in order to deal with drought. More drought and more flooding create a curious conundrum for people who grow plants in the soil for a living. Farmers are slowly adopting to this new normal, but we are still struggling to
some process, and does not fully recover all the lost profit from the ruined crop. Earth’s average temperature has increased 1.8°F nationally. The 2-degree increase in global average surface temperature, that has occurred since the preindustrial era (1880-1900), might seem
an increase of soil erosion due to extreme precipitation, and crop failure as a result of moisture stress and excess heat. Inadequate winter chilling period may also have perilous effects on fruit crops. One producer I work with has had their crop fields flood with storm water four of the last seven years, eroding their soils, and laying waste to otherwise marketable crops. Prior to that, the river rarely flooded in the 50 years they’ve owned the property. Elsewhere in New Hampshire, growers are spending thousands of dollars
understand many of these changes. In the meantime, farmers in the Northeast have had to use funds from the Farm Service Agency (FSA) crop disaster assistance program in order to stay afloat. The most recent data from the Northeast region (2013-2016) demonstrates that disaster relief funds have been used for heat (10.7%), hail (1.7%), frost or freeze (13.4%), drought (38.1%) and excess moisture (33.8%). While disaster relief is one strategy to farm viability, this option is not available to all farms, is a cumber-
small, but it means a significant increase in accumulated heat. In New Hampshire, scientists expect a 3°F increase in temperature, which has direct implications on rainfall events. The data also show that the largest observed changes in rainfall in the United States have occurred in the Northeast. How, exactly, do these changes in rainfall occur? For each 1.8°F of warming, the air can contain 7% more water vapor. Think of the humidity on an August day versus February. Warm air contains more water vapor because the
In New Hampshire, scientists expect a 3°F increase in temperature, which has direct implications on rainfall events. The data also shows that the largest observed changes in rainfall in the United States have occurred in the Northeast.
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