Farmers Invited to Climate Change Adaptation Tour at Edgewater Farm

Plainfield, New Hampshire — October 24, 2019 — As many farmers think about adapting their practices for the changing climate, Upper Valley farmers will have an opportunity to learn about current climate change concerns and adaptation practices, tour a farm that has implemented climate change adaptive and resiliency measures, build farmer and peer connections and receive support.

On November 6 at Edgewater Farm in Plainfield, Chris Skoglund of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services will speak on climate change impacts in our region and across the globe and potential considerations for developing resilient agricultural systems.

Farmers in this region are already finding that certain farming practices improve soil health, protect water, and increase the resilience of their crops. According to the National Young Farmer Coalition, “The extreme weather events of this growing season, the UN Climate Change Summit and the Global Climate Strike have much of our attention focused on ways we can support our farmers and ranchers in this uncertain climate reality.”

Edgewater Farm, host of this workshop and tour, has grown produce for more than 45 years on the alluvial plains of the Connecticut River in Plainfield and has been implementing climate adaptive field techniques for several years. They have come to rely on high tunnels and other strategies for protected growing of the farm’s key crops and the importance of practices that build the soil’s health and resiliency.

This free workshop is appropriate for farmers of all stages and for all types of farm operations and is hosted by Vital Communities and Land For Good, targets farmers of all stages and type of operation in the region. Vital Communities is building climate-resilient communities in the Upper Valley through collaboration, research and education. Land For Good is bringing together established and beginning farmers interested in implementing climate adaptive field techniques together to receive support, especially around the land tenure security needed to invest in these techniques.

Register for this free workshop at landforgood.org/edgewater-farm or by contacting Nancy LaRowe at Vital Communities at 802-291-9100 or nancy@vitalcommunities.org.

Funding for this event is provided by the Land Access Project, Phase 3 (LAP3) that improves land access and transfer education, training and technical assistance to beginning and established farmers through a grant from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program  (NIFA # 2018-70017-28531).

#  #  # 

Vital Communities is a nonprofit organization that cultivates the civic, environmental, and economic vitality of the Upper Valley. Vital Communities brings people together, bridging boundaries and engaging the whole community to create positive change. Learn more at vitalcommunities.org.

Land For Good (LFG), based in Keene, New Hampshire, is a New England-wide not-for-profit organization whose mission is to ensure the future of farming in the region by putting more farmers more securely on more land. With field agents serving all New England states, LFG educates, consults, innovates and advocates with and for farm seekers, established farmers, farmland owners, and communities. LFG is the only organization of its kind, nationally, with a sole focus on farmland access, transfer, and tenure. Learn more at landforgood.org.