How a Local Farming Organization is Addressing Climate Change
Local agriculture farmers are facing a dilemma: apple picking and visits to wineries, which serve as some of the Hudson Valley’s largest outdoor attractions, may be in jeopardy due to temperature fluctuations as a result of climate change.
The changes in both temperature and growing conditions have left farmers in need of resources to help them adapt their livelihoods to the changing environment now more than ever. One of the main forces behind this is the Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) of Dutchess County, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting “economic vitality” throughout New York State by providing research and education to residents and farmers.
Stephanie Denise Radin and her colleague Jennifer Ervin Fimbel are educators in the agriculture and horticulture department at CCE. Their main roles include sharing research from Cornell University with local agriculture industry workers via consultations, meetings, newsletters, and more. Through their research, they have witnessed growing causes for concern for the agricultural industry as a result of climate change.
“We are increasingly subject to dramatic changes in temperature,” said Radin. “It’s caused by fluctuations in the jet stream due to increased CO2 levels, drought, and more frequent storms.”
And as Radin will tell you, climate change is much more than just a warming trend.
“We have seen wide fluctuations in temperatures for quite some time now,” said Radin. “We can go multiple days of temperatures at 70 in mid-December, causing early flowering of ornamentals, to warm temperatures in spring when fruit trees are in bloom, followed by drops in temperatures causing those late spring frosts.”
This is especially a problem for areas such as the Hudson Valley, where apple and cherry trees make up a significant chunk of the agricultural industry. Fruit trees such as these are especially prone to what are referred to as “killing frosts” — frosts that occur when the temperature drops below 28 degrees Fahrenheit and kill most exposed fruit buds.
CCE is not the first to bring awareness to this issue. According to National Geographic, “In 2012, apple trees in Northern New York bloomed three to four weeks ahead of schedule, only to be hit hard by the late-March cold snap.”
As a result, that year’s harvest was worth $250 million less than the year before.
The most important thing to be worked on in the Hudson Valley, said Radin, is educating the general public on farming practices that are already in place to address climate change and carbon emissions, practices most farmers are generally already aware of.
“[For example], corn, when it is growing, sequesters carbon,” said Radin. “When it is harvested and left on bare ground, the remainder can release carbon, however many of our corn farmers utilize the practice of conservation tilling to break up the corn stalks but leave them on the ground to decompose to organic matter for soil health and continue carbon sequestration.”
Radin also said that initiatives such as carbon credits, incentives directed toward companies to offset carbon emissions, do not work very well in the area due to the already low cost for farmers to produce their products. Researches such as those at CCE are thus left with the task of being more creative in finding ways to reduce emissions in the Hudson Valley.
Researchers at Cornell, along with other land grant universities, are currently researching crop varieties that are more conducive to production in varying climates, according to Radin. For now, farmers must continue to find methods, with the help of organizations like CCE, to adapt to the ever-changing environment.
“Farmers are always resilient,” said Radin. “They must be because of Mother Nature’s unpredictability. They are the ultimate optimists.”
