Farmers on front line of climate change
As a small farmer in the Upper Valley, I am grateful that the Vermont legislature has supported the Farm and Forestry Operations Security Special Fund so far. I hope they continue to support it with complete passage and adequate funding. This bill would appropriate $15.6 million in FY2027 to ensure that those working in the Ag and Forestry sectors receive immediate short term financial relief after suffering the impacts of climate-driven disasters.
We manage a small dairy of 20 Jersey milking cows, a cheese-making plant, and sixty acres of gardens, orchards, hay fields and pasture. As with all farmers, we find ourselves on the front line of climate change, dealing with unseasonable extremes of weather and new pests and diseases. Farmers in our region are contending with increased moisture in the form of “precipitation events” and at the same time “flash droughts” that put Ag producers to the test.
We are implementing practices to mitigate and adapt to these rapid changes and to be part of a larger regional movement aiming to create a resilient, re-localized and sovereign food system. For 26 years we have farmed organically, integrating elements of agroforestry into every aspect of the farm. Even so, we face the economic hardship of trying to run a small diversified farm within the context of our global industrial food system. Fixed costs continue to rise but the price points for commodity milk and produce remains stagnant and seldom covers real cost of production. Most farms have to accrue long-term debt and operating debt simply to remain in operation. When we started farming in the Upper Valley in 1996 Vermont had 2500 dairies and is now down to less than 450.
These precarious economic circumstances make farmers even more vulnerable to weather disasters. For instance, this past summer, because of the intense regional drought, we had to remove cows from the pastures in early August, and began feeding bought-in hay two months ahead of “normal”. If farmers of all sizes are to survive they must have safety nets in place to get through these unprecedented climate related challenges.