Recently updated projections for the Northeastern US forecast increasingly severe and erratic precipitation events which pose significant risks to every sector of agricultural production in the region. Summer water deficits and droughts are also projected to intensify.Ìý Vegetable and berry farmers are among the most vulnerable to the impacts of severe precipitation and drought due to the intensive soil and crop management strategies which characterize of this kind of production.
Recent experiences with drought in 2016, and a number heavy precipitation events, such as Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, have forced producers in the region to adapt to the water extremes associated with climate change in the Northeastern US. This report highlights the adaptive strategies which producers have already used, and are planning to use, for managing these two climate risks of high concern.
This survey also aimed to draw out the experience of farmers who are innovating new farm management ideas to account for
increasingly extreme weather. The results of the survey link these adaptive management strategies to specific climate impacts and site characteristics, allowing growers who read this report to better understand what their peers with similar farm characteristics are doing.
