Adaptive Farming
VALENCIA — Farmers are trying new ways to adapt to climate change and better crop production.
The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture hosted a farmer-to-farmer exchange event Thursday at Harvest Valley Farms in the borough.
The event addressed adapting to climate change by increasing biodiversity.
The average temperature in Pennsylvania has increased by about 2 degrees in the past 50 years, said Frank Egan, PASA's director of educational programs.
This increase has given farmers about 10 extra days in the growing season.
“The reality is that climate change is already happening,” Egan said. “Farmers are really experiencing that on the ground (and) are very much aware that Pennsylvania's climate is shifting.”
Egan said while the amount of precipitation has increased, it comes in extreme, more concentrated events.
He said the concern for farmers is having too much rain at some points with dry spells in between that could hinder crop growth.
“That's a very challenging environment to plan crop rotations and field operations,” Egan said. “These trends are very much expected to continue in the future.”
Agriculture experts also gave lectures to show local farmers the benefits of increasing biodiversity.
John Taylor, assistant professor for the Falk School of Sustainability at Chatham University, said biodiversity in farms aids in pest control, nutrient cycling, water purification and pollination among other benefits.
“They are more able to bounce back after traumatic events and maybe even be transformed into new systems,” Taylor said.
He said it also makes crops more resilient to climate change.
“These less diverse landscapes can lack stability,” Taylor said. “They are only dependent on a couple species of crops.”
Biodiversity is also not limited to just plants. Different species of insects such as ladybugs and parasitic wasps that feed on pests, and pollinators such as bees, can also be by affected planting different crops.
Lee Stivers, extension educator for Penn State's District 10 office in Washington, also gave a lecture about soil quality, organic matter and cover crops.
“There are ways of managing and building soil quality, even our heavier soils,” Stivers said. “I'd love to see 1,000 farmers here, but at least we have to start somewhere to talk about these changes.”The King family, which owns and operates the Harvest Valley Farms in the borough, gave tours of their high tunnels and cover crops.The farm has about a dozen high tunnels which help protect crops from bad weather. Some even have furnaces to keep crops warm and irrigation systems to supply water.Harvest Valley Farms owner and operator Art King said the high tunnels help with growth and harvesting from March to December. No harvesting is done in January and February.“We heat them with a giant wood burner starting the third week of February until we don't have to anymore,” King said about heating the high tunnels. “Then we do the same thing at the beginning of November through Christmas.”Different crops planted in these high tunnels in organized troughs include cabbage, red beets, kale, tomatoes and spinach.The tunnels either measure 30 by 96 feet or 16 by 96 feet.“We always want to have fresh produce from the farm for the farmer's market,” King said.Pests that the Kings' crops deal with include leaf miners, aphids and pill bugs.While ladybugs are brought in to combat aphids and nematodes control leaf miner infestations, King said pill bugs are a constant problem.“The problem is pill bugs are arthropods, not insects,” King said. “We've tried it all.”This means insecticides are generally useless against them.Another challenge the King's face is variable drainage in the clay soil.Dave King, Art King's son, said he experiments with different combinations for trial efforts to produce the best crops.“This keeps my job very interesting,” he said. “It's a continuous learning cycle.”PASA is planning on conducting farm-based research for sustainable agriculture and having more educational events.“Events like this will help us all get together and have some really stimulating conversations about how we bounce back from climate pressures,” Egan said.
