Philippa Lockwood’s Post

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Sustainable Agriculture | Social Impact | CPG Sustainability | Food System Change

Say what you will about Millennials, but we're a resilient bunch. In the face of #climatechange, young #farmers are digging deep (and planting trees) to adapt to the new normal. Everyone take notes! In Vermont, "100 year floods" seem to come every 10 years now -- sometimes, even more frequently than that. Much of the state's affordable farmland sits in the flood plain, and young farmers who frequently work this "cheap" land are sitting ducks. How do you mitigate a risk like this? So far, young farmers in Vermont have... ✅ Produced a diverse output of crops and livestock which means if one is lost, another may survive ✅ Replanted their fields in narrow strips, alternating crops, so that taller plants can offer some protection to smaller plants ✅ Added yards of topsoil and raised beds to protect plants from rising waters ✅ Experimented with planting vegetables near banks of clover and rye so the deep roots will hold the soil in place and keep it from washing away ✅ Planted hundreds of trees along river buffer zones And, perhaps most importantly, ✅ Formed close ties between other young farmers to more easily share strategies and equipment and help each other harvest early if heavy weather is on the horizon. It sounds like these farmers are heading in a #regenerative direction. What else can be done? Although resilient, young farmers still need help and are asking for ➡ On farm technical advisors to provide further support and ➡ Mental health services. Will this next Farm Bill deliver? * #SustainableAgriculture https://lnkd.in/gjdAP5WG

How the Shock of Catastrophic Floods Is Changing Farming in Vermont

How the Shock of Catastrophic Floods Is Changing Farming in Vermont

https://www.nytimes.com

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