Climate change is bringing challenges for vegetable and small fruit growers. For farmers to reduce their risk, they need to adapt. To address this increasing need, the Climate Adaptation Fellowship was created. The 1-year program provides a peer-to-peer curriculum for farmers and advisors. Its framework is designed to integrate climate science with a land manager’s knowledge that builds climate resilience within specific commodity areas.
The first full Climate Adaptation Fellowship program with northeast vegetable / small fruit growers and agricultural advisors will be offered in 2021-2022 and is now accepting applications through October 1.The Climate Adaptation Fellowship curriculum provides farmers, foresters, and advisors with the information they need to adapt to climate change. The Fellowship also seeks to bring climate change into advisors’ outreach programs, and talk about climate change with peers and colleagues. The curriculum is designed to increase participant knowledge, and empower broad adoption of climate adaptation practices in the northeastern United States.
This program is designed for commercial farmers who grow vegetables and/or small fruit, and agricultural advisors who work with vegetable/small fruit farms. Fellows will complete the program in pairs (one farmer, one agricultural advisor). Interested parties can apply online in pairs OR individually. Successful applicants will be notified by November 20th, 2020.
Farmers and agricultural advisors from the following states are eligible to apply: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia, Maryland, Washington D.C.
Program Objectives:
- Farmers and agricultural service providers will improve their knowledge about climate change impacts.
- Farmers will improve their ability to make good planning decisions related to climate change adaptation.
- Agricultural service providers will improve their ability to support farmers to address the impacts of climate change.
- Farmers and agricultural service providers will improve their ability to access localized climate data. This data can inform improved decision making.
- Farmers and agricultural service providers will improve their ability to communicate about climate change with their peers.
The vegetable and small fruit program is organized in a flexible manner. The program includes a core set of education lessons and a menu of hands-on activities. It is responsive to the interests of participants (e.g. Fellows), their skill level and technical background, and available financial resources.
Thirty Fellows will be selected to work in pairs to develop farm adaptation plans, as well as outreach projects such as newsletters, blog posts, fact sheets, or presentations. Some Fellows also will integrate information about climate change adaptation into new or ongoing outreach programming.
Fellows who are commercial or tribal farmers will be offered a stipend for outreach activities associated with the Fellowship. All participants will receive travel stipends to cover expenses associated with attending Fellowship workshops.
An informational webinar was presented on July 14th, 2020 by Dr. Rachel Schattman, University of Maine; Erin Lane, USDA Northeast Climate Hub; and Marjorie Kaplan, Rutgers University. You can also preview the application questions here.
The development of the Climate Adaptation Fellowship curriculum was led by the University of Vermont Extension, in close collaboration with the USDA Northeast Climate Hub, the USDA Northern Forest Climate Hub, the University of Maine, and Rutgers University. Additional project collaborators include the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), Manomet, the Forest Stewards Guild, Middlebranch Farm, and Moo Echo Farm.
The Climate Adaptation Fellowship includes four separate modules tailored for northeastern land managers (farmers or foresters) and the advisors who work with them. Modules are designed to address the specific issues and concerns of vegetable/small fruit producers, dairy producers, tree fruit producers, or foresters who live and work in the northeastern United States.
This work is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, through the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under subaward number #ENE20-164-34268 with additional support from the USDA Northeast Climate Hub and the Rutgers Climate Change Institute.
