There’s a saying in New England, “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute.” Imagine trying to farm in those conditions and yet, that is what farmers there do, every day of their lives.
Farmers are expert weathermen – they have to be. Their livelihood depends on understanding the vagaries of the weather, and they necessarily build a very intimate relationship with their particular climate and conditions. A farmer’s relationship with weather is an intimate one - even knowing from which direction the wind is coming can make a difference to their lives. The folk-lore of the farmer who can tell if it will rain from the feeling in his bones is undoubtedly built on truth. Farmers are in tune with the weather. Folks who work the land know the land and the weather. Being able to forecast what is coming on either a daily, weekly, monthly or annual basis is crucial to their ability to bring a crop to harvest at the end of the season. One hard freeze too early in the year can kill a crop outright. Too little rain or too much rain can harm crops. The same is true of too much or too little sun. Both can irreparably damage produce.
Drought is harmful but so is rain at the wrong time. Weather that is too hot or too cold is cause for worry. Extremely dry conditions in California in 2007 caused some of America’s worst wildfires. These raging fires reduced some mature vineyards to ashes. And yet, at the same time, there were torrential floods in other parts of the country – Missouri for instance. A ruined crop can have many impacts, particularly higher prices because the product will not be available.
Understanding and using microclimates can greatly help a farmer. A microclimate is a small portion of a property that exhibits different climatic conditions to the rest. It can be something as simple as a snug, cosy field that is well protected from a farm’s normally harsher weather in which a farmer can grow a crop not technically suited to his region. Microclimates can be created too by building shelters or planting sheltering hedges or barriers.
Weather can differ from one side of a state to the other – it doesn’t have to be across the country or even the globe. Rhode Islanders are always commenting on how different the weather is from the northwest of the state to the coast – and this is the smallest state in the nation! Choosing a crop that fits a location is a huge component of agriculture. Matching a crop to a location’s climate, weather and soil is key to that crop’s success. Oranges are not grown in Vermont just as cranberries are not grown in Florida – the weather is not right for those crops in that part of the American continent.
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