Farmer Climate Forums: New England Climate Trends, Soil Hydrology, and Managing the Effects of Soil Saturation

Sean Birkel will review Maine’s historical temperature and precipitation trends and future climate projections, and discuss impacts to the growing season. Sean will give an overview of online tools relevant to agriculture, including growing degree day and precipitation summaries, frost date estimates, and other resources. Josh Faulkner will discuss general soil and hydrology concepts that relate to drainage and water management in agriculture in the context of extreme rainfall. He will also address how saturation and soil moisture status can affect nutrient cycling and soil health factors and how those relate to farm management practices.