Browse by Topic: Adaptation Practices

A list of the best cover crops by need, including reducing compaction, weed suppression, increasing soil nitrogen, mycorrhizal fungi association, and more.

This fact sheet outlines the basic rotations and potential crop choices of the Alternative Continuous-Cover Forage system (ACCF), describes how to implement the system, and provides a summary of its environmental and economic benefits.

This beautiful case study profiles Big River Chestnuts, a 75-acre agroforestry operation located in Sunderland, Easthampton, and South Deerfield, MA. The report details the climate impacts experienced by Big River Chestnuts, and how Jogo Niger and his team has addressed them

Building Soils for Better Crops presents a comprehensive view on soil management for farmers including chapters covering organic matter, nutrients, cover crops, conservation, and cropping systems.

These economic tools and resources focus on silvopasture, irrigation and tarping. Resources were designed for small, medium, and beginning farmers in in New England to address challenges in adapting to a changing climate.

This page collects research around reduced tillage topics for vegetables, including living mulch under organic acorn squash and Brussel sprouts, tarps to terminate cover crops, sorghum sudan grass residue as mulch for tomatoes, and more....

Farm managers speak about their diversified vegetable operation in Northford, Connecticut, and the changes that Cecarelli Farms has gone through to become both a more sustainable and efficient operation.

Excellent charts on cover crop types divided by cool or warm season, and grass, legume, or broadleaf. Also has a chart on crop sequence effects, as well as one-page fact sheets on characteristics and growing conditions of 65 different cover crops.

Tools to explore cover crops in the Northeast, select species, calculate nitrogen credits, and more. Cover crop selector tool gives recommendations based on your specific site and soil conditions. Website also includes further cover crop resources.

This calculator aids farmers with decision support regarding cover crop residue persistence, as well as the amount and timing of nitrogen availability.

The Cover Crop Selector tool provides a user friendly way for growers to get cover crop recommendations depending on their location, goals, and cover crop window.

Cover crops are a useful tool in managing the soil erosion and nutrient runoff problems caused by increasingly frequent heavy rains across the Northeastern U.S.

This book helps growers and advisors manage crop rotations to improve soil health, control pests, and build profitable farms that support farm families.

The In-Field Soil Health Assessment Guide shows a wide variety of methods which can be used by farmers to explore their soil health. Focused on physical and biological indicators of soil health.

“Cut and carry” mulch involves growing and moving plant material for weed suppression and fertility. Used in organic systems to reduce tillage and improve soil through applied biomass or legumes.

Mulching is one of the simplest ways to increase soil organic matter, retain moisture, and suppress weeds in an agricultural system. Here, we share a few case studies about effective mechanization strategies for cut-and-carry mulching from participating farmers.

This tool helps dairy producers think through the environmental impacts and business implications when considering implementation of different climate smart practices. Also, highlights different funding avenues for listed practices!

Biochar basics: what it is, how it is produced, how it is applied, benefits for farms and the climate, and federal funding sources.

Farmer-Led Innovations for Reduced Tillage (FLI) cultivates co-learning and innovation among organic vegetable farmers in New England. This site features the trials of a small cohort of innovative farmers trialing reduced tillage practices.

This webinar explores reduced tillage practices, equipment, and techniques that improve soil health and save labor at all farm scales. Speakers: Julie Fine, American Farmland Trust; Natalie Lounsbury, University of New Hampshire.

A review of 351 studies looking at soil carbon sequestration under different long-term tillage management systems, from no-till to full tillage. Results show no-till systems increase soil carbon in upper layers over time, with limited impact on total soil profile carbon.

This recording features a talk by Sara Keleman, who shares current data exploring climate trends and projected impacts on agriculture. At minute 1:10:10 Sara reviews several tools available for monitoring weather and implementing adaptive practices.

This series of articles covers key topics for launching a new agroforestry project with a guided step-by-step process to evaluate your goals, assess the opportunities on your site, and get your trees off to the best possible start.

In this article, we highlight four case studies from farms of varying sizes and production goals to showcase the opportunities and challenges of adopting living aisle systems.