Climate Change & On-Farm Water Management

Part of the University of Maine’s Spring 2021 Climate & Ag Webinar Series.

Register for this individual webinar here.

Maine’s changing precipitation climate – Sean Birkel, PhD

Sean Birkel is a Research Assistant Professor and the Maine State Climatologist based at the University of Maine Climate Change Institute. He uses climate modeling and data visualization to better understand climate variability and future impacts. Sean developed ClimateReanalyzer.org, and works with academic and government partners to provide climate information and weather data to Maine stakeholders, including farmers, to facilitate decision-making.

A grower perspective on climate change & water management – Ben Waterman

Ben Waterman operates Waterman Orchards, a u-pick and wholesale fruits operation in Northern Vermont with about 4 acres of blueberries, an acre of strawberries, a 4 acre apple orchard among other fruits enterprises. Most of the farm is on sandy, low water holding capacity soils, and smart water management including automated irrigation systems based on soil moisture monitoring have become key.

Adapting to climate change: Irrigation benefits the Intervale Community Farm – Lynn G. Knight, MS

Lynn Knight is an Agricultural Economist with NRCS East National Technology Support Center (ENTSC), and co-Director of the USDA Northeast Climate Hub. She is responsible for providing conservation economic technical assistance and training to 22 States, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands within the eastern region of the United States.