Field Notes

Farms in flux

10 min read / March 12, 2025 / By Laura Hardie

Vermonters confront a climate that’s changing faster than expected

The growing risks and instability are forcing Vermont farmers to rethink not just how they farm but where — and even whether — they continue farming at all.

Farming is inherently risky

That risk sits on the shoulders of farmers every growing season — the possibility of extreme weather, pest infestations, or disease. And yet they persevere, driven by their passion to cultivate the land and sustain communities.

But, those risks are escalating, and every farmer has their limits.

“I don’t ever want to be in this position again,” Matt Linehan (pictured above), a potato farmer of Sparrow Arc Farm in Guildhall, said, reflecting on back-to-back years of devastating crop losses from flooding. “It’s untenable fiscally. You can’t do that two years in a row.”

Vermont farmers have long adjusted to somewhat predictable challenges — spring floods, steady rains, and the occasional drought. But in recent years, extremes have multiplied: record-breaking floods, frequent killing frosts, and prolonged droughts now collide in rapid succession.

“Ten years ago, if you told me we’d see what we’ve experienced in the past two years, I wouldn’t have believed it,” said University of Vermont (UVM) Extension Research Associate Professor Joshua Faulkner. He is known for his research on climate change impacts and adaptation in Northeastern agricultural systems.

“We thought Irene was this watershed moment, a wake-up call to start thinking and preparing,” Joshua said. “But it felt like something far off. No one expected this pace of change.”

Photo: Sparrow Arc Farm in Guildhall Vermont, December 2024

The rapid escalation has left many farmers feeling unmoored

“It’s been a land of extremes,” says Adam Hausmann (pictured at left) of Adam’s Berry Farm. “One year, it’s too wet; the next, we’re managing drought. Then there are the frosts — two years in a row, we’ve had May frosts wipe out a big portion of our crop.”

Once seen as a safer place to farm in the face of climate change, Vermont is no longer immune to its impacts. The 2021 Vermont Climate Assessment found that average annual precipitation in Vermont has increased by 21% since 1900. This equates to an increase of 7.5 inches per year.

“I think we all thought we are somewhat protected here, you know, from climate extremes, climate change, here in Vermont,” Adam said. “And it’s proven that everybody’s vulnerable, right?”

Joshua says it’s difficult to predict what comes next. “In the Northeast, it’s all about uncertainty,” he explains.

The growing instability is forcing Vermont farmers to rethink not just how they farm but where — and even whether — they continue farming at all.

Facing the challenges

Courtesy Matt Linehan

Flood, after flood, after drought

Matt farms on conserved land and runs one of only two potato farms in the state.

In 2023, he expected 1.4 million pounds of potatoes but 20% was wiped out by flooding even though, with land in the Connecticut River’s flood-prone lowlands, he limited his risk by planting most of his crop on higher ground.

“It wasn’t great — really bad, actually — but we got through it,” he recalled, noting that his business could absorb the expected losses from extreme weather once every decade or so.

Then the farm lost 36% of its 2024 crop to another punishing flood while still repaying commercial loans to cover 2023 losses. This was on top of losses from 2020, when drought wiped out 75% of the expected harvest.

If farmers are left to recover from back-to-back climate-caused losses on their own, Matt says, “the ultimate impact will be less food production.” He says there is no room for local producers like himself to move up their prices.

Photo: Vermont Secretary of Agriculture Anson Tebbetts surveys the damage to the potato fields at Sparrow Arc Farm on July 14, 2024 as floodwaters recede (after reaching the field by canoe). Courtesy of Matt Linehan.

“Climate instability means financial instability”

Adam and his partner, Jessica Sanford, (pictured checking on their berry bushes this winter) at Adam’s Berry Farm face similar challenges. Their farm, which grows primarily blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries, was initially located in a floodplain at the Intervale in Burlington. They expected the typical spring flooding, but the rising water became harder to predict over the 12 years they were there.

“Every year, I was losing plantings,” Adam said. In 2013, they relocated to higher ground at a conserved farm in Charlotte, thinking they would escape the worst impacts.

But in May 2023, a late freeze wiped out about 30% of their blueberry blossoms and summer’s relentless rain triggered disease and die-off. “It was disastrous. The field wasn’t in a floodplain, but eight weeks of rain saturated the ground, causing root rot,” Adam explained.

In 2024’s unusually warm February, many of the perennial plants broke dormancy and succumbed when temperatures dropped. More heavy rain followed. By mid-summer, about 50% of their strawberry plants had died.

The instability has brought the family to a tipping point; the couple now often considers getting off-farm jobs.

“Climate instability means financial instability,” Jessica said. “The goal is for both of us to have a job on the farm, and why can’t those two jobs be enough to support our family?”

Food supply in a changing climate

These challenges aren’t just taking a toll on individual farms. They threaten the viability of Vermont’s food supply, an essential component of food security in a changing climate.

One of the conditions of the Vermont Farm to Plate Food Security Road Map, which sets a goal for all Vermonters to be food secure by 2035, is that “Vermont farmers and food producers must have the resources necessary to provide a resilient food supply.”

Arming farmers with the resources they need becomes even more critical, Joshua of UVM Extension says, as our local food supply responds to national disruptions because of climate impacts elsewhere; for example, frequent droughts in California where a third of the country’s vegetables are grown.

“Nationally, farming communities outside of the Central Valley in California are going to become more and more important as water becomes scarcer and drought is more common,” he said. “We’re going to have water here in the Northeast. We have to learn how to handle these extremes — this amount of water.”

Adapting and innovating

Grounds for hope

In the face of growing risks, Vermont farmers are adapting. In Guildhall, Matt has adjusted his crop rotation, from a four-year to a three-year cycle so 100% of his potatoes can be planted in fields that aren’t flood-prone. He’ll use his floodplain land for crops like corn, pumpkins, and squash that aren’t as expensive to plant.

“Our farm is so small. Every acre of production contributes an outsized proportion of carrying our overhead,” he said.

He’s also mitigating some risk by farming some new parcels he acquired recently through leases and a new farm purchase, though competition for suitable land is fierce.

Jessica and Adam have turned to infrastructure changes. They’ve installed high tunnels to shield crops like raspberries and strawberries from excessive rain. The move has increased yields by 30%.

“It’s like insurance,” Adam says. “It ensures we can harvest no matter the weather and helps us stay consistent in the market.”

They’re also adding new varieties of blueberries that bloom later in the spring to avoid late frost damage, which has devastated fruit growers in recent years. In addition, they’re diversifying, offering popsicles and hosting agritourism events.

Land conservation also plays a role

VLT’s Farmland Access Program helped Adam and Jessica move to their Charlotte location by making the land more affordable. “Without VLT, we couldn’t have stayed in the area and purchased a parcel that was large enough to give us room to expand,” Adam said.

Joshua notes that as farmers reduce farming on floodplain land, upland areas become more in demand. But that same land is often targeted for development. “It puts pressure on that land from both directions,” he said.

Conservation efforts that protect diverse land types, especially a mix of uplands and lowlands, help mitigate this pressure. That’s especially true if, in the face of climate change, farmers need to increase food production locally to meet increasing national demand – that can’t happen without farmable land.

“This spreads out the risk,” said VLT Farmland Access Director Maggie Donin. “Having varied growing environments lets farmers adapt to wet years, dry years, and everything in between. As climate events become more common, we’re also going to need more land to farm to grow the food we need.”

Water, soil, and biodiversity on farms

With many of Vermont’s farms located in floodplains, conservation also protects important natural features in these agricultural areas, and can sometimes help compensate farmers who retire low-lying lands. Those protected or restored buffers, wetlands, and riparian zones help slow water and mitigate flood impacts, and contribute to better ecological functioning.

“What will happen next year or in five years if we have a bunch of developed land versus conserved land?” Joshua asked. “Where the rubber hits the road with conserved land is with impacts related to flooding and a lower amount of runoff and a lower likelihood of downstream damage.”

Agricultural conservation and management practices can also support wildlife and plant species at a time when habitats are increasingly threatened by climate change and development. VLT, in partnership with UVM, UVM Extension, and Philo Ridge Farm, is using a five-year Natural Resources Conservation Service Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) to study and evaluate the ecological, economic, and social outcomes of incorporating grass-based soil health practices on farms, including species biodiversity.

In addition, Vermont farmers are also participating in national research being conducted by Joshua and his UVM project team alongside six other universities on various agricultural management practices and their effects on greenhouse gas reduction, including creating a baseline of soil health and carbon storage.

The path forward

A collective effort

As the pace of climate change outpaces Vermont farmers’ historic resilience, choices that seemed safe enough a decade ago, like planting 20% of a potato crop in a flood-prone field or growing raspberries without a high tunnel, now seem too risky to consider.

Vermont’s farmers are adjusting, but they can’t do it alone. Experts like Joshua emphasize the need for broader change to support farmers through climate impacts. “Our tolerance for risk is going to have to change,” he says. “How do we support farms in their recovery versus just focusing on resilience?”

For Matt, that starts with making it easier to cover his potato farm’s operating costs when commercial loans are required after a catastrophic loss. “Certainly, lower interest rates,” he says.

A 2018 UVM New England Adaptation Survey of nearly 200 fruit and vegetable growers found that only 37% had the knowledge or technical skill to respond to climate events. Just 18% had the financial capacity to do so.

Farmers are leaders

To navigate an uncertain future, farmers are calling for things like access to suitable land, financial safety nets, informational resources, and technical assistance.

Jessica and Adam hope sharing their story will inspire more people to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “Taking what’s happening seriously and making adjustments in life on all levels,” Jessica said.

Maggie agrees. “Farmers are at the forefront of experiencing climate impacts and finding many of the solutions, but we can’t leave it all to them. The accelerated pace of climate upheavals requires all of us to come together, think creatively, and approach the problem from many angles.”

“We need to support farmers as leaders in this effort,” she adds.