Guilford County farmers adapt to extreme weather due to climate change

It’s a muggy late summer day at Freedom House Farm in Summerfield. They've decided to open early, and Stephen Farrell, the farm manager, takes his tractor out into the field.

Here, they grow fruits and vegetables, and their main crop is strawberries. Farrell says a lot goes into making it all work.

“The worse the weather — that first strawberry becomes more beautiful," he says. "You know that you made it through.”

Some berries like heat, Farrell says, but there’s a downside to what they’ve been seeing lately.

“The high temperatures can bring in more pests so the last couple of years we have seen more beetles, Japanese beetles, on the produce and the blackberries," says Farrell. "There is really not much you can do about that.” 

Excessive rains can also negatively impact a crop, causing disease and fungus. One thing Farrell can do is to add moisture if needed. He says they installed a drip irrigation system to help during the growing seasons.

“The sad news is [the] climate is actually changing over a decade and long term the climate is changing in North Carolina," says Dari. "In terms of sea level rise, storms, hurricanes, excessive flooding, extreme rainfall, more hotter night, and the hot temperature in the daytime. These are all of the outcomes of climate change."

Dari says this has a direct impact on agriculture. That’s why experts think more technologies and practices that are tailored to the farming operation are needed. N.C. A&T focuses on helping small limited resource and minority farmers find ways to thrive and meet challenges, which is important because small-scale farms are a large part of the state’s industry. 

The university partnered with the Environmental Defense Fund to do case studies on three farms in North Carolina. They looked at what strategies made financial and environmental sense. Three top solutions emerged: high tunnels, which are greenhouse-like structures without a heater that can extend the growing season; cover crops, or plants that are grown but not sold that help with drainage and soil quality; and lastly, reduced tillage of farmland. Dari says all of these are important for building resilience to climate change.