Nicholas Olson

 

"Delmarva and the Ground for Change" is the film that we watched this week as part of our Weekly Connection meeting. The film is presented by USDA and talks about different environmentally friendly farming practices, and how farmers are being affected by climate change. 

The film, Delmarva and the Grounds for Change brought to light the impact of climate change on agricultural practices in the Chesapeake Bay area.

To some people, climate change may not seem like a pressing issue and they may not even realize that it

affects access to food. Farmers constantly have to make adjustments to achieve their target yield and be able

to stay in business. No-till practices, crop rotation, and grazing rotation are all ways that farmers can be more

environmentally conscious. These practices have also been known to be more effective in production. It is

important for farmers to also be precise when it comes to the materials they use such as pesticides, herbicides,

and fungicides. These three preventative measures are often frowned upon, but they can be effective with the

correct use. 

This is also an image from the film, "Delmarva and the Ground for Change" by USDA. The farmer here can be seen observing the corn worms taken from the leaves of the crops. This section of the film talks about the benefits of pesticide use but using it precisely.

Precision agriculture helps farmers be efficient with their resources like costs and the environment.

However, knowing the exact amount of each chemical to use and when to apply it can be difficult. This is

where Extension comes in handy. The research that is done by Extension can help farmers in the local

community, or even several states away. I have seen the effectiveness of cover cropping and precision

farming. Both of these methods work especially on small-scale farm operations. This does not mean that it

does not work for large-scale operations, but these practices need to be adapted to larger farms. Collaboration

between Extension organizations at other universities could help tackle this issue. With research I think that

farms could become much more efficient while also feeding a growing population.