Author: Michael Marrapese

Project Goals 

‘There are two strategies for preparing for climate change – mitigation or adaptation. Mitigation requires taking action to reduce the severity of climate change and adaptation requires changing agricultural practices to reflect changes in climate conditions. Mitigation strategies are best implemented on a regional scale. On-farm adaptation to manage water resources, are the best option for preparing for predicted climate change. ” 

Eryne Croquet, Statlu Environmental Consulting
www.statlu.ca

The goals of our Adapting to Climate Change project arise from several years of discussion, observation, and experience. Chief among them are the following: 

Develop Water Management and Enhancement Strategies 

Water issues seem to be at the centre of every discussion and decision-making session. Whenever we discuss orchard rehabilitation, crop planning, housing renovations, and facilities development, we need to consider water management. Long-term planning is only useful when these issues are addressed and resolved. 

Develop a Tree management Plan 

Recognizing that we inherited the biodiversity and characteristics of our farm both from nature and previous generations, we believe we have a responsibility to steward it for future generations. We were aware, before we started this project, that we need to manage the existing trees. We’ve had a lot of meetings and discussions about introducing new trees but felt we needed a plan. We spent grant time working to complete a Tree Planting Guide and Tree Management Calendar which helps us design better orchards and enhance our wild areas. We began developing a database, using Filemaker software, of trees and plants, both wild and cultivated, which currently exist on the farm. Understanding the ecosystem of the farm will help us make better decisions in the future. This part of the project will take more work in the next few seasons to complete. 

Diversify Production 

We’ve long talked about diversifying our production to include more perennial crops. Fruit production fits into our CSA program and restaurant sales. We can imagine adding more fruit trees, additional berries (particularly native varieties), and possibly nut trees. 

Unfortunately, we haven’t had great luck with our tree management. Our apple trees are prone to black knot and canker and the fruit is damaged by several pests. Similarly, our walnuts are being attacked by the walnut husk fly rendering them unsellable in their mature state. We have taken to selling the green ones, which brings in income but we prefer mature nuts. Our hazelnuts have succumbed to the blight affecting most of the nut production in the valley. We recognize that at least part of the problem is that we don’t have the capacity and are perhaps lacking some of the knowledge to properly manage these crops. 

With this project we wanted to examine how to best manage, rehabilitate and invigorate our perennial crops. We were aware of comprehensive planning processes like Food Forestry, Tree Guilds and Permaculture Design that could be useful but we also wanted to ensure that they were practical in our situation, could meet our desired outcomes, and be in line with our capacity for management. We also began looking at harvesting non-food plant resources as part of our economic activity. 

Known Issues 

Crop Loses 

In 2016 and 2017 we began to experience water shortages. We plowed under the potato crops . This was the first time we simply didn’t have enough water for irrigation. While, in the past, our wells have occasionally run dry, they usually re-filled in a matter of hours. In the last few years it has become a regular occurrence and the wells take longer to re-fill.

Domestic Water Shortages 

Even though the largest use of water on our farm is for irrigation, lack of water affects our ability to wash and package product, and to do basic domestic functions like cooking, laundry and showers. 

New Pests 

It is well known that new pests are migrating into the Fraser Valley with the changing climate — recent winters are not cold enough or long enough to keep these populations in check. We’ve experienced increased losses in our fruit production and our ability to market fruit due to these new pests — particularly the spotted wing drosophila and the apple maggot.

Planning and Action 

We’ve had difficulties planning for these realities. It is particularly difficult to evaluate complex situations and make effective decisions. The tendency is to “Band-Aid” over them with short-term fixes. 

It’s likely that everyone in the farm coop agrees on the importance of pausing to articulate how climate change affects us currently and how it might impact us in the future. Finding the time and creating the space for research and analysis, is, however, challenging. No one argues that consulting with others can help determine if our experiences are universal or specific to our farm. Some point out, however, that paying experts to tour our property and to tell us what we already know is a waste of time and money. 

By necessity, participation in-group processes is book-ended by the growing season. The capacity of our small farm group, made up of 12 residents (ranging in age from four years to eighty) is limited both in time and in seasonal expectations. Able-bodied members work long hours to produce enough sales in the height of the season (May-Nov) to live year round. Meetings, once the season begins, are allotted to making decisions about production, maintenance, and projects. 

Even taking the time to frame a project and determine priorities is challenging. Not everyone approaches planning with the same enthusiasm or allocates it the same importance. It can’t (and shouldn’t) compete with planting, irrigating, weeding, harvesting, selling, and bookkeeping, fixing leaks and raising children. Living a hands-on labor-intensive lifestyle is time consuming. 

Unless it can it is determined that planning will lead directly to action that has a high chance of increased production, higher quality products and greater financial stability, it is seen, at best, as accommodating other people’s needs to plan and, at worst, a waste of time. 

Fortunately, not everyone in the coop farms full time. Our challenge, as a coop that values inclusion and believes that everyone’s input is critical, is accepting that not everyone needs to be involved in everything. The trick is to allocate the work to those who have time, interest, and skill and design a process that includes the rest in strategic input when it’s time to make important decisions that will affect the whole group. 

We undertook this project because we believe that climate change is happening. Coop members have been discussing the impacts of climate change for several years. On a global level we can see its effects all around us: pine beetle infestations, worsening wild fire seasons, shrinkage of polar ice, persistent droughts. We expect this on-going project to take several years.

By way of introduction, Fraser Common Farm Cooperative was incorporated in 1977 and holds twenty acres of Class 4 farmland in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia, near the small town of Aldergrove (see the map of our area and its soil classifications). We have a successful farming operation which we’ve developed our over the last 40 years.

Diversity is Key

When we started our farming business in 1985, we did an extensive process to identify plants that would do well on our farm. We looked at field crops that were grown at similar latitudes in other countries and, since our property has a number of micro-climates, we considered a wide diversity of crops. We have areas that are high, well exposed to the sun and very well drained as well as areas that are shady, damp and cool. Finding crops that work well in these diverse micro-climates is essential to adapting to changing climate.

As we formed a business plan we explored a diversity of markets selling directly to chefs, restaurants, and caterers. We expanded into box programs and farmers markets as our production capacity increased.

We find that diverse crops and diverse markets provide our business with a degree of resilience. Regardless of weather, we always have something that does well and that we can take to market. On a small farm, business diversity is vital. We believe this is also an important step towards climate change resilience.

Developing Good Practices

We use unheated polyhouses to extend the growing and harvesting season. This allows us to get plants in the ground earlier, gives us a head start on the weeds, and keeps crops warm enough in the Fall for them to mature and ripen. The polyhouses also keep our flower crops dry allowing us to harvest them as needed rather than counting on dry weather.

We compost all our waste bio mass so that nothing other than shipped product leaves our property. Our soil is very sandy and needs constant improvement with organic matter. Rather than disposing of trimmings, excess seedlings, and damaged product, we turn it into quality compost to improve our soil.

Fraser Common Farm is a certified organic farm. We don’t use industrial chemicals and fertilizers. This has an indirect benefit on our total greenhouse gas emissions.

Every season we trial new crops and new varieties, seeking to improve our product lines. There is constant tweaking and adjustment based on crop observations and customer preferences. Over the thirty years we’ve been farming in the Fraser Valley of BC, changing climate and extreme weather events have required frequent adjustments to our planting plans. This practice addresses some of the needs for diversity and resilience.

Adapting to Change

While we believe it is vital that we understand how on-farm practices exacerbate climate change and to seek less damaging solutions, on our small farm changes to our practices will likely not mitigate climate change to any significant extent. It is clear that what we can do on-farm is to find strategies for adaption. Adaption has the potential to ensure that we can continue to have a successful farming enterprise.

Fraser Common Farm Cooperative’s work focuses on health, healing and connecting people to the food they eat and where it comes from. We honour the land by strengthening our relationship and responsibilities to it. We live and work on unceded Coast Salish Territories. Many of our practices, including the seeds we plant, the ways we educate ourselves and others, and our methods of growing food came to these lands through the ongoing process of dispossession and colonialism. We hold this understanding in our interactions and engagements with this land and its people.

We are thankful to Vancity Credit Union for their support in developing a solid foundation for us to work from. We hope this report will provide useful resources and ideas for other small farms engaged in similar processes.