Maine Climate and Ag Network

Bigelow Laboratory, in Boothbay, ME has been working in recent years on whether the feed supplements can help cut emissions of methane at cattle operations. Methane emissions, which happen when cows belch, contribute to climate change. The laboratory said the grant is from the Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund and it will build on a […]

Farmers and gardeners who feel like Maine’s growing season is changing are right. And soon, the state’s hardiness zones will reflect that. It’s just a question of when. “Our average annual temperature has increased by about three [degrees Fahrenheit] over the last century, and is expected to increase an additional two to three [degrees Fahrenheit] […]

Imaging spectroscopy can help predict water stress in wild blueberry barrens, according to a University of Maine-led study. Scientists from UMaine, the Schoodic Institute and Wyman’s, one of the world’s largest purveyors of wild blueberries, found that use of models incorporating imaging spectroscopy can help predict whether wild blueberry fields will lack sufficient water for […]

In America’s fruit and nut basket, water is now the most precious crop of all. It explains why, amid a historic drought parching much of the American West, a grower of premium sushi rice has concluded that it makes better business sense to sell the water he would have used to grow rice than to […]

The DSSAT model was calibrated and evaluated for contrasting varieties of potato (Atlantic, a mid-season variety, and Russet Burbank, a late-season variety) and barley (Robust, a 6-row feed variety, and Newdale, a 2-row malting variety) using 99 field experiments conducted in Maine. The model accurately simulated observed final yield for each variety. Climate change simulations […]

Researchers used a mental models approach to understand how farmers and outreach professionals view climate change within the context of whole-farming systems in Maine and Vermont. Their study concluded that that farmer participants did not perceive climate to be a central factor of their farming systems, and valued human and social dimensions more highly than […]

University of Maine researchers are studying how changes in rainfall patterns caused by climate change could affect strawberries in the Northeast. Principal investigator Rachel Schattman, an assistant professor of sustainable agriculture, and her research team built a precipitation and cropping simulator to assess the effects of four possible rainfall scenarios on strawberries and other specialty […]

Maple syrup production across the country was off just under 17% in 2021 while in Vermont, the nation’s top maple producer, production was off by just over 21%, according to statistics recently released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The drop in production was due to poor sugaring weather, including a run of 70 degree […]

This seven-part webinar series brings together scientists and others tackling critical questions about sequestering soil carbon in working lands. This series is intended for researchers, natural resource professionals, and producers who want to be informed on the science of improving soil management for climate mitigation and adaptation. On June 15 in part 1, “Stakeholder perspectives”, […]

After the governor signs LD 437 – An Act To Establish the Maine Healthy Soils Program recently passed by both Maine’s House of Representatives and Senate, Maine will join 14 other states that have a healthy soils program. Practices that maintain and build healthy soils generally increase levels of soil organic matter, which stores nutrients […]