{"id":57,"date":"2015-08-21T14:27:44","date_gmt":"2015-08-21T18:27:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/susagctr\/?p=57"},"modified":"2015-11-05T12:40:38","modified_gmt":"2015-11-05T16:40:38","slug":"moving-to-higher-ground-part-2-expecting-the-unexpected-dairy-farming-and-climate-change-in-vermont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/susagctr\/2015\/08\/21\/moving-to-higher-ground-part-2-expecting-the-unexpected-dairy-farming-and-climate-change-in-vermont\/","title":{"rendered":"Moving to Higher Ground, Part 2: Expecting the Unexpected \u2013 Dairy Farming and Climate Change in Vermont"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally posted on August 12, 2015 on the Farming & Climate Change Adaptation Blog<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In part 1<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0of our series, Moving to Higher Ground<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0we talked to Amanda Andrews, owner of Tamarack Hollow Farm<\/a><\/strong> about her decision to move to higher ground.<\/p>\n

For this post, we check in with Yves Gonnet, owner of Midnight Goat Farm<\/a><\/strong>, who also recently moved to higher ground; \u00a0he relocated his dairy goat farm from the\u00a0Huntington valley to the Huntingt<\/em>on hills in Vermont.<\/p>\n

\"Midnight<\/a>

Midnight Goat Farm<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0Here are some snippets from recent conversations.<\/p>\n

Well Suzy, it\u2019s May 4,\u00a0\u00a02015 we\u2019re expecting the temps to hit 78 with 12mph winds gusting up to 21mph mid day.\u00a0 As a lay person who farms goats, bushes and bacteria,\u00a0I have noticed some things in the past decade.\u00a0 I think the operative words are “extreme” and “unpredictable.”\u00a0 Colder longer, hotter faster and much much wetter (at times).<\/em><\/p>\n

July 10, 2015. \u00a0\u00a0I wish we could have three straight days of sun.\u00a0 It is getting old watching hay go to seed or get pounded into the ground by rain.<\/em><\/p>\n

July 20, 2015. \u00a0Headline weather: \u201cHail, Thunderstorms and Flooding Hammer New England<\/a><\/strong>.\u201d \u00a0Hail the size of tennis balls fell in New Hampshire. The day will likely end up as one of the top five hottest for this summer in New England. The heat index is close to 100 in southern New England.\u00a0 In Northwest Vermont, we\u2019re spared the hailstones, but we\u2019re sweltering with hot temperatures, then hit with heavy rains. \u00a0Hand milking goats is quite the workout.<\/em><\/p>\n

August 11, 2015 \u00a0Heavy rain in most parts of Vermont. \u00a0We\u2019ve had 50% more rainfall since June 1, when compared to National Weather Service\u2019s recorded\u00a0normal climate<\/a> as measured from 1981 to 2010.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With these observations in mind, we continued the conversation.<\/p>\n

Center for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA)<\/a>:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0So how does a dairy goat farmer manage weather in Vermont? \u00a0Can you describe your decision-making to move your farm to higher ground? \u00a0What role did climate change play?<\/p>\n

Yves<\/b>: We moved our farm operation to higher ground to help avoid the issues we had with flooding, increased water levels and encroaching wetlands.\u00a0 We settled recently in a spot three miles from where we had been, but 500 feet higher in elevation.\u00a0 A nearby water source was important to us so we selected a property which is bounded by the Baker Brook, a year round protected waterway.\u00a0 Over the past seven years, we have seen the weather extremes become more intense and have sought greater elevation and easily drainable landscape to help us buffer these extremes.\u00a0 Where we had been located we were more and more frequently finding ourselves trapped by the Cobb Brook unable to get our goats to pasture.<\/p>\n

\u00a0CSA:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Have the weather-related effects of climate change been what you expected? \u00a0Have they been manageable?<\/p>\n

Yves<\/strong>: I don\u2019t think we are in a position anymore to expect weather.\u00a0 It is more a matter of reacting to what it is.\u00a0 So far we have been able to cope with this year\u2019s extremes fairly well, but are always learning how to improve our systems for new surprises.<\/p>\n

CSA:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0When and how did you make the decision to move to higher ground?<\/p>\n

Yves<\/strong>: We started looking for our new spot a couple years ago.\u00a0 Our criteria was pretty specific so it took some time to find.\u00a0 We started building fall 2014.<\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/a>

Midnight Goat Farm’s Barn<\/p><\/div>\n

CSA:<\/strong>\u00a0What particular site characteristics were you looking for beyond higher ground?<\/p>\n

Yves<\/strong>: We looked for southern exposure, goat forage, fruit trees, maple forest, running water and sufficient acreage.<\/p>\n

CSA:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Moving forward, are you planning for weather changes due to climate change?<\/p>\n

Yves<\/strong>: Absolutely.\u00a0 We have made ourselves much more autonomous.\u00a0 We provide our own solar power, have over sized waste water systems and water supplies and plan to continue to build systems, which make us less vulnerable to weather changes.<\/p>\n

CSA: \u00a0<\/strong>Are climate change effects affecting your goats and kidding? \u00a0If so, how? \u00a0And how are you dealing with this?<\/p>\n

Yves<\/strong>: The extreme cold of this March made kidding more difficult and dangerous for the newborns.\u00a0 Fortunately, we were prepared, from prior January kiddings, for cold and quick-changing weather.\u00a0 We have divided the kidding areas into well protected spaces, which allow for spot heating and complete enclosure when necessary.\u00a0 We employ heated kidding boxes for newborns and have internet accessible cameras installed to monitor expectant does and their offspring.<\/p>\n

CSA: \u00a0<\/strong>Is\u00a0there any advice you would like to give to other farmers about climate change and its effects?<\/p>\n

Yves<\/strong>: Be prepared for unpredictable weather and shortages of feed.\u00a0 Don\u2019t take water for granted.<\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/a>

Farmer Yves Gonnet with Goats at the Farm’s New Location<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Originally posted on August 12, 2015 on the Farming & Climate Change Adaptation Blog In part 1\u00a0of our series, Moving to Higher Ground,\u00a0we talked to Amanda Andrews, owner of Tamarack Hollow Farm about her decision to move to higher ground. For this post, we check in with Yves Gonnet, owner of Midnight Goat Farm, who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2893,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[272499,262290,20148,263298,261947,38213,35870,263702,22111,27200],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adaptation","category-farming-and-climate-change","category-flooding","category-goats","category-grass-farming","category-grazing","category-livestock","category-mitigation","category-pasture","category-sustainable-agriculture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/susagctr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/susagctr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/susagctr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/susagctr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2893"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/susagctr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/susagctr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/susagctr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57\/revisions\/88"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/susagctr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/susagctr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/susagctr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}