Weather and Water Set Farms Back

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Created on Friday, 18 April 2014 19:12
Written by Alex Farnworth

farm recoveriesNEWBURY - Amidst the winter climate and frigid temperatures, local farmers have more to worry about as the traditional spring weather approaches. Not only is the snow begging to melt, but due to heavy rainfall, the potential for farm flooding rises.

Ellen Serra owns and works at the Newbury Blueberry Farm (also known as the "Muscle in my Arm Farm") where she has been affected by the heavily precipitated winter, even at a high elevation. Serra has been lucky enough to avoid flooding from rainwater on her farm, but snow melting is another story.

With chickens, roosters, sheep, lamb, cows, a horse and blueberry bushes, Ellen's farm requires nearly 27 acres of land. With so many animals living together, the farm requires quite a bit of pasture, which needs to be cleaned after every winter in order for the animals to roam.

Although she has been  able to cope with flooding in the barn by shifting her animals around, she has not been so lucky with the condition of the land. Most of her pasture is still soggy from the snow melting, preventing preparation for the spring and summer months. This left the animals who were cooped up in the barn all winter still and confined to a small outdoor area in the early spring.

Ellen has been around animals for all of her life. However, for her and her youngest son Colin, growing blueberries began just about a decade ago. Blueberry picking season runs from mid-July to September, but requires a lot of weather cooperation and farmer preparation over the course of the year. With over 750 blueberry bushes, the Serras have a lot of pruning and weeding to get to once the bare land starts to revitalize itself.

Getting a lot of water into the aquifer is key for the blueberries, but it needs to be at the right time; in the summer months to prevent droughts. Unfortunately, the bushes have seen a lot of water over the course of the winter and early spring. Ellen and her son are hoping that the roots haven't washed out and that they'll be able to prepare everything in time for blueberry season.

In addition to clearing the pasture and prepping the blueberry bushes, Ellen and her son will work on fixing the cosmetics of the farm, including fences and signs. Overcoming the winter months and preventing the flooding that occurs during the early spring, farmers have to find a way to balance their time as well as their money, while still finding a way to get their products out on time in order to make a profit. Ellen said that you've got to expect bad weather no matter what, you can prepare for it but it's unpredictable, it's all about how you can rebuild what you already have.