Flying Dog Farm

The White River Land Collaborative
7 Belknap Brook Rd, Tunbridge, VT
www.flyingdogfarmvt.com 

Artist: Cecily Anderson 

Products: Certified organic grass-fed beef and lamb, organic pastured pork, leather products, sheepskins, wool. 

Where to buy: On-farm CSA, Norwich Farmers Market 

The cost of climate adaptation

While farms are systems within nature, they are also businesses. Running an agricultural  business that makes money is no easy task. Profit margins are often small and expenses  are often large. Did you know that a new barn can cost over $100,000? And climate  change is only adding to these costs.

Shona Sanford-Long from Flying Dog Farm is experiencing this firsthand. “In thinking  about climate change and needing to figure out more adaptations, all of those things  are possible to work around and through with some combination of creativity and  willingness to change. But they do require — to deal with the issues effectively —  resources.”

Climate change is expensive for farmers, whether they’re adapting with new  infrastructure or repairing damage and crop loss from extreme weather. “A lot of that  does come back to how we are accessing land, how we are managing our farms as  businesses, and what prices we are charging for the food we produce,” Shona said.

Higher farming costs can also mean higher prices for customers. Everyone deserves  access to affordable, local food regardless of income. Farmers also deserve to pay  themselves and their workers fair and livable wages. Plus, farmers need money to pay  for the costs of climate change.

“I do think there is a need for broader systems change in terms of how we  think about food access, food prices, and who is considered responsible  for making food affordable,” Shona shared. “I think there is a great need  to take the onus off farmers and look towards policy.”