Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) crop diversity provides a natural insurance for farmers as extreme weather becomes more common.
Farmers in the area were celebrating the rain that fell recently. As of May 22 the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) reported Guelph had only received 64.1mm of rain for April and May combined, compared to the 144.2mm average. That resulted in a big challenge for farmers attempting to get water to crops in what traditionally is the wettest season of the year. As a result, Guelph’s outside water use program, in mid-May, upgraded to Level 1 Yellow, which required homeowners to reduce water consumption.
Donald Bowyer, an organic farmer with Ignatius Farm and CSA just north of Guelph, said “In all my years farming I have never had to set up irrigation so early in the spring.”
Bowyer co-manages the CSA program at the Ignatius Jesuit Centre. “This time last year we experienced the opposite of this spring where we had so much rain that some fields had standing water on them for several weeks, and wetland sedges started to sprout,” he said.
CSA farms typically plant dozens of different type of crops, and that diversity acts as an insurance policy for unpredictability of weather. Every season’s weather is different, and as a result some years a crop thrives, another it does not do very well.
Bowyer said, “With such diversity we can say with confidence that we will have high enough yields to fulfill our commitments to our members.”
Not putting all one’s eggs or crops in one basket is not a new idea, but as weather becomes extreme more farmers and consumers might start to catch on to the successes that business model presents. Consumers can purchase seasonal shares of freshly harvested, organic produce provided each week from Ignatius Farm CSA by calling 519-824-1250 extension 245 to reserve a share.
For more information contact Heather Lekx at farmmanager@ignatiusguelph.ca or 519-824-1250 extension 243.
