Katheryne Smith | Support HB246

I support Hb246 for the future of small farms in NH. Through the Climate Resilience Grant, our farm was able to install a much needed well and secure our irrigation needs. When we started our farm, 16 years ago, we had water from stream that ran adjacent to our fields. Water from the stream was sufficient for the first 5 years of our business, but started to become less reliable over the last decade, worsening over the last 5 years. This decreased our crop production and increased our labor budget as we spent a minimum of 40 hours a week manually moving water around to avoid excessive loss. In 2024, we are able to install a drilled well with the help of the Climate Resillance Grant. This has been an incredible asset to our farm, increasing our yields, quality, and efficiency. Furthermore, 2024 saw a terrible year drought during the growing season, and we believe that we would have potentially lost the farm had it not been for our new well. Our gratitude to the Carrol County Conservation District for helping us with this project is immense. In 2025, we will embark upon a new cover crop project with the help of The Climate Resilience funds. We are thrilled to be working with the Conservation District again, and are so grateful for these funds to help our farm continue and persevere into the future.