HOLLIS, NH — New England farmers are facing some tough challenges this growing season with higher costs for fuel and fertilizer.
And then there is the prolonged drought the region is experiencing, which adds costs and uncertainty.
At Brookdale Fruit Farm, the cherries are ripe and ready for picking, and the apples aren’t far behind.
They also grow all sorts of vegetables, including corn, squash, pumpkins, and tomatoes.
Trevor Hardy is the 7th generation of his family to work the 500+ acre farm in Hollis, New Hampshire.
“Farmers are always worried and at the will of the weather.”
Hardy says the region has faced five significant droughts since 2016.
“In 2016, this farm irrigated over 110 million gallons of water just to sustain our crops, and we ran out of water.”
According to the US Drought Monitor, Eastern Massachusetts and parts of New Hampshire are currently in severe drought.
“If you don’t have any irrigation, you can’t really effectively produce a crop in the Northeast anymore. So, these tools like drip irrigation become a bit of a standard practice for everybody.”
Drip irrigation is when strips of black biodegradable plastic are placed at the base of the plants. They deliver water and nutrients directly to the roots of a plant.
Because the water passes through a very fine tube, it must be filtered to prevent clogging.
What’s different now is that a farmer can control this process with an app.
That’s just one example of technology helping farmers manage their resources.
Another system involves granular matrix sensors that go directly into the soil to measure moisture.
“You can look and see real-time data about what that is, when you need to stop and stop irrigation, and just conserve even more moisture by knowing exactly what those plants need and when you need to deliver it,” explained Jeremy Delisle, a field specialist with the University of New Hampshire Extension, a program that applies the school’s academic research to real-world situations.
A mini-weather station gathers and provides real-time data.
Automated towers are spread throughout the apple orchard to turn the water off and on.
Hardy said, “What automation and soil moisture sensors and stuff do is allow you to manage that application more precisely so you can stretch your resources.”
Delisle added, “I think the adaptation and evolution of practices on farms is necessary. It has to happen to keep farms in business.”
He says farmers are facing a lot of different pressures these days.
“Coming off a drought year in 2025 and that drought continuing, that certainly is a concern for growers. I think those prices, the input costs, associated with that are constantly something that growers have to consider and weigh. They need to know their numbers.”
Hardy has designed irrigation systems for the other farms.
He believes this generation of equipment can help farming survive in New England.
“It’s a conservation effort from the beginning and that’s why a lot of farmers cannot grow crops without these tools now, where if they were doing it without it, it would cost them three times as much.”
Hardy says about 90% of the produce grown in New England stays in New England, providing a dependable supply of fresh produce locally.
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