David Wolfe, Cornell associate professor of fruit and vegetable science, will discuss "Climate Change and Agricultural Impacts" at the New England Regional Climate Change Impacts Workshop in Durham, N.H., scheduled for Sept. 3-5. The plenary session in which Wolfe will participate will be at 8 a.m. on Sept. 4.

This workshop, and several others taking place around the country, is sponsored by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the U.S. Global Change Research Program. A primary objective of the workshops is to assist the Clinton administration in formulating a negotiating position for the upcoming United Nations conference on climate change that will be held this December in Kyoto, Japan.

The audience for the New England workshop will consist of stakeholders representing business and industry, governmental and non-governmental organizations, and policy-makers. William S. Cohen, U.S. Secretary of Defense, Sen. John Chafee of Rhode Island, and White House science advisers John Gibbons and Jerry Melillo will be participating in the New England meeting.

Wolfe's presentation will focus on climate change and agriculture, while other experts will discuss air quality, weather predictability and coastal shoreline and natural ecosystem issues.

"The agriculture industry will be particularly sensitive to any shift in climate," Wolfe says. "There will be both winners and losers within the New England farming community. Some crops, and the farmers who produce them, will benefit from longer growing seasons and the positive direct effects of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide levels on plant growth."

Wolfe cautions that, "Weeds and insects could benefit from climate change as well as some cash crops.

"The biggest concern," he explains, "will be to find good alternatives for farmers whose crops don't respond well to a warmer climate, such as producers of cool season-adapted fruits and vegetables. The dairy industry could suffer if summer temperatures become warmer, because milk production by dairy cows is very sensitive to heat stress.

"Overall, I think that New England agriculture will be able to adapt to climate change," Wolfe says. "But it will be a tough transition for some farm families, and it will be stressful both economically and politically for the region."