CT Lab Upgrades Fight Climate Woes for Farmers

It's April 2nd, from your city to your ears.

This is Hartford News today, powered by AI, Connecticut's dropping nearly $40 million

to overhaul a key ag lab in Windsor, tackling climate woes head on for farmers statewide.

The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station's Anderson-Magnarelli Valley Laboratory,

around for 150 years, helps diagnose crop.

Diseases, soil issues, and invasive bugs.

Groundbreaking happened Tuesday, with renovations kicking off later this month, to boost research

on everything from pest to vector-born threats.

The 87-year-old buildings outdated, no solid electrical setup, poor air filtration,

leaky roofs, and mold problems holding back modern, science.

The $37.9 million project upgrades the original structure with thermal hoods from molecular

work and energy tweaks, plus A, three-story addition packing nearly 25,000 square feet

of new lab and office space.

Though even add modular greenhouses for hands-on testing, farmers are feeling the heat

from warming temps, with southern diseases like anthrakenose crown rot hitting strawberries

of North and Asian pests like Cryptomereous Gale, Yellowing Christmas Trees, Extreme Drought

Then Flood Cycles Weekend Roots, making everything tougher.

Each year, the lab checks about 6,000 plant samples and 5,000 soil ones, acting as a

walking clinic for worry growers.

Scientists there are innovating, testing drought-tolerant tree species from abroad, intercropping

with stuff like asparagus to fight disease, and boosting soil with safe minerals like calcium.

Farmers like Terry Jones from Shelton's Jones Family Farms lean on them hard to stay

ahead.

Moderner Ned Lamott nailed it at the event.

Farming's margins are razor-thin amid these shifts, but upgrades like this give growers

tools to build, resilience and keep yields strong.