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By MARA MELLITS

For Patricia, a farmworker in Hampshire and Franklin counties, a typical day in the growing season starts at 4 a.m. A single mother who immigrated to the United States from El Salvador in 2003, she drops her child off at a babysitter’s house before going to work. She often doesn’t pick up the child until 6 or 7 p.m., or sometimes even later if she stays to pick vegetables.

By CHRIS LARABEE

Just over a month since Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) benefits were cut by a minimum of 50%, local businesses and advocates for the initiative are hopeful that it will be restored, as farmers, vendors and stores are seeing the effects of reduced benefits.

By SAMUEL GELINAS

WASHINGTON — The roller coaster ride last week over a down-to-the-wire congressional spending bill ended on a high note for U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, who expressed victory that some $220 million in federal money will soon be in the hands of New England...

By CHRIS LARABEE

SOUTH DEERFIELD — After a national search, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) has found a new executive director right here in the Pioneer Valley.The agency announced on Dec. 12 that its board of directors had chosen Jennifer Core, a...

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

Wondering where you can find farm fresh eggs near you? If so, you may find just what you’re looking for on Egglister, a new web app with a map of farm stands in Franklin and Hampshire counties that are selling fresh eggs. The tool comes from data...

By CHRIS LARABEE

What started as a small tour of orchards around the region has grown into a celebration of the apple, as CiderDays celebrates 30 years of fermentation.From North Adams to Northampton to Phillipston, as well as numerous Franklin County stops in...

By CHRIS LARABEE

A big change will be coming to families who take advantage of the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP).Beginning in December, all families using HIP benefits, regardless of their household size, will see their monthly incentives reduced to $20, which is,...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — Munching on goldenrod, white woodland aster, white clover, hairy vetch, birdsfoot trefoil, burdock and dandelions, more than 120 sheep are having much of their dietary needs met by a variety of grasses and plants growing at an 11-acre,...

By MARA MELLITS

Earlier this year, a nationwide outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in cows caused panic for dairy farmers everywhere. Now, Massachusetts has become the only state to test all of its dairy herds, from 95 farms, and achieve 100% negative...

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

With the start of October right around the corner, some squash and pumpkin farmers in the Pioneer Valley and North Quabbin are bearing the burden of Phytophthora capsici — a soil-based disease described by one farmer as being “like the plague” for...

By CHRIS LARABEE

SUNDERLAND – Two local farms opened their doors to Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer Monday morning as she heard farmers explain the challenges brought on by climate change, as well as opportunities for future investments in the industry.The state’s...

By CHRIS LARABEE

After a frantic emergency response to save animals and equipment on July 10, 2023, David Fisher and Maggie Toran assessed their farm field as memories of Hurricane Irene came flooding back.At their horse-powered, community-supported agriculture (CSA)...

By TANISHA BHAT

Ben Clark, the owner of Clarkdale Fruit Farms in Deerfield, received $120,000 from the $20 million Natural Disaster Recovery Program created last year after he lost the entirety of his peach crop and 70% of his apples and pears due to sudden cold...

By CHRIS LARABEE

In 1994, a new movement began to grow out of the Pioneer Valley, Berkshires and Hudson Valley, as a group of organic farmers banded together to form a cooperative educational program for farm apprentices.That year marked the birth of the Collaborative...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — Climate change’s impact on farming, as well as emerging areas like urban agriculture, soil health and pollinators, are a focus for the University of Massachusetts Extension Agriculture Program, which continues to help farmers adapt and...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

The owners of a Shelburne farm have permanently protected 100 acres through the Agricultural Preservation Restriction program, ensuring that the fertile land won’t be turned into a large, upscale housing estate or put to other uses.“That’s what’s...

By CHRIS LARABEE

Farming is already a tough field to make one’s living. Throw in three consecutive years of extreme weather and personal burnout and you’ve got a recipe for what is shaping up to another difficult year for valley farmers, as they prepare their fields...

By DIANE BRONCACCIO

The groundhog predicted an early end to winter: did that also mean an earlier start to maple sugaring? Apparently so, according to several maple sugarers in Franklin County.“This is the earliest we’ve ever started,” remarked Chip Williams of the...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — Prohibiting PFAS from consumer products sold in Massachusetts remains an objective for Sen. Jo Comerford, who sees a recently advanced legislative bill to protect soil and farms from such contamination as an important first step to...

By MADDIE FABIAN

For farms across western Massachusetts, the effects of climate change were tangible during the 2023 growing season.At Red Fire Farm in Granby, co-owner Sarah Voiland said that after the May frost event, the farm’s full harvest on multiple acres of...

By GREG VINE

PETERSHAM — Larry Buell, founder and co-director of University of the Wild, has announced that a buyer has been found for Rice’s Roots Farm, a 228-acre parcel located on East Street in Petersham.Buell has identified the buyer as Michael Cook of North...