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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 and ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

SUNDERLAND — From extreme weather related to climate change to stronger crop insurance protections and an increase on the cap on lending, area farmers paused their work briefly Tuesday to share their concerns with U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern when he swung...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON – Mindful of how difficult it is to grow much of anything in the outdoor climate of Massachusetts, never mind growing a crop that is legal here but still entirely prohibited at the federal level, the Cannabis Control Commission traveled to...

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 LEAH VERESS

Alice Colman recalls the day a routine fennel harvest turned into a wake-up call. As she stood in her field, carefully examining a plant’s feathery leaves, she felt herself growing increasingly frustrated with the crop’s appearance. When she kneeled...

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 GREG VINE

PETERSHAM – Lin Chen, the new owner of what was known locally as Rice’s Roots Farm, displays a wide smile when discussing his plans for the 228-acre site in Petersham.Doing business under the name Global Roots Farm, LLC, he hopes to serve the North...

By MAX BOWEN

PHILLIPSTON — Red Apple Farm will become home to faeries, knights, trolls and lots of magic on the first weekend in May.The Enchanted Orchard Renaissance Faire will take place on May 4-5. Richard and Rajuli Fahey of Winchendon have been to the farm a...

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 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

Editor’s note: This is the fourth and final article from the Western Mass. Solar Forum series. The first three forums took place in September, and another series of forums is in the works for this spring.AMHERST — Most experts agree solar energy is...

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...

By JACOB NELSON

In many ways, farming is an act of faith. Faith that nature will provide for a harvest, and a farmer’s faith in themselves to figure out whatever challenges arise. Some years bring bumper crops, others disappointment, but with climate change fueling...

By JACOB NELSON

It’s hard to throw water on a burning house while trying to rebuild it at the same time, but that’s exactly what addressing climate change requires. Rising greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are already changing the planet. The choice is whether or...

By GREG VINE

PETERSHAM – Around two dozen people offered ideas for potential uses for Rice’s Roots Farm on East Street during a meeting on Sunday.University of the Wild founder Larry Buell and local grower Andre Pierre are trying to put together a plan to purchase...

By GREG VINE

PETERSHAM — Residents are invited to attend a meeting this Sunday to discuss food security and “brainstorm potential ideas of how to develop and use the Rice’s Roots Farm on East Street for some form of community farming,” according to a release about...