Plough people's pet peeves

By BOB SAUL

Published on April 18, 2008

Some jobs give you carpal tunnel syndrome, some give you an aching back, and some give you sleepless nights. Ever try to compare the electrician to the banker, or the neurosurgeon to the policeman? All jobs have their own risks and worries. Nevertheless, we all seem to want others to understand the unique challenges of our chosen professions.

Farmers, are no exception.

In Amherst, home of the Book and the Plough (and the Frisbee?), the plough's share of the town symbol has been shrinking for years. Now, to be fair, a lot of these old farming families have been the beneficiaries of rising land values generated by residential housing development and the expansion of our educational institutions. However, their core farming businesses have paid the price.

The agricultural community in Amherst is very healthy relative to many other regions in New England. Amherst farmers have successfully diversified away from dairy-based farming into organic vegetables and other niches that have allowed them to maintain profit margins, albeit slim profit margins, that have enabled them to survive as their markets have changed.

These are heroic efforts that have required lots of risk taking (read sleepless nights), and they need to be recognized and celebrated by Amherst citizens.

Unfortunately, at the Agricultural Commission's annual Farmers Forum, some strident remarks by several farmers revealed a somewhat irritable undercurrent of pet peeves.

Here is an incomplete list of the landmines you don't want to step on when you are talking to your local farmer:

1. "I am glad we have so much open space in Amherst." If you ever want to rile a farmer up, use this term while referring to any two dimensional surface other than your kitchen floor. It is not "open" and it is not "space." Each acre has its function. It provides food, or food for animals, or timber, or habitat, or recreation. Farmers, as well as many laws in the State of Massachusetts, treat farmland as the "highest best use" of all productive land uses.

2. "The Agricultural Protection Restriction Program and Chapter 61A grant public access." Sorry, wrong. A farmer is no happier to see you walking, running, skiing, hunting, fishing, snowshoeing, skinny-dipping (maybe), or mountain biking across his/her fields without asking for permission than you are when a family from Granby decides to have a picnic on your front lawn.

3. "Tractors don't belong on the road, therefore I can ignore them or harass them." Warning: Lots of farmers can read license plates, and there are big penalties for reckless driving in farm zones.

4. "Farming is loud and it smells." To paraphrase Winston Churchill, "unlike your smelly feet, the sounds and smells will usually be gone by morning." Most farm operations, from manure spreading to herbicide applications to crop harvest, are over in a day or two. Please be patient. It is a small price to pay for the privilege of living in a town with an active agricultural economy.

5. "I support local agriculture." Careful how and when you say this. If you are a member of a CSA, say it proudly and brag all you want to friends and family, but if you are saying this conceptually, or, in a way that you hope will make your friends think you are cool, or, even worse, as you buy a single clove of garlic once a summer from the farmer's market, then don't bother. This does not count.

6. "Because cows give off gas, because plowing releases carbon, because farmers burn wood, because farmers use pesticides and herbicides and kill animals, and because farmers operate heavy machinery that pollutes our environment, they need to be regulated." No business, no household has zero impact on the environment. Farmers are running businesses and most of what we do has less impact on the environment than the manufacturing process that created your office copier or your hybrid car. Don't pick on us just because we can't hide our production processes.

7. "Another beautiful summer day tomorrow." We like rain. It makes things grow.

Please remember, Amherst citizens, Town Meeting, Select Board, etc., farmers are busy capturing the energy from the sun and turning it into vegetables, plants, milk, meat, maple syrup, timber, wool, and other products too numerous to name. We are your hedge against global disaster. We are not going to save the world or destroy it, but we work hard, like you do, to make a living.

Anyway you can let us know you understand or respect what we do is really appreciated.

Bob Saul is chairman of the Agricultural Commission.