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By MADISON SCHOFIELD

As uncertainty swirls around Washington regarding the release of allocated federal funds, farmers throughout the Valley are beginning to feel the freeze.

By CHRIS LARABEE

BOSTON — As farmers prepare to head out to the fields for the season, Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources Commissioner Ashley Randle sent a letter to the new U.S. agriculture secretary expressing concerns over uncertain federal funding and other actions taken by the federal government.

By CHRIS LARABEE

WASHINGTON — As federal dollars continue to be frozen for projects across the nation, a Pioneer Valley farm has joined a federal lawsuit demanding the government lift the “unlawful and indefinite freeze of congressional appropriated funds,” according to documents filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

By CHINANU OKOLI

Applications are rolling in for the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources’ new Farm Transfer Planning Assistance initiative that connects aging farmers and their successors with experienced planners to set retirement goals and figure out how management and assets will be transferred.

By SAMUEL GELINAS

AMHERST — As visitors from throughout the country toured ServiceNet’s successful Prospect Meadow Farm in Hatfield on Monday to learn about “care farming” — a therapeutic approach that combines agriculture and health care — Shawn Robinson shared the story of an employee who was thriving while working at the 18-acre property.

By CHRIS LARABEE

The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) is seeking information about weather-related losses in 2023 and 2024 from farmers across the state as it prepares to report damages to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which will split up $220 million in relief funding among eight states.

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 has chosen Jennifer Core, a Warwick resident and farmer with a background...

By CHRIS LARABEE

DEERFIELD — With folks confined to their homes in the early days of the pandemic, but still looking for local produce, Julia Coffey and her team at Mycoterra Farm branched out to bring products to their doors in the form of Mass Food Delivery.While...

By CHRIS LARABEE

SOUTH DEERFIELD — New life may soon be coming to the vacant farmstand at the intersection of Routes 5 and 10 and North Hillside Road.Maple Valley Creamery, the Hadley-based dairy farm that also operates Maple Valley’s Scoop at the Silos, is eyeing the...

By JACOB NELSON

Jared Duval built his farm around Massachusetts’ innovative Healthy Incentives Program (HIP). Since 2017, HIP has helped tens of thousands of lower-income households buy fresh produce grown by local farmers. By most accounts, it’s been a wild success,...

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 CAMMALLERIand SAMUEL GELINAS

Some squash, pumpkin and potato farmers in the Pioneer Valley are bearing the burden of a soil-based disease described by one farmer as being “like the plague” for these and potentially many more species.Walking through a barren pumpkin patch late...

By CHRIS LARABEE

SUNDERLAND — Two local farms opened their doors to Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer on Monday morning to talk about the challenges brought on by climate change, as well as opportunities for future investments in the industry.The state’s first-ever climate...

By PHILIP KORMAN

 As I am poised to leave my job after 16 years as executive director of CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture), naturally, I’ve started to reflect. My takeaways so far are: Local farms are still challenged to keep farming, maybe even more...

By CHRIS LARABEE

After serving as executive director at Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture’s (CISA) for the last 16 years, Philip Korman is stepping down from his position at the end of August with the hope of welcoming a fresh perspective to the 31-year-old...

By CHRIS LARABEE

SOUTH DEERFIELD — Fresh off awarding $222,000 in no-interest loans to farmers affected by 2023’s flooding, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) has also reached its $1.8 million goal in its Growing Resilience capacity-building...

By EMILEE KLEIN

Among UMass Cold Springs Orchard’s 35 acres of apple trees hang little orange tents at the top of the trees that, despite the blazing color, are discretely managing pesky moths.These prism-shaped moth traps release pheromones to attract male moths...

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

HADLEY — During a summer in which area farms dealt with significant rainfall and flooded fields, keeping agricultural drainage ditches cleared became essential to protecting crops by ensuring excess water could be removed.Often, though, farmers found...

By CHRIS LARABEE

SUNDERLAND — The change of the seasons, as farmers know, often brings a slew of other changes along with it, and at Kitchen Garden Farm, this spring brings the largest change of all.Soon the farm will change hands for the first time since its founding...

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 the region.“This is the earliest we’ve ever started,” remarked Chip Williams of the...