Massachusetts agriculture

For years, a federal program has supplied millions of dollars in guaranteed grants and loans to farmers – helping them tap into renewable energy and improve operations. Since 2014, it’s helped with thousands of projects in New York and New England combined. Now, it’s not clear when that cash might be disbursed again, leaving farmers in the lurch – including one in western Massachusetts still trying to turn the page on a disaster from last year.

The popularity of winter farmers’ markets has been growing for several years. The markets provide farmers with a source of income during what are often…

Massachusetts farmers are national leaders in direct sales to consumers, according to data from the first extensive national survey of local food sales.…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded a three-year grant totaling almost $600,000 to a western Massachusetts nonprofit to assist beginning…

An emergency fund has been re-opened to help western Massachusetts farmers whose fruit crops were damaged by an extreme cold snap in mid-February. The…

After two years of study the Massachusetts Food Policy Council recently completed a local food action plan for the commonwealth. The state’s first food…

People stocking up on locally grown products at their weekly farmers’ markets in Massachusetts are finding a new item: wine. The Farmers’ Market at Forest…

The jobs of 25,000 people in New England are at risk along with the livelihoods of many small businesses because of the drama surrounding the Market…

A top official with the U.S. Department of Agriculture visited a western Massachusetts school today to highlight a growing initiative that is giving more…

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick visited a third generation family farm in western Massachusetts to announce a new round of grants to help sustain…