Hi there!

Happy new year - best wishes to you and your farms.

Berkshire Grown is excited to announce that we have launched the 2024 Winter Farmer Workshop season. Below are descriptions for the exciting line up we have starting at the end of this month, and links to the workshop webpage and registration form.

As of this month, I will be leaving my position as program manager for Berkshire Grown. It's been a pleasure getting to know many of the organization's business members, working to serve the county's farmers, and sending you these monthly newsletters! Until the position is filled, emails and questions can be sent to buylocal@berkshiregrown.org, and one of my colleagues will assist. Feel free to reach out and say hi otherwise, I'm always happy to connect on all things agriculture.

In this month's farmer newsletter:

Thanks!

Ian Brunell

Program Manager, Business Members

We're excited to announce our Winter Farmer Workshop Series! Stay tuned for registration details. All workshops are remote, unless otherwise noted.

The webpage with full descriptions and educator bios can be found here.

To go straight to our safe and secure registration from, click here.

Agroforestry crops and practices have the potential to help farmers manage the land they are farming in different ways, providing new opportunities to grow emerging crops that can be incorporated into existing markets, or help boost ecological and financial resiliency. Attendees will hear about potential perennial crops, their management, and how practices can be defined and funded through NRCS, MDAR or other sources.

Seva Water; Nutwood Farm / Regenerative Design Group

Attendees will have the opportunity to interact with Jono and the NOFA agroforestry cohort farmers to learn more about technical assistance opportunities available in the field to help design and implement perennial crops and agroforestry practices.

Regenerative Design Group is a worker-owned ecological design practice dedicated to working with farm owners to develop diverse agroecological and agroforestry systems that support the farm’s social, environmental, and economic goals.

Learn more at: https://www.regenerativedesigngroup.com/

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With Zoey Sloate

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April 10th, 2024, 1-3PM

In person at Hancock Shaker Village!

Movement Workshops address BETTER body mechanics and movement patterns related to farm tasks to increase productivity and help decrease workplace injuries. Time will be spent in an interactive atmosphere moving through basic movement patterns. Every attendee will leave with tips focused on ways to improve their overall movement patterning and work-related well-being. Time will be allotted for questions and some detailed discussion. Learn more about Cynthia’s mission at: https://www.labor-movement.com/

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Session 1: Wednesday, February 21, 2024, 11AM-1PM

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts recently completed a three-year study and plan called the Massachusetts Healthy Soils Action Plan (“HSAP”). The plan brings together in one document the science of soil health, its importance in sustaining healthy ecosystems, the current state of soil ecosystems here in Massachusetts, and finally, action steps that can be taken at all levels to recognize its importance and improve soil health.

For more information on HSAP, see Healthy Soils Action Plan

For a full RFR, see MA Commbuys page (There is a link to the RFR next to "file attachments)

a. Promote Soil Health: To support demonstration type projects that document, prioritize and implement practices aimed at improving soil health and fertility. 

b. Sustainable Land Management: To encourage innovative approaches to sustainable land management that minimize environmental degradation, enhance biodiversity and/or restore degraded soil health.

c. Community Engagement: To foster community involvement and education in sustainable land practices and soil health improvement.

d. Refine Tools for Municipal Soil Mapping, Assessment + Planning: Update and distribute assessment and planning tools to enable municipalities, regional planning districts, and conservation organizations to visualize and integrate soil health into regular workflows.

Thomas C. Anderson, Executive Secretary

Commission for Conservation of Soil, Water & Related Resources

Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs

100 Cambridge St., 10th

Boston, MA 02114

Cell (617) 519-4587

Office (617)626-1013

thomas.anderson@mass.gov

One of the efforts of the livestock working group, coordinated by Berkshire Grown and Berkshire Agricultural Ventures, is developing a resource guide for farmers. The resource guide can be found here: Livestock Resource Guide

This is a resource guide for livestock farmers that details processors, regional transportation, cold storage, and sales options. We are excited about the connections and collaborations that this tool may support.

This resource will continue to expand, so check back again if you find it useful - and let us know, at localmeatprocessingsp@gmail.com if there are other tabs or entries you'd like to see in this guide!

If you offer relevant services, or know of someone that does, and would like to be included in our resource lists, please fill out this entry form.

For more application information and to apply, visit The Harold Grinspoon Local Farmer Awards Webpage here.

Contact kimberly.kasper@tufts.edu for more information.

For those of you with interest in agroforestry systems, this new video series will highlight various case studies of silvopasture in practice throughout the Northeast US. See below for details, and a link to the episodes.

With support from the USDA National Agroforestry Center (NAC), a collaboration of Regenerative Design Group, Wellspring Forest Farm, and Inhabit Films announce the release of a free video series documenting Silvopasture systems in the Northeastern USA.

Silvopasture (grazing livestock with trees) systems are complex, dynamic and site specific. The practice is both rooted in indigenous land stewardship and its benefits are well documented by scientific literature. Adoption by farmers and land stewards of silvopasture is currently low, but growing in interest.

For more details and to see the videos, click here: https://www.farmingwithtrees.org/projects/silvopasture-videos

NOFA/Mass is holding their annual Winter Conference on January 13 2024 in Worcester from 9 AM - 6PM. This one-day event provides a place to learn, gather, and kindle relationships in community with farmers, local food enthusiasts, land care professionals, advocates, elders, young leaders, and everyone in between! With new climate challenges to tackle, we come together in the new year to share knowledge and celebrate the joys and accomplishments we’ve cultivated. Register here today!

The Farm Transition Grant Program is a competitive matching grant program for Connecticut farmers and agricultural cooperatives to support the diversification of existing farm operations, transitioning to value-added agricultural production and sales, and other venues in which a majority of products sold are grown in the state.

Categories include New Farmer Micro Grants, Infrastructure Investment Grants, and Research and Development Grants, ranging from $5,000-$49,999.

For more information, visit the Farm Transition Grants Website.

This three-day winter course is an opportunity for senior generation farmers – with or without identified successors – to talk with peers, learn from advisors, and get support on the challenging process of farm succession and transfer planning. Farmers from across Massachusetts, of all farm sizes and enterprises, are welcome. Partners are encouraged to attend together. This course will help you get the conversation started, sort through possibilities, clarify your goals and next steps, connect with resources and support to keep the process going!

For more information, register by January 17th, 2024 here: http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07ek2fx1dz5d4c19b1&llr=aaucr9cab

Or email jae@landforgood.org

This natural disaster designation allows the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters through emergency loans. Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs including the replacement of essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganization of a farming operation, or to refinance certain debts. FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available, and repayment ability.

Primary Counties Eligible: Berkshire, Bristol, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, Worcester

Primary Counties Eligible: Berkshire, Bristol, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Norfolk, Worcester

For more information on Flooding Relief click here.

For more information of Frost Loss Relief click here.

Berkshire Grown has a local and regional events calendar that lists various events, workshops, webinars, and the like? We try to keep tabs and share information about any farming and food related happenings that could be of interest to our farmer members.

Farmers are also welcome to submit an event to us to have it listed on the calendar. It is visited also by non-farmer members looking for food and agriculture-related happenings.

More information and fact sheets can be found at the TOPP website.

Please feel free to contact me at ian@berkshiregrown.org