NORTHAMPTON — A well and water pump for the Pioneer Valley Workers Center’s new farm in Northampton and irrigation materials for Song Sparrow Farm in Florence are among projects in Hampshire County being supported by the American Farmland Trust’s New England Farmer Microgrants Program.
The trust recently announced grants, totaling $180,000, for 41 farms in the six New England states as part of a new program that aims to make farmers more successful by reducing the financial challenges associated with accessing land, expanding production and planning for farm succession.
Farmers could apply for between $500 and $5,000 for infrastructure improvements or equipment purchases, closing costs on the purchase of property, getting professional help with succession planning or paying for other services related to expanding operations.
At Riquezas del Campo, the Pioneer Valley Workers Center farm near the Northampton and Hatfield line, the $5,000 grant will be used for tilling and the digging of a well and water pump.
Song Sparrow Farm in Florence will use its $2,093 grant for a shed and irrigation materials.
Old Friends Farm in Amherst is using $5,000 it received for lease negotiation support, while Sawyer Farm in Worthington has its $2,957 grant going for equipment purchases for implementing a no-till system.
Other recipients in the Pioneer Valley included Ox and Robin Farm in Montague, which received $3,424 for permanent and temporary fencing, and Meadowsweet Farm, which is using its $5,000 grant for the closing on the purchase of Sidehill Farm in Hawley.
Jamie Pottern, the trust’s New England program manager, said in a statement that the grant program is providing direct support to farmers to provide them greater land security and productivity.
“New England farmers, like farmers across the country, struggle with affordable access to land, capital costs associated with starting or expanding their farm business, and covering the costs of services to get onto land or pass on the land to a new generation,” Pottern said.
The program funded flower farmers, vegetable community-supported agriculture, or CSA, programs, pasture-based meat and dairy operations, orchards and fruit farms, and small-scale urban micro-farms.
A second year for the program begins in January 2021.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
