Franklin Conservation District hosts state meeting and farm tour

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(left to right) Tom Clark, Rita Thibodeau, Carolyn Ness, Catherine Skiba, and Fred Farmer.

FRANKLIN COUNTY, Mass. (October 11, 2007) -- The sugarhouse at Williams Farms in Deerfield, Massachusetts was the site of a combined annual meeting of the State Commission for the Conservation of Soil, Water and Related Resources and Franklin Conservation District farm tour. Members of the commission conducted their annual meeting at the sugarhouse in the morning, then enjoyed a lunch that included Franklin County farm products and later toured several Franklin County sites to view conservation projects.

Franklin Conservation District officials gave remarks and acting state Commissioner of Agricultural Resources Scott Soares answered a number of questions about state agricultural policy from the group.

After lunch, attendees -- which included commission members, members of the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Districts, staff from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service office in Greenfield, State Conservationist Christine S. Clarke and American Farmland Trust staff -- set off for the farm tour on a bus loaned by Deerfield Academy.

Farms included on the tour featured a variety of conservation practices that have been implemented with technical and financial assistance from federal and state conservation programs. An emergency watershed protection project was also part of the tour. All the tour sites were in Deerfield.

The first stop brought visitors to a recently completed Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) project on the Deerfield River that provided stream bank stabilization and erosion control on a section of the Deerfield River. Severe erosion from floodwaters was threatening the integrity of the Deerfield Waste Water Treatment Plant. Deerfield Town Administrator Bernie Kubiac and District Conservationist Rita Thibodeau explained how the project was planned and implemented.

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(left to right) District Conservationist Rita Thibodeau and Barway Farms Co-owner Steve Melnik.

The second stop in the tour provided visitors with a glimpse of a working center pivot irrigation system at Williams Farm, Inc. District Supervisor Sandy Williams raises locally famous sweet corn along with other vegetables on this farm, which is protected under the state Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) program. Sandy and Soil Conservationist Lisa Hall described technical assistance projects on the farm, which include the center pivots, nutrient management planning, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), cover crop and forest harvest management for sugar lot improvement.

Barway Farm, Inc. was the next stop on the tour. Owner Steve Melnik and District Conservationist Rita Thibodeau described the projects that have been installed on this 250 head dairy farm through the federal Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), including a slurry store, a heavy use pad, nutrient management planning, waste utilization, cover crop and Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan (CNMP). Future plans for this APR farm include installation of fencing to exclude heifers from Mill Brook, development of an alternative water supply, installation of an animal trail and walkway, and roof runoff stacking area for dry manure

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Clarkdale Fruit Farms' farm stand.

The final stop on the tour was Clarkdale Fruit Farm. A producer of prize-winning tree fruits, owner Tom Clark is a long-time practitioner of integrated pest management (IPM), and has received technical and financial assistance from NRCS for installation of an agricultural mixing facility and a well. Tom and Soil Conservationist Lisa Hall led the discussion about Clarkdale’s conservation practices. Tour participants picked up apples and cider at the Clarkdale farmstand.

Bob O’Connor, Director of the Conservation Services Division under the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, said that he appreciated the opportunity to see conservation practices in their natural setting, and emphasized the importance of state and federal agencies working in partnership to protect water resources.

Considered the most rural county in the Commonwealth, the county’s 725 square miles are home to approximately 1,400 cooperating producers. Farm families are located throughout the county, from the rich alluvial soils of the Connecticut and Deerfield River valleys to the rocky glacial soils of the uplands.

Franklin County includes among its agricultural producers dairy farms, fiber producers, and growers of fruits, vegetables, tobacco, makers of wine and cider, and greenhouse and nursery suppliers. The county boasts two goat cheese producers who have received state, national and international awards for their creations.

Hundreds of acres of Franklin County farmland is permanently protected from development by the Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) program. Like much of the rest of the country, Franklin County is experiencing development pressures that put farmland at risk of growing houses rather than crops. This problem is exacerbated by the aging of our farming community members, and the modest entry rate of new, younger farmers into agriculture.

The Franklin Conservation District has been active since 1947. The district has held educational forums, sponsored high school Envirothon teams, conducted annual tree and plant sales, and supported the state Soil Evaluator Workshops. Their focus has expanded recently to include watershed planning and protection. They developed a proposal for a pilot watershed protection plan, funded a study on restoration strategies for the Sawmill River in Montague and participated, with NRCS, in Emergency Watershed Protection projects. The district plans to continue its long history of partnerships dedicated to the protection and improvement of the agricultural and natural resources in Franklin County.

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