Worcester Telegram & Gazette
A document prepared by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources found that Massachusetts farms are endangered. Subjected to high land prices (only Rhode Island and New Jersey have higher prices) and development pressure, climate change, and lack of infrastructure and technical and financial supports, they are disappearing fast.
And once farmlands are developed for other purposes, from roads and soccer fields to housing, office and retail space, they are never recovered.
The report, Massachusetts Farmland Action Plan 2023-2050, predicts the state will lose 78,000 acres of farmland by 2040 if nothing is done. That translates to almost a fifth of the current 500,000 acres now devoted to farming.
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“Like so many other states, Massachusetts was founded on farming,” said Sen. Robyn Kennedy, D-Worcester. She said the report also acknowledges the importance of the Nipmuc people, who held and shepherded the land before the arrival of the Europeans. “The action plan acknowledges the past while also looking to the future of farming in Massachusetts.
Read the full article here.
For more details, contact Giselle Rivera-Flores, Directory of Communications, giselle.riveraflores@masenate.gov
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