Mount Grace Goes to the MA State House for Ag Days

Massachusetts Agriculture Day at the State House will be held on Wednesday, April 12 and Mount Grace will be there to share the stories of small farmers on our north central region. Ag Day recognizes the cultural heritage, resiliency, and vitality of Massachusetts’s agricultural industry, and gives farmers and the organizations that represent them an opportunity to educate legislators about the industry.

Being held for the first time since 2019, the event will focus on farmers and the need for supportive state policy and investments. With challenges ranging from the weather extremes from our changing climate to the rising costs of inputs and unequal distribution of subsidies to larger farm businesses, our small farmers have to be more creative and hardworking than ever before. What these farmers offer to our region – from healthy local food, to soil carbon sequestration in perennial crops, to the scenic character – is invaluable. 

Mount Grace has been protecting the working landscape of this region since 1986, including Red Apple Farm in Phillipston, Sunset View Farm in Winchendon, Bascom Hollow Farm in Gill, The Farm School in Orange, Chase Hill Farm in Warwick, and Wingate Farm in Hinsdale, NH. Our farmland will not be the same if farmers can’t afford to keep farming. Farmland is expensive, and farmers – ones already on the land, and ones looking for a place to call home – are often priced out. Protecting the land can be a critical first step, but it doesn’t always guarantee the land itself will be continuously farmed, or that a future farmer could afford it. Mount Grace strives to do farm projects that are good for the land, the farmer, the longevity of the farming operation, and the local community.

The Ag Day speaking program will begin at 11:15 at the Grand Staircase on the 2nd floor of the State House, followed by opportunities for networking with colleagues, legislators, and administration officials in the Hall of Flags until 2:00. 

The event is free, but registration is required. Please use this form to register. And please share the link with your networks - anyone who supports Massachusetts agriculture is welcome to attend.

If you are a farmer in our region and have comments that you’d like us to bring to Ag Days, please e-mail Jess at bryant@mountgrace.org