Hadley Agricultural Commission

03/02/2023

Hi All,

The Agricultural Commission originally had a meeting scheduled for tonight, 3/1, on Zoom and at the Hadley Public Library.

Due to a death in the immediate family of a member, this meeting was postponed earlier this week on Monday to afford time for the member to arrange services and to allow the meeting the best chance to be held in full.

I apologize for this and note this as I received notification of someone trying to join the meeting tonight. I apologize for the inconvenience. We are hoping to reschedule this meeting in full in a couple of weeks, towards the end of the month.

~ Matt Kushi - Hadley Agricultural Commission

11/19/2021

Hi All,

The Agricultural Commission has been working on a project where we were asked to render an opinion on a potential partnership with the USDA NRCS and the American Farmland Trust concerning an initiative to expand soil qualifications for agricultural land preservation programs within the town. Below is an explanation of the project and the Commission's position to support this measure that will be brought up and discussed further at a Select Board meeting in early December.

10/07/2021

Good Evening All,

I hope that everyone is enjoying the onset of Fall! On behalf of the Agricultural Commission, I just wanted to provide everyone with a few updates and news items from the Agricultural Commission:

1.) The Right to Farm signs that the Commission worked to have put up have been installed by the DPW. There are signs entering town from Northampton, entering from Sunderland on Rt. 47, entering from South Hadley on Rt. 47, on Bay Rd. entering from Amherst and entering from North Amherst on Roosevelt St. by the junction with Knightly Rd.

2.) In the name of transparency, there is one additional item regarding the signs above on the Fall Town Meeting Warrant (occurring October 16th). While the signs and installation came in below budget, there was a need from the DPW to purchase sign poles and anchors. The invoice and $375 cost was brought to our attention recently and Town Hall was consulted on how to best balance the account. Article 3 is a cash balance (from Free Cash) measure in the amount of $375 to balance the account and fully pay for the full project beyond the $600 allocated at Town Meeting in June 2020.

3.) The Commission has welcomed a new member this year - Wally Czajkowski - a well respected farmer in town. Welcome Wally!

4.) The Town was approached about a project that a retired state conservationist from the USDA-NRCS (Natural Resource and Conservation Services) is working on in partnership with the USDA-NRCS concerning land preservation opportunities. This potential project could expand soils classified as important by adding a "locally important" category that could expand eligibility beyond existing standards for land owners and farmers wishing to preserve land through state and federal programs - in essence providing more opportunity/options for those seeking to preserve land on soils that the USDA Soil maps may deem marginal at the moment but that still are crop producing parcels that meet state and federal regulation standards. Our Town Administrator called me into a meeting earlier today to review this and listen to the presentation. We will be examining the GIS mapping data to identify such lands as identified by the project lead and the Commission will discuss the project at a future meeting to gain input and discuss implications (pro's and con's) for Hadley residents. A recommendation will be provided to the Select Board and Town Administrator.

5.) As always, if anyone has any questions, please feel free to reach out to the Hadley Agricultural Commission at [email protected]!

Best,

Matt Kushi
Chair
Hadley Agricultural Commission

06/16/2021

Residents of Hadley, our Right to Farm signs are up!

Save for one that may need to be relocated, there are signs up at some of the major corridors into town.

Thank you to all of you for supporting this symbolic and educational initiative and to the Hadley DPW for installing the signs!

05/24/2021

Yesterday was a great day for Hadley Town Meeting. The Hadley Agricultural Commission did not have any business on this year’s Warrant, but it was great to see the people approve funding for two APR projects for the Gralinski land by the river on River Drive and the Handrich property on Moody Bridge Rd.!

APR stands for Agricultural Preservation Restriction and it is a deed restriction in perpetuity that helps pay for the difference between fair market value and agricultural value along with a sometimes release of of Transferable Development Rights (TDR). This helps keep the land in agricultural use at a reasonable agricultural use price.

04/19/2021

Hadley Residents,

We want to just give you an update on the Right to Farm signs that we have been working on. We did receive feedback from the DPW Director and the town's sign vendor. In order to meet production and budgetary constraints as currently set up, there was were a few modifications to the proposed signs. A few letters in the wording were changed to fit the sign and - most notably - the graphic was changed. Upon discussion and voting by the Commission, the graphic will be green rather than black to better fit the nature of the sign and the Commission's vision. The new graphic is also in line with what other communities have used for similar Right to Farm signs.

So, the sign seen here is close to the final product and the DPW is working with the town sign vendor to make the final signs. Once that is completed, they will be put up at agreed upon locations entering town on main corridors.

01/27/2021

A couple of weeks ago, an important piece of policy was signed into law. The passed bill "gives agricultural commissions input on boards of health regulations, requiring local boards to consider comments and recommendations from their town’s or city’s agricultural commissions when they are developing regulations relating to farming and agriculture."

In all honesty, this is a process that should have been occurring already across the many towns in the Commonwealth and has occurred before. As members of town government, we all seek to accomplish the same goal - to represent and serve the residents of our towns. Collaboration is one of the critical keys to best achieving that goal.

We look forward to continuing to work with and collaborate with our fellow boards and committees in town, when possible, to best serve the town!

Please read the full article for all of the details.

A bill filed by two local legislators giving farmers, farm stands, farmers markets and others involved in agriculture a say in the development of local health regulations was signed into law this week.State Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, and Rep....

01/23/2021

Hi All,

We would just like to remind everyone that it is now officially Open Burning season in Hadley. From January 15 - May 1, you can visit the Hadley Fire Department and get a permit at the Public Safety Complex.

We would also like to make sure that everyone, including our farmers in town, are aware of the fact that special permits are available year round for agricultural burning with the condition of 24 hours notice to the Fire Department for inspection and approval of the burn pile, per the town website on the Fire Department page under Fee Schedules.

Be safe and we will be seeing the annual burning off of asparagus field cover before too long!

12/04/2020

We have been working with the DPW on implementing the Right to Farm sign project that was approved at Town Meeting this Spring/Summer.

Below are the two sign design graphic proposals that we submitted to the DPW. One is a basic sign that will be the standard sign used. The other is a single more decorative sign that could go by the Welcome to Hadley sign if approved. These are being reviewed at present to see if any changes need to be made. With the $600 allotted at Town Meeting, we are looking to put 5 signs in strategic, non-obtrusive locations at the entrances to town on main corridors.

11/07/2020

Hi Everyone,

We just wanted to provide a quick update on what your Hadley Agricultural Commission has been up to. As many of you know, this year was a challenging one for farmers, between navigating labor and supply chain/market issues brought on by the pandemic and drought conditions. We have been keeping a close eye on issues and policies relating to being able to support and help our farmers.

In terms of projects, we have been working on getting a sign design and specific locations to Chris Okafor and the DPW so that the Right to Farm signs can be installed. We will make sure that these are strategically placed.

We are also working on a few educational resources for you to use. We are building an interactive map to put on the website of our local farms. If you would like your farm to be placed on the map, please email us at [email protected]. A snapshot of the map with customized locations pulled from GIS data and data entry can be found in the comments. We are also developing an agricultural FAQ to put on the website for your use.

We hope that you will find these resources and projects helpful!

07/29/2020

Hi All,

You may have seen this in the news today. Please read the following below: Thank you for the link Hadley Animal Control.

HAVE YOU GOTTEN UNWANTED SEEDS?

Recently local people have been receiving unsolicited seeds in the mail from China that they did not order. The seeds are sent in packages usually stating that the contents are jewelry. Unsolicited seeds could be invasive, introduce diseases to local plants, or be harmful to livestock.

Here's what to do if you receive unsolicited seeds from another country:

1) DO NOT plant them and if they are in sealed packaging (as in the photo below) don't open the sealed package.

2) This is known as agricultural smuggling. Report it to USDA and maintain the seeds and packaging until USDA instructs you what to do with the packages and seeds. They may be needed as evidence. https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/planthealth/import-information/sa_sitc/ct_antismuggling

A South Hadley resident has received a suspicious packet of seeds from China on Tuesday.

06/25/2020

Hadley Residents: Due to the lack of rain and drought-like conditions. the town has had mandatory water restriction measures taken. Please see the town announcement below for more details.

Per DPW Director Chris Okafor, and this announcement, the production of food is exempt from these restrictions. Also, you may notice farm fields being watered via irrigation. Please be aware of the above item and of the fact that irrigation also comes from other sources such as bodies of water and wells.

Hopefully these restrictions will not be long term and we will see some rain soon that will help ease the burden on our water supplies!

Notice to Town of Hadley Water UsersThe Town of Hadley Department of Public Works (DPW) is imposing the following Mandatory water restrictions for all water customers, effective immediately, due to recent high water demands.