GroupGAP makes food safety certification accessible for small and middle-sized producers by allowing farmers, food hubs, and other marketing organizations to work together to undergo GAP certification as a group. This allows group members to pool resources to implement food safety training programs and share the cost of certification.
User’s Guide, Videos and other resources available here:
https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/auditing/groupgap
NEW MILFORD, CT — The New Milford Youth Agency will be returning to Sullivan Farm this spring to run their Farm Stand.
Inside this edition:
NEW POLLINATOR LAW BRINGS CHANGES IN USE OF PESTICIDES, CREATION OF HABITAT
http://www.ct.gov/doag/lib/doag/ag%20report/CT_WEEKLY_AG_REPORT_MAY_10.pdf
Northeast 2015 Dairy Farm Discussion & Current Situation -5/9/2016
Webinar from 5/9/2016
Northeast dairy farmers are facing challenging times. In this webinar, Chris Laughton, Farm Credit East’s Director of Knowledge Exchange, presented the results of the 2015 Northeast Dairy Farm Summary. A panel discussion about the current economic situation facing Northeast dairy producers and some strategies for working through it followed in the second half of the webinar.
To view Chris Laughton’s presentation, click here.
To view the 2015 Northeast Dairy Farm Summary, click here.
For more information, contact chris.laughton@farmcrediteast.com
A Listing of CT Farmers’ Markets for 2016
Senate Approves Bill That Would OK Raw Milk Distribution May 5, 2016
By Associated Press 5/9/2016:
Dairy Face Painful Summer 2016 May 9, 2016
Agweb article, powered by Farm Journal
http://www.agweb.com/article/dairy-faces-painful-2016-summer-naa-nate-birt/
The Smithy to launch CSA program- April 30, 2016
http://www.newmilfordspectrum.com/news/article/The-Smithy-to-launch-CSA-program-7379489.php
The Smithy, located in a renovated 18th century blacksmith’s shop, showcases local food and goods, focusing on products made using sustainable, organic practices whenever possible. CSA stands for community-supported agriculture.
Upstairs is The Loft Gallery, where rotating shows of local artists provide a space for the community to gather.
The Smithy hosts regular meet-and-greets that offer the opportunity for people to connect with their local farmers and learn more about their food sources, as well as other regularly scheduled events, including art openings, book signings, live music, demonstrations, tastings and other informal gatherings.
The Smithy CSA will give members access to all types of produce grown on local farms (most of which follow organic practices), including Anderson Acres Farm, Wild Carrot Farm, Starberry Farm, Sugar Water Farm, Sloane Farm, and others.
A traditional CSA only gives patrons access to produce from one farm and often restricts their options to a set box every week, picked up at a set time.
At The Smithy, customers can purchase a large or small share of local produce and will then have the ability to shop for all of their local produce at a discount.
Along with giving members the opportunity to support multiple local farms at a time when they need it most, The Smithy will send members a weekly newsletter announcing what will be available in the coming week, as well as recipes from Holmes.
Members will have the ability to call or email The Smithy and have specific items set aside especially for them, or ask to have a box made up and ready for them at their desired pickup time.
Also coming soon, Holmes will introduce house-baked goods and take-away prepared foods at The Smithy.
The Smithy was started in 2007 by Howard Rosenfeld and Sheryl Leach as part of their ongoing efforts to support the local farms, food producers and small family businesses of northwestern Connecticut.
Upon their retirement in late 2015, Holmes purchased the business and is working to grow and expand the offerings at The Smithy, while deepening its connections to the local community and maintaining the consistent quality and outstanding customer service it is known for.
From her childhood on a small family farm, to her previous career developing consumer software, to her training at TheFrench Culinary Institute in New York City, Holmes brings a unique set of experiences and great enthusiasm to The Smithy.
The Smithy on Main Street is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. every day except Tuesday.
For information, visit www.thesmithystore.com or contact Holmes at 860-868-9003.
Cold snap decimates peach crop in Mass. and beyond April 24, 2016
For brothers Frank and Bruce Carlson, owners of Carlson Orchards in Harvard, the damage their peach crop sustained after February’s cold snap is unlike anything they’ve seen in decades.
“It’s the first time in 35 years for us. As a matter of fact, we’ve had very little loss in 35 years,” Frank Carlson explained.
Though a majority of the brothers’ 100-acre farm remains healthy, the 25 acres where peaches are grown won’t bear fruit this year, after the combination of a warm winter and sudden freeze killed off many of their trees’ buds. Frank Carlson estimated the peach crop accounts for 40 percent of the farm’s total sales.
The total loss of the farm’s peaches is not isolated to Harvard, however.
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Peter Morton, manager of Autumn Hill Orchards in Groton, is reporting a similar loss.
“We haven’t seen any blossoms yet, but I think a lot of our peach blossoms are dead… It doesn’t look like we’ll have much of a crop this year,” he said.
Because there are 7,000 farms that grow peaches in Massachusetts alone, the extent of the loss is hard to track, but for Jon Clements, a tree fruit specialist working for UMass Amherst’s Extension Fruit Program, the damage could affect the entire state, as well as Connecticut and Rhode Island.
“I don’t think you’ll find a single peach in any of those states,” he said.
As Clements explains it, the widespread crop loss was made possible after the warm winter left peach trees vulnerable to a sudden drop in temperature that occurred on Valentine’s Day.
“When temperatures start to go below minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit, we typically expect the peach buds to start dying off. They just aren’t hardy enough for it, which is why we don’t see them growing in the wild,” said Clements.
“I haven’t spoken to everyone, but from the growers I have spoken with, it’s been the same,” said Julia Grimaldi, a spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Agricultural Resources.
Sentinel and Enterprise staff photos can be ordered by visiting our SmugMug site.
“We have learned from our fruit growers that many of their peach crops have been damaged by freeze, but they’re optimistic that their other fruit trees and berries have survived.”
Because of their comparatively unpredictable nature, most farms throughout the state have other, hardier crops like apples, pears, strawberries and blueberries to rely on.
In the 40 years Sunny Crest Orchard in Sterling has been growing peaches, owner Bill Broderick said he could only think of three other times there had been widespread loss, and never to the degree he’s seen this year.
“It’s pretty unusual, but it does happen,” Broderick said, adding that it’s because of unpredictable acts of nature like this that he, and many other farmers, diversify crops.
Though one third of his farm was taken up by peaches and other stone fruit, including plums, nectarines and pluots, the remaining two thirds of the farm is taken up by apples, which were less damaged by the weather.
Speaking with other peach farmers throughout the region, Broderick said that he had heard the effect on peaches is spread as far west as New York and as far south as Pennsylvania.
“It sounds like everyone got the same blast of cold weather,” he said.
While many peach farms have reported experiencing losses across the board for all stone fruits, some have found that only their peaches were affected.
“We grow the same amount of cherries as we do peaches, and they had been dormant during the February cold,” said Andre Tougas, one of the owners of Tougas Family Farm in Northboro. “But they were definitely damaged in April, so I couldn’t say how much we still have.”
While none of his peach buds survived, Tougas did estimate that as much as 50 percent of the cherry crop could still produce fruit.
Ken Nicewicz, owner of Nicewicz Family Farm in Bolton reported that at least 50 percent of his farm’s plum population had survived.
“Some kinds of stone fruit just seem more tolerant than others, and I think that might have been the case,” Nicewicz said.
The damage was even less severe at Ward’s Berry Farm in Sharon, where close to 40 percent of the apricot crop has survived and 80 percent of the plums have remained unaffected.
“I’m a little surprised myself, but I’ve been hearing that apricots, and especially plums are still doing fine,” said Ward’s Berry Farm owner Jim Ward.
Ward did, however, add that his peach crop had been completely lost.
Because the cold weather only killed off the peach buds, the trees themselves remain healthy and will still be able to produce fruit next year.
Whether this year’s crop serves as a sign of things to come still remains unclear.
“If you ask the old-timers, they all say how much winters used to be colder,” said Clements. “I think winters have gotten warmer, and when you get those weird seasons that are very warm then have just a few days of cold, that’s bad across the board.”
Though Clements did say that warmer winters could see the boundaries of the peach growing region push further north, the Carlson brothers of Harvard question what warmer winters might mean for the areas already able to grow peaches.
“All it took was just a few days of cold,” said Bruce Carlson. “We had one of the warmest winters ever, so is this going to be something we’re going to have to worry more about from now on?”
Follow Peter Jasinski on Twitter and Tout @PeterJasinski53.
Region 12 towns worry about state help for Agriscience project April 15, 2016
http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Region-12-towns-worry-about-state-help-for-7251862.php
WASHINGTON — With Gov. Dannel P. Malloy looking to slash Education Cost Sharing grants statewide, officials in some Region 12 towns worry plans for the district’s Agriscience STEM Academy will be affected.
A request for a $29 million bond to finance construction of the Agriscience STEM center at Shepaug Valley School was referred by the House to theCommittee on Finance, Revenue and Bonding in the state Legislature on April 12.
The Region 12 towns of Bridgewater, Roxbury and Washington are among the 20 municipalities Malloy has proposed to end education cost-sharing. For Bridgewater, that would mean a cut of $123,000 in education funding; Roxbury, $133,000 less and Washington, a reduction of $222,000.
“It seems like they’re taking funding away from towns they perceive can sustain these cuts while continuing to fund inner-city schools,” said Bridgewater First Selectman Curtis Read. “This doesn’t bode well for Agriscience STEM funding.
“We’ll see if the state’s in the mood to bond $29 million when it’s making all of these other cuts,” Read said.
In November, Region 12 voters approved the $39.5 million agriscience project, with the expectation the state pick up the $29 million via a bond issue and local taxpayers would fund the rest.
The project would include the addition of 64,000 square feet of space to the middle-high school and upgrading another 9,500. The academy is expected to open for the 2018-19 school year.
Region 12 estimates the academy will enroll 198 out-of-district and 30 in-district students once the program is up and running. For out-of-district students, the district will receive $6,823 in tuition paid by the students’ hometowns, in addition to the state-reimbursed $3,200 for each student in the program.
Superintendent of Schools Pat Cosentino believes state bonding will come through.
“We are still confident that the AgSTEM program is moving forward,” Cosentino said Thursday. “We are extremely grateful to the Legislature, State Board of Education and the governor for their support.”
But Malloy made it clear Wednesday the state is shy on revenue and tough decisions will have to be made.
“We have an obligation as elected officials to tackle the full scope of our challenge,” Malloy said. “That means we must align our spending with the revenue we actually have, not the revenue we wish we had.
“Our expectations need to change,” the governor said. “We cannot afford to fund everything we always have. If we are to do what’s right for the state, if we are to put Connecticut on a better path for the long-term, then we need to make tough but necessary decisions now to adapt to our new economic reality.”
stuz@newstimes.com; 203-731-3352