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By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — It’s the end of an era for local agriculture, as Butynski’s Farm Stand has ceased operations following the retirement of the four people in charge of it.

By CHRIS LARABEE

CONWAY — Each month at Conway Grammar School, students are treated to a pop-up tasting event inspired by local farm products with offerings ranging from potatoes to kale.

By CHRIS LARABEE

Across the United States, beekeepers are facing their greatest crisis in decades, with more than 1 million colonies reported lost in the last 10 months.

By COLIN A. YOUNG

A recommendation from a task force the Legislature created a decade ago resurfaced last week before the Revenue Committee, which took testimony related to the machinations involved when a farm wants to use a portion of its land to generate both renewable electricity and supplemental income.

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

Three Franklin County farms have been awarded $101,875 in land stewardship grants from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) to aid in maintenance efforts that will ensure the land remains farmable for future generations.

By CHRIS LARABEE

SHELBURNE — When it comes to the future of Franklin County farms, there’s so many options: they can be placed under an Agricultural Preservation Restriction, donated to a local conservation agency or sold to the next generation.

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — A pair of western Massachusetts lawmakers made an urgent plea to their colleagues last week to allow smaller farms to access property tax benefits currently available only to their larger peers.

By SAMUEL GELINAS

HADLEY — Irate farmers, waving signs and pitchforks, gathered in front of Town Hall on Sunday afternoon as tractors rolled in and the Expandable Brass Band played at the start of an “Attack on Small Farms” protest.

By CHRIS LARABEE

WASHINGTON — As federal dollars continue to be frozen for projects across the nation, a Pioneer Valley farm has joined a federal lawsuit demanding the government lift the “unlawful and indefinite freeze of congressional appropriated funds,” according to documents filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

By CHRIS LARABEE

BOSTON — As farmers prepare to head out to the fields for the season, Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources Commissioner Ashley Randle sent a letter to the new U.S. agriculture secretary expressing concerns over uncertain federal funding and other actions taken by the federal government.

By CHRIS LARABEE

DEERFIELD — With the Planning Board’s special permit approval this week, Savage Farms will construct a nearly 90,000-square-foot potato storage building for year-round protection of the family farm’s crops.

By CHRIS LARABEE

ORANGE – As advocates prepare to head to the State House for March 13’s Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) Advocacy Day, at least one local store has seen the community fill the gaps left by December’s 50%, at minimum, reduction to the program.

By CHINANU OKOLI

Applications are rolling in for the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources’ new Farm Transfer Planning Assistance initiative that connects aging farmers and their successors with experienced planners to set retirement goals and figure out how management and assets will be transferred.

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

As uncertainty swirls around Washington regarding the release of allocated federal funds, farmers in Franklin County are beginning to feel the freeze.

By ALEXA LEWIS

HATFIELD — Cannabis cultivator River Valley Growers of Hatfield is suing neighboring Whately berry farm Nourse Farms for $17 million for allegedly contaminating thousands of pounds of crops with “negligent” spraying of pesticides.

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — Just Roots, a local farming and food access nonprofit, will receive a nearly $250,000 state grant over the course of two years to expand and enhance its operations and technology.

By EMILEE KLEIN

SPRINGFIELD — Most Massachusetts farmworkers whose hard work puts food on the dinner tables for Massachusetts families have difficulty affording the produce they pick and process.

By CHRIS LARABEE

With help from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR), businesses across Franklin County will use grant money to increase their capacity and expand the local food supply chain.

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — Just Roots, a local farming and food access nonprofit, has two new executive directors.