Preserving Farmland For Future Generations
Thursday, March 26, 2026
Shrewsbury Town Hall
12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Monday, March 9, 2026
Hadley Senior Center
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Tuesday March 24, 2026
Lakeville Library
12:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Virtual Sessions:
Monday, March 30, 2026
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Tuesday, March 10, 2026
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
The program will include:
APR Program Updates
(45 minutes)
MDAR staff will speak about policies, procedures, regulations, guidance, and efforts to improve and modernize the APR program after input from the 2023 listening sessions. Some questions submitted in the RSVP form will be addressed before opening the session to the comment period.
Listening Sessions
(60 minutes)
MDAR would like to hear your thoughts on what works well and your concerns or challenges with: dwellings on APR, your ability to conduct non-agricultural commercial activities on APRs (Special Permits), alternative energy on APR, the sale and transfer of APRs, APR Eligibility and ranking, the use of ACEP ALE program to leverage APR funding and other APR related issues.
MDAR is also interested in hearing from you about other topics like planning for climate resiliency: soil management, no-till agriculture, soil health, carbon sequestration; and weather-related issues like storms, flooding, and increased frost/thaw frequency.
*The purpose of these sessions are for MDAR to provide generalized updates about the APR program and hear feedback from current or prospective participants in the APR program. Issues relevant to specific individual APRs will not be addressed during these sessions nor will a back and forth dialogue take place during the sessions.
RSVP to the listening session near you here.
For information about the listening session contact Mackenzie.A.May@mass.gov
For information about the APR program contact Gerard.Kennedy@mass.gov
Since 1980, the APR Program has permanently protected 968 farms and 75,031 acres in Massachusetts. The APR program was the first in the nation and continues to protect and preserve working farms for generations to come.