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Massachusetts Farmland Action Plan

The Massachusetts Farmland Action Plan is intended to address the farmland needs and goals of the Commonwealth including but not limited to increasing farmland conservation, addressing farmland access (including urban farmland), food security, and the long-term economic and environmental viability of farms across all regions of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

About

MDAR is supporting the development of the plan, and engaged the UMass Donahue Institute to gather the input and recommendations from farmers, advocates, investors, landowners, land trusts, agricultural technical assistance providers, scientists, public officials, policy makers, and other agricultural stakeholders. The Massachusetts Food System Collaborative and American Farmland Trust are partners on this project as well. The Massachusetts Farmland Action Plan is currently under review with an expected release for the Fall of 2023.

UMass Donahue Institute will support the formation of a comprehensive multi-year Massachusetts Farmland Action Plan that:
 

• is guided by a unified vision

• is created by broad stakeholder involvement/engagement

• identifies a multi-year strategy until 2050.

• outlines immediate and on-going actions and initiatives

• creates measurement tools by which progress is monitored according to project goals

Additional Resources

Subject Matter Experts

In addition to seeking public comment on the development of the Farmland Action Plan, a committee of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) representing a wide range of stakeholder interests was assembled to provide guidance on the development of the plan. The  members of the SME group can be found here:

Name

Organization

Jim Habana Hafner

Land for Good

Patricia Spence

Urban Farming Institute

Jennifer Hashley

New Entry Sustainable Farming Project

Clem Clay

UMass Extension

Jim Lattanzi

Hollis Hills Farm

Cris Coffin

Eden Pond Farm

Karen Schwalbe

Southeastern MA Agricultural Partnership

Marty Dagoberto

Northeast Organic Farming Association

Dan Wright

Natural Resources Conservation Science

Tim Wilcox

The Kitchen Garden

Mark Parlee

Parlee Farm

Kurt Gaertner

Executive Office of Environmental Affairs

Kathy Orlando

Sheffield Land Trust

Mark Wamsley

Kestrel Land Trust

Hameed Bello

Agric Organics Urban Farm

Kristen Wyman

Nipmuc Nation

Contact for Massachusetts Farmland Action Plan

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