STOWE, Mass. — Last week, the state lost another farm.
Petruzzi Farms in East Brookfield decided to close down after operating for 104 years.
They cited rising costs, extreme weather, and difficulties finding workers.
In a Facebook post, the owners added: “This decision did not come easily. Farming isn’t just what we do — it’s who we are. Letting go of something so deeply rooted in our family and community is incredibly painful, but we know it’s time.”
“Most farmers that I know care deeply about their community. They care deeply about the state, and that is irreplaceable,” said Chelcie Martin, who runs the Honey Pot Hill Orchards in Stow.
She manages the farm today and is the 4th generation in her family to do so. Her great-grandfather started working the land back in 1926.
“I think growing up in a family business, you either love it or hate it, sometimes at the same time,” said Martin.
Actually, she loves farming – a lot.
But that doesn’t make running a 200-acre farm, which grows a couple hundred million pounds of apples a year, an easy way to make a living these days.
“I think it’s less simple,” added Martin. “I think during my grandfather and my father’s time, the goal was to just grow fruit, sell fruit. Now its grow fruit, make hard cider, make donuts. You need to be online, on Instagram, like have a presence.”
Martin told Boston 25 News she knows more farms are going out of business than staying in business.
“I think if you lose your family farm, you’ve lost incredible heritage, tradition, and a source of fresh food,” said State Representative and Speaker Pro Tempore Kate Hogan.
She co-chaired a special legislative commission on agriculture in Massachusetts.
They just released a report after holding nine hearings around the state and getting input from dozens of stakeholders.
“We tried to set it up by the issues,” explained Hogan. This meant the report delves into problems and solutions around climate change and disaster planning, how to better use technology, and how to further support economic development and Agri-tourism.
This renewed focus comes as the industry faces serious contraction.
“The truth of the matter is we’ve been losing farmland at a great clip,” said Hogan.
In 1900, 60% of the state was farmland, made up of 32,000-38,000 individual farms.
By 2021, just 10% of the state’s land was committed to agriculture and the number of farmers had dwindled to 7,000.
Hogan said a number of small bills dealing with agriculture are already under consideration on Beacon Hill. She says one option is to bundle some of them together in an omnibus bill to provide more relief more quickly to local farmers.
Martin believes her family is still lucky to be farming. She hopes they’re viewed as stewards of the land and will one day be able to pass it on to the next generation.
She says while keeping a supply of locally grown food is important, farms like Honey Pot are also vital parts of the local community.
“We provide something for the local community, you know, jobs, but also a place for people to come, where people spend time with their families, friends, get into nature to understand where our food comes from.”
The more erratic weather patterns we’ve seen in recent years have wreaked havoc for local farmers.
Floods in the summer of 2021 devastated many crops.
Martin blames volatile temperatures for destroying her entire peach crop twice in the last seven years.
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