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Community Farmland Connections

Community Farmland Connections through a Targeted GIS Identification and Outreach Approach
Recently we have been piloting a project using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in various towns to identify existing and potential farmland.  We work with the town and their agricultural commission to strategize about how to best reach out to the owners of the potential farmland and encourage them to rent their land to a farmer.  Last summer we worked with the town of Groton, MA.  There we partnered with town commissions to gain support, send letters to landowners, hold a workshop on leasing land to a farmer, and match farmers with uncovered farmland. We are now reaching out to other surrounding towns in order to expand our experience in this area and make a guide for other towns in MA to do this work.  For more about our research, to invite us to your town, or to read a town report, please e-mail Becca at bweaver@comteam.org.

Summary of the report from Groton, MA:
Local food requires local farmland and local farmers.  Much of the prime farmland soil in Middlesex County has already been developed for residential use.  However, with a growing population of beginning farmers, there is a need and opportunity to make this land available for active agriculture once again.  This report on the Town of Groton was prepared by the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project as part of its goal to increase access to farmland for beginning farmers in Massachusetts.   By combining information from the Natural Resources and Conservation Service (NRCS) with Mass GIS and local assessor’s parcel data, we are able to locate parcels in Groton that are best suited for agriculture.  Some of these parcels are already in active agricultural use, but others are simply residential.  By reaching out to landowners in Groton, we aim to facilitate matches of prime farmland with beginning farmers, in order to increase both new agricultural opportunities and local food for the town, county, and state.  The intention of this report is to increase utilization of farmland in Groton, not to change the ownership or use of land that is already in active agriculture.

This work is supported by Northeast SARE grant #CNE12-100.

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