The governor of Massachusetts is pledging assistance to farmers who sustained losses in this month’s river flooding, but it remains unclear as to what form the relief will come in.
Gathered next to a muddy field of sweet corn on Meadows Farm in Deerfield, Gov. Maura Healey, members of her administration, and local state legislators heard from about two dozen western Massachusetts farmers who said that as a result of the flooding they’ve lost hundreds of acres of corn, potatoes, and other produce just as it was about to be harvested.
“Things are just getting worse by the day,” said Jay Savage of Savage Farms in Deerfield.
And, now with the water receding, there is worry that mold and disease will set in and wipe out more crops.
Healey said the devastation demands an immediate response.
“We’re going to pursue federal funding, we’re going to pursue funding through our colleagues in the legislature,” Healey said. “It is super-super important and we also know these guys can’t afford to wait.”
An effort by State Rep. Natalie Blais, whose Hampshire and Franklin counties district includes many impacted farms, to include $20 million for relief in a supplemental budget bill got sidetracked on Beacon Hill last week. With backing from the governor, another attempt to pass it will be made this week.
Typically, government disaster relief comes in the form of low-interest loans, but Mike Antonellis, a fourth-generation farmer, said that won’t cut it for him.
“I’m a young farmer and I’ve got plenty of loans already and I don’t need loans to pay back loans,” he said.
Estimating that he’s lost half his corn crop, Anontellis said he has laid off some of his seasonal workers and reduced hours for others.
“There are definitely some lost jobs, as well, which is going to hurt people in the long run who depend on us to get through the year,” he said.
The flooding is just the “tip of the iceberg” of a pending agricultural disaster, warned Allan Zuchowski, owner of Lazy Acres Farm in Hadley.
“I have to tell you Gov. Healey that right now you are standing in a big Petri dish in a science lab,” he said. “The conditions are perfect for a host of diseases to come in.”
Several farmers said they worry that because they can’t fill produce orders this summer they will lose customers, especially national chains such as Whole Foods and Walmart, for good.
One farmer said he just received packaging materials that cost him $120,000, but now may not have anything to package.
There were also calls from the farmers to better regulate hydropower dams that dramatically affect water levels in the Connecticut River and to fix century-old municipal sewer systems prone to overflows.
During this month’s heavy rainstorms, millions of gallons of untreated sewage discharged into the Connecticut, Deerfield, and Green rivers from Greenfield, Northampton, and Holyoke.
Farm fields flooded by waters contaminated by raw sewage can often be unplantable for years.
