There has been a lot of discussion lately about the fact that cannabis cultivation in the state of MA is excluded from the definition of agriculture. This certainly begs the questions: What is agriculture? And why is cannabis excluded?
The full definition of agriculture can be found in the general laws of Massachusetts. But in summary, agriculture covers all branches of farming. Stealing words from Chapter 128 of the general laws, this includes: the production, cultivation, growing and harvesting of any agricultural, aquacultural, floricultural, viticultural, or horticultural commodities, such as fruit trees, Christmas trees, sugar maples, and all other plants for food, comfort or beauty; growing and harvesting forest products and any other forestry or lumbering operations; keeping of honey bees; and keeping and raising of livestock including horses, domesticated animals for food, dairy products, and other agricultural purposes, and fiber and fur bearing animals.
The practice of agriculture is diverse and rarely pastoral. Agriculture includes hobby farms for miniature ponies and hundred-million-dollar thoroughbred operations, organic free range poultry operations and industrial scale chicken houses, pasture grazed beef production and high density cattle feed lots, and the harvesting of trees through selective cutting as well as clear cutting. Agricultural activities are also wide ranging and include the operation and maintenance of farm equipment; application of fertilizer, manure, herbicides, and pesticides; processing and packaging of farm products; construction, maintenance, and use of farm buildings such as silos, barns, and greenhouses; and clearing of trees and brush to create farm or pasture land.
Unfortunately in the process of farming there are noises, sights, smells, and products that neighbors have found offensive. This problem became especially clear as farmland was increasingly giving way to housing developments. As a response to the conflicts that arose, many states passed Right to Farm legislation to maintain the viability of farming by protecting farmers from undue interference by exempting them from zoning and nuisance ordinances. In 1979, Massachusetts passed the first Right to Farm law. Current state law exempts from zoning laws agricultural uses on parcels of two acres or more. That is unless you’re cultivating cannabis.
In a last minute, informal session in late 2016, the Right to Farm exemption (Chapter 40A, §3) was modified to exclude “marijuana” cultivation. This exception to a law that was originally created to protect farming now enables local boards to enact zoning and nuisance bylaws that target farmers interested in cultivating cannabis.
Despite the extensive regulations placed on cannabis (935 CMR 500.000) to ensure a safe product, an environmentally sound process, and a secure market, local planning boards are piling on additional restrictions that would destroy the viability of any farm, because they can.
If you feel that cannabis cultivation and processing meets the definition of agriculture, you would not be mistaken. Unfortunately, there are exemptions for agricultural practices that some feel must not be granted to cannabis. And so the legal definition is out of sync with the logical one. And the right to farm is infringed upon.
Clarissa Spawn moved with her husband from Lexington, Kentucky, to Shelburne Falls in the summer of 2017. He has spent her life in agricultural areas but has not farmed. She is a computer programmer and a pediatric speech language pathologist, and her sculptural wooden bowls are in home collections from Manhattan to Oslo, Norway.