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By CHRIS LARABEE

SHELBURNE — When it comes to the future of Franklin County farms, there’s so many options: they can be placed under an Agricultural Preservation Restriction, donated to a local conservation agency or sold to the next generation.

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

MONTAGUE — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested four farmworkers associated with Red Fire Farm earlier this month as part of a six-day operation throughout the state, including a raid in Springfield, that resulted in the arrests of 370 allegedly undocumented immigrants.

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — A pair of western Massachusetts lawmakers made an urgent plea to their colleagues last week to allow smaller farms to access property tax benefits currently available only to their larger peers.

By JACOB NELSON

Spring is here, and with it are signs of new life on farms around the Valley. Leaves are beginning to bud on fruit trees, farmers are preparing soil for the coming growing season, and at Little Brook Farm in Sunderland, day-old baby lambs are bounding around the lambing barn.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

BOSTON — The state Department of Environmental Protection is fining Falls Farm, which has property in Montague and Sunderland, for violating the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act and Massachusetts Clean Water Act.

By SAMUEL GELINAS

HADLEY — Irate farmers, waving signs and pitchforks, gathered in front of Town Hall on Sunday afternoon as tractors rolled in and the Expandable Brass Band played at the start of an “Attack on Small Farms” protest.

By CHRIS LARABEE

WASHINGTON — As federal dollars continue to be frozen for projects across the nation, a Pioneer Valley farm has joined a federal lawsuit demanding the government lift the “unlawful and indefinite freeze of congressional appropriated funds,” according to documents filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

By CHRIS LARABEE

BOSTON — As farmers prepare to head out to the fields for the season, Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources Commissioner Ashley Randle sent a letter to the new U.S. agriculture secretary expressing concerns over uncertain federal funding and other actions taken by the federal government.

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

COLRAIN — The sugarhouse at Hager’s Farm on Merrifield Lane sustained minor damage during a fire that was quickly extinguished Wednesday evening.

By ALEXA LEWIS and MADISON SCHOFIELD

When he started tapping trees for the 2025 sugaring season, Paul Zononi of Paul’s Sugar House in Williamsburg was shocked to find that the sap came at a trickle — and with only half of its typical sugar content.

By LISA GOODRICH

“When people think of farms, they tend to think of the summer, abundance, corn fields, and flowers. What people don’t realize is that farms function year-round, and there are many business models that allow farmers to grow products year-round or have products year-round to sell,” says Hannah Logan, Market Manager of the Greenfield Winter Farmers’ Market.

By CHRIS LARABEE

DEERFIELD — With the Planning Board’s special permit approval this week, Savage Farms will construct a nearly 90,000-square-foot potato storage building for year-round protection of the family farm’s crops.

By CHINANU OKOLI

Applications are rolling in for the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources’ new Farm Transfer Planning Assistance initiative that connects aging farmers and their successors with experienced planners to set retirement goals and figure out how management and assets will be transferred.

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

As uncertainty swirls around Washington regarding the release of allocated federal funds, farmers in Franklin County are beginning to feel the freeze.

By EMILEE KLEINand MADISON SCHOFIELD

Brunch restaurant Jake’s in Northampton is scrambling for eggs.

By ALEXA LEWIS

HATFIELD — Cannabis cultivator River Valley Growers of Hatfield is suing neighboring Whately berry farm Nourse Farms for $17 million for allegedly contaminating thousands of pounds of crops with “negligent” spraying of pesticides.

By JACOB NELSON

Plenty of young kids tap a few maple trees, inspired by the sweet promise of maple syrup. Few become enamored with it to the point of kickstarting a family business. Cooper Deane, who helps run Bear Hill Sugar Farm, is one of them.

By DOMENIC POLI

Grab your tunics and chain mail – Red Apple Farm is getting ready to host The NorthFolk Night Market!

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

GREENFIELD — Syd St. John, a Highland Avenue resident with a knack for agriculture, plans to grow and sell roughly an acre of flowers on their land this spring and summer — a plan that St. John said will not require a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals as long as they can earn more than $1,000 per acre of farmed land.

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — Just Roots, a local farming and food access nonprofit, will receive a nearly $250,000 state grant over the course of two years to expand and enhance its operations and technology.

By EMILEE KLEIN

SPRINGFIELD — Most Massachusetts farmworkers whose hard work puts food on the dinner tables for Massachusetts families have difficulty affording the produce they pick and process.