Acres of No-Till Corn: 240 acres Decrease in Fuel Usage (for Planting): 67% Farmer Hours Saved: 120 hours Tons of Carbon Sequestered: 72 metric tons In 2019, Barstow’s Longview Farm went 100% no-till. We transitioned to no-till over the course of four years and moving away from tillage: a strategy this farm and many have … Read more
“Gentle, gentle” a mother tells her 3 year old as he grabs handfuls of chocolate brown hair off of Moose the farmdog, who has ambled onto the Barstow’s Dairy Store and Bakery porch in search of crumbs and attention. I smile and reassure her that Moose is great with kids, in fact he’s got a … Read more
June is Dairy Month! Learn more about how dairy impacts our economy, planet, diet, land use, and how dairy farming connects us with heritage in the Pioneer Valley. Join the conversation with experts across all fields of dairy (get it?!). The Dairy Month Lecture Series is hosted by Barstow’s Longview Farm and Barstow’s Dairy Store and Bakery. … Read more
June is Dairy Month! Local farmstands in Hadley, South Hadley, and Sunderland are celebrating with the Dairy Month Dairy Crawl! Visit the participating farmstands; Barstow’s Dairy Store and Bakery, McCray’s Country Creamery, Flayvors of Cook Farm, Maple Valley’s Hadley Scoop, North Hadley Sugar Shack and Market, and Smiarowski’s Farmstand and Creamery; and purchase an ice cream to get your Dairy Crawl … Read more
June is Dairy Month! Learn more about how dairy impacts our economy, planet, diet, land use, and how dairy farming connects us with heritage in the Pioneer Valley. Join the conversation with experts across all fields of dairy (get it?!). The Dairy Month Lecture Series is hosted by Barstow’s Longview Farm and Barstow’s Dairy Store … Read more
Dairy Farms: Part of the Climate Solution | Must be the Milk According to the EPA, U.S. agriculture contributes 9% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Half comes from animal production, the other half from crop farming. If we did away with animal agriculture, there would be only a 2.6% reduction in total emissions…. Why … Read more
Must be the Milk April 22, 2019 Climate change has challenged our society to adopt practices and technologies to cut fossil fuels, reduce emissions, and live more sustainably. With razor thin margins, farmers are being further tested. Our livelihood directly depends on a healthy economy, a healthy community, and a healthy planet. Here are a … Read more
Last night was Barstow’s second ever Dinner & a Speaker event titled Rural Prosperity: how we lost it and how we get it back. A huge thank you to Dr. Holly Hanson, history professor at Mount Holyoke College, for her fascinating lecture! Dr. Hanson outlined four relationships that contribute to rural prosperity: Farmer and Nature … Read more
Dairy farms are dotted across the New England landscape. But with recent trends of low milk prices, over-supply, increased costs of doing business, consolidation of agricultural conglomerates, and the power and wealth in ag going to only a few: those dairies are being shuttered. Dairy farmers, especially small family farms in New England, are in … Read more
Here are a few articles the Barstow family was reading this month: Fresh Talk: It’s hard to be a dairy farmer. But it’s worth it. But every farm has some important similarities. We all take the best care possible of our cows, and we do everything in our power to protect our soils and waterways. … Read more