June is Dairy Month! A great time to learn more about how dairy impacts our economy, planet, diet, land use, and how dairy farming connects us with heritage in the Pioneer Valley. This annual series, usually involving farm tours and experts in the field of dairy, will take a different form this year in the … Read more
By NOAH BAUSTIN For the Gazette Published: 5/23/2020 Pasture Day is Denise Barstow’s favorite time on the farm. The event is an annual celebration of spring at Barstow’s Longview Farm in Hadley. In a normal year, hundreds of people gather on the farm to watch the heifers celebrate their first taste of fresh grass in … Read more
In line with our commitment to producing the highest quality milk, Barstow’s Longview Farm recently received a generous Local Farmer Award from the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation to purchase the Lely MQC-C2. The Lely MQC-C2 is an add-on piece of equipment to a Lely Robot Milker. The equipment tests milk fat, protein, milk conductivity, temperature, … Read more
By SCOTT MERZBACH Daily Hampshire Gazette Published: 5/12/2020 HADLEY — Taking tentative and seemingly nervous steps, six heifers had a new experience awaiting them Tuesday morning as they jumped from a trailer into the pasture where they will be spending the next few months. Only moments after their hooves hit the grass, though, the young … Read more
Pasture Day is personally my favorite event of the year. It marks the start of spring and is a true community event in my neighborhood. Usually Pasture Day is the first Saturday in May. Visitors enjoy frolicking cows, live music, farm tours, loads of ice cream, and maybe a few grass stains from playing/rolling on … Read more
Today is Pasture Day! And like the spring this year, it’s coming a little late. Pasture Day, an annual community event typically the first Saturday in May, has been rescheduled and reworked to meet best practices for safe social distancing in the time of COVID19. Barstow’s Longview Farm will release several cows onto pasture in … Read more
Big news! The nesting bald eagles in the meadow have not one, not two, but THREE eaglets in the nest! We are so happy for the proud parents! *A quick reminder that the meadow is private property* A recent bird count in the meadow also accounted for the species listed below. A great reminder that … Read more
Today was supposed to be Pasture Day… But it’s been added to the long list of events across the nation postponed, canceled, or changed as we know them. But because we need some things to stay the same, some things to look forward to, and some things to celebrate; the theme of this blog post … Read more
A birder did a recent survey of the upper and lower meadow for a spring bird count. In some non-COVID19 related news, check out the species that he saw right here in Hockanum Meadow! Please note that the Hockanum Meadow is private property and the birder who completed this survey secured permission from all landowners … Read more
By Jim Kinney | April 7, 2020 MassLive At the 100-acre Calabrese fruit and vegetable farm in Southwick, the sweet corn is planted. Normally not a remarkable occurrence on a farm in April. But with the coronavirus and efforts to stop its spread disrupting nearly every aspect of every life, it’s remarkable that this one … Read more