Every day is Earth Day on a dairy farm! Like most dairy farmers in this country, we live in the place that we work. That means each morning we greet our day, walking from our back step, into our dairy barns. We care for our animals and land, providing wholesome, nutritious, safe, and sustainable food … Read more
22 News WWLP By Tashanea Whitlow Published: September 1, 2017 HADLEY, Mass. (WWLP) – Technology in the 21st Century is taking farming to a new level; or, at least, a new altitude. Instead of spreading “cover crop” seeds by hand or tractor, Barstow Farm in Hadley is using a helicopter to plant winter grass and … Read more
Hockanum Village is in a 100-year flood-plain. While this contributes to fertile soil, it also means this area has gone through some very extreme flooding. During heavy, extensive rain and during rapid snow melt in the north, the Connecticut River floods and the fields and sometimes even roads are inundated. You can visit the Hockanum … Read more
Kestrel Land Trust Blog February 10, 2017 After receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars to preserve their seventh generation family farm, the Barstows are using the money to populate it with robots. While negotiating the sale of the Agricultural Preservation Restriction rights on 123 acres of their dairy farm, the Barstows have installed four Astronaut … Read more
Manure Manager September 30, 2016 By Tony Kryzanowski Dairy farms depend on the price of milk, but milk prices can fluctuate wildly. At present, milk prices in the New England area are about half of what they were two years ago. Sometimes, production costs can even exceed revenue. To weather milk price fluctuations like this, … Read more
July 14, 2015, MassLive By Diane Lederman Forever Farmland On July 14, 2015, state officials, the Kestrel Land Trust, donors, supporters, and some Barstow’s gathered at the Skinner State Park Summit House to celebrate the preservation of 1,000 acres of land on the Mount Holyoke Range over the last two years, this in addition to … Read more