Lee Agricultural Commission Forum Highlights Dairy Farm Decline, New Preservation Tools

LENOX — April 15, 2026 — Lee Agricultural Commission hosts public forum on state farm bill and Berkshire farmland crisis. The commission, chaired by Mary Burton, convened a public meeting April 15 featuring Casey Pease of state Sen. Paul Mark's office and Sarah Gardner, president of Berkshire Grown and chairwoman of the Williamstown Agricultural Commission. Pease outlined the FARM Act — Fostering Agriculture Resilience in Massachusetts — which the Senate passed unanimously in early April and which now awaits a House vote; the bill codifies the Healthy Incentives Program for SNAP users at farmers markets, creates a next-generation farmers fund, and establishes farm-to-school and agritourism grant programs. Gardner described a Berkshire dairy farm count that has fallen from 32 in 1999 to 12 today, and said American Farmland Trust projects Massachusetts could lose up to 89,000 additional acres of farmland by 2040. Town planner Keely announced Lee has applied for a grant through the Vermont-Berkshire Regional Planning Commission to develop a local farmland action plan, one of the first communities to do so through that partnership.