Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 7/19/2022
AMHERST – Foxcroft Farm owner Jim Hoerle recently received a $40,000 grant to help cover the cost of a new hay and equipment storage shed as a member of the Agricultural Preservation Restriction Program (APR) through the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR).
Hoerle operates a 90-acre farm that primarily produces hay for nearby dairy and horse farms, but they also have limited amounts of honey, eggs and vegetables which may be expanded in the future. Hoerle purchased the former dairy farm in 2012 and said that he and his wife have reestablished and dedicated 62 acres to the APR and built new buildings while maintaining the period architecture. He applied for the grant about one year ago and was approved with the stipulation that the project must be completed by June 30 of this year..
“I had a wonderful experience with MDAR, they were just super helpful, there was a fella’ named Michael Parker who was my grant person and he made the experience over the last year just wonderful,” Hoerle said in an interview with Reminder Publishing. “What they do for the business planning is when they say, ‘OK Jim, we’re going to give you $40,000 for something that you want to do, but we’re not just going to give you the money we’re going to come out and hire a consultant to come to your farm and maybe help you do a little business plan or fine tune your business plan.’”
MDAR Farm Viability and Agricultural Business Training Programs Manager Melissa Adams said that the program also offers additional technical assistance like website development, financial tracking assistance or succession planning assistance depending on the needs of the farmer. She said the business planning and technical assistance provided by MDAR is offered by providers with expertise that are on contract with MDAR and free for the farmer.
“The program’s combination of business assistance and capital investment helps participating farms, that have been protected from development, continue to have a productive, viable farm business,” Adams said. “A recent questionnaire of past program participants found that the top-rated impact of participating in the program identified by respondents was improved operational efficiency followed by the probability that their farm will continue. Other significant impacts identified were improved labor conditions and improved product quality.”
Hoerle is a retired builder that said he wanted to do some “gentleman’s farming” which eventually grew into the current business. He said that he’s now a certified Massachusetts farm controlled by MDAR and the federal government because he was paid not to develop the 62 acres of protected land when he joined the program three or four years ago.
“There’s a number of grants available through MDAR,” Hoerle said. “Some of the grants a starting up farmer for example for this particular grant you had to be an APR farm, an agricultural preservation restricted farm. I had to have at least 25 or 50 acres under production of some type of crop, I had to be in the program for at least one year.”
More information about the APR Improvement Program can be found online at https://www.mass.gov/service-details/apr-improvement-program-aip. Adams said the next application is expected to be available in early 2023, depending on continued program funding.
“It’s just a beautiful farm, it’s probably one of the prettiest farms in Amherst,” Hoerle said.