APRs keep farming alive

It was more than 70 years ago that Sandy Urgiel’s parents purchased their farm in Gill – more than 100 acres of rolling fields and meadows outside of the center of town.

They started with potatoes, and then, when Sandy was 10, they added dairy cows. It continued as a dairy farm until 2000, when the Urgiels decided to sell that part of their operation and stick to corn, hay and heifers.

A few months ago they made another key decision in the history of the farm, one that will keep a farm forever: They put 70 acres into the state Agricultural Preservation Restriction program.

The 30-year-old program, in which farmers are paid the development value of the land and agree to limit the use of the land to farming and open space, has helped protect more than 725 farms and a total land area of more than 61,855 acres.

Over the past several months, FLT has worked with the state to protect more than 700 new acres, including the Urgiel’s farm.

“My husband didn’t want to see it built on, or sold for development later on,” said Penny Urgiel, Sandy’s wife. In the bigger picture, she said the APR program may help keep Gill “a farming community.”

The recently completed APR projects span the county, and include farms of all types and sizes.

 Program aids dairy, vegetable farms 

The largest among them is a 326-acre property in Ashfield belonging to Thomas and Shirley Shreiber, who run a dairy farm that’s been in production for several generations.

In another large project, FLT helped protect 128 acres in Montague belonging to Karl Garbiel. The land has been used to graze the Garbiel dairy cows and for vegetable production.

At the western end of Franklin County, FLT worked with landowner Walter Gleason to protect 82 acres off Bassett, Town Farm and Schoolhouse roads. .  In addition to protecting the agricultural resource, the APR will eliminate the possibility of future development, which would dramatically alter the scenic and rural character of Heath. 

In Greenfield, FLT worked with owners Ralph and Frank Hastings to protect 63 acres of Leyden Road. In this project, FLT obtained help from the Western Massachusetts Community Foundation to give the Hastings an immediate payment – before the state money became available – so they could move ahead fencing and pasture rehabilitation work. The farm has been used mainly for intensive row crop production, but with the APR in place, the Hastings are pursuing a diversified farm plan.

But APR projects don’t need large amounts of acreage to make an impact. In Charlemont, FLT purchased a 30-acre parcel along Route 2, as part of a scenic byway project. It placed the land in APR, and then sold it to a farmer. The land is currently used by a dairy farm.

In  Deerfield,  FLT helped landowners Stephen Anderson and Ava Gips obtain an APR for a 20.6-acre parcel along the Connecticut River that is used for hay crops and organic vegetables. This property abuts other APR farmland in the area, and the back wooded portion – and additional 87 acres – has recently been protected by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.