Disaster Relief Fund for Massachusetts Farmers Advances on Beacon Hill

Jan 09, 2024

By Jill Kaufman

Massachusetts lawmakers have advanced a bill that would create the structure for a disaster relief fund for farmers. It would distribute financial aid after major losses due to extreme weather.

The bill is a response to ongoing significant natural disasters farmers have been experiencing, said state Rep. Natalie Blais of Deerfield, who originally offered the bill with then-Sen Anne Gobi, now the state's director of rural affairs.

"Little did we know how much this bill would come into play, given the significant challenges that farmers have faced," Blais said, "whether it's a drought or the COVID-19 pandemic, [or] the floods and the freezes and the frosts that we saw over this last year."

There's little federal assistance for farmers when they experience crop loss related to weather, Blais said, noting that these sorts of natural disasters are going to keep happening.

In 2022, when farmers in Massachusetts were among those who experienced severe drought and in 2023, when many were impacted by heavy rains that flooded fields, the U.S. Department of Agriculture designated western Massachusetts counties as "Primary Natural Disaster Areas." This allowed the USDA Farm Service Agency to extend emergency loans to farmers.

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Video: Why Invest in Canada’s Seed Future? | On The Brink: Episode 3

Darcy Unger just invested millions to build a brand-new seed plant on his farm in Stonewall, Manitoba so when it’s time for his sons to take over, they have the tools they need to succeed.

Right now, 95% of the genetics they’ll be growing come from Canadian plant breeders.

That number matters.

When fusarium hit Western Canada in the late 90s, it was Canadian breeders who responded, because they understood Canadian conditions. That ability to react quickly to what’s happening on Canadian farms is exactly what’s at risk when breeding programs lose funding.

For farmers like Darcy, who have made generational investments based on the assumption that better genetics will keep coming, the stakes are direct and personal.

We’re on the brink of decisions that will shape our agricultural future for not only our generation, but also the ones to come.

What direction will we choose?

On The Brink is a year-long video series traveling across Canada to meet the researchers, breeders, farmers, seed companies, and policymakers shaping the future of Canadian plant breeding. Each week, a new story. Each story, a piece of the bigger picture.

Episode 3 is above. Follow Seed World Canada to catch every episode, and tell us: Do you think the next generation will have the tools they need to success when they takeover? How is the future going to look?