Agriculture

The storms this past month worried farmers who still remember the losses of 2023 caused by intense flooding and rainfall. While this season is looking up in comparison, farmers still face challenges to plant and harvest crops.

Environmental stressors in 2023 like flooding and air pollution have negatively impacted this year's strawberry crop in Connecticut.

Some farms are facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost income.

Maine farmers, food banks and rural economies could be harmed by a 20-30% cut to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program known as SNAP under a bill being considered by Congress.

Red Fire Farm in Granby and Montague, Massachusetts, is among the small farms suing the Trump administration for unlawfully withholding grant funds for agricultural conservation, renewable energy projects for rural communities and farmers, forestry restoration and fuel reduction.

The proposal has gathered the support of a broad coalition of farmers and academics, who say drones could make their jobs cheaper and more environmentally-friendly.

Eliminating the CT Grown for CT Kids program would save the state $1 million a year, the governor’s office says.

Those who have signed agreements with the U.S. Department of Agriculture are nervously awaiting word on whether they will get their promised funds, or be on the hook for thousands of dollars of projects that are already well underway.

Salvation Farms is among the 37 nonprofits, schools, health centers and municipalities — plus the Passamaquoddy Tribe — awarded $24 million in federal funds by the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) last month.

In Vermont, many dairy farmers don’t seem immediately concerned about losing their workforce. But farmworker organizers say they’re worried about increased immigration enforcement worsening poor conditions on farms.