8/22/02 MIDDLEBORO - Farmers are alive and well and demanding a voice in the future of agriculture in Middleboro, a fact made evident Monday night as more than 100 farmers and friends of farmers packed the selectmen's room and voiced their support for the creation of a local agricultural commission.

After hearing from state Agricultural Commissioner Douglas Gillespie, Tony Vieira from the Department of Continuing Education at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and representatives from the Westport and Dartmouth agricultural commissions, the only such entities that now exist in the state, and listening to comments from local officials and one another, 12 people offered to serve on a steering committee to write an article for the September special town meeting warrant seeking approval to form a commission. The committee planned to meet last night to work on the article, which must be submitted by tomorrow.

When asked if the board of selectman might be willing to sponsor the article, Chairman of Selectmen Wayne Perkins said that, while he could not speak for the entire board, he would not be at the meeting if he "wasn't interested."

"The town is being encroached upon," he said. "If we don't do something to stop it we are going to see more development and we're not going to leave much of a heritage."

Mr. Gillespie said that he was heartened by the turn-out to the meeting and commented that if he could "fill (his) schedule with meetings like this" he would do it "in a heartbeat."

"This is what agriculture is all about - grass roots," he added.

Members of the Westport and Dartmouth commissions, who are all farmers, told the group that their boards have performed a number of important functions in their towns including educating the public about farming; serving as a mediator when complaints about farm practices are

lodged with the board of health or conservation commission; helping farmers apply for grants; providing a cohesive voice for local farmers who, through the very nature of their work, often feel isolated; finding ways to -save farm land; and offering support services such as business and technical classes. They also pointed out that the two commissions support one another and have planned annual events for farmers in both communities.

"This is the greatest thing we've ever proposed," said Joseph Freitas, Jr., whose family operates a farm on Vaughan Street. "Let's do it as soon as possible. Like everyone else here, I'm getting letters daily from developers who want to buy my land. We need to keep a strong voice for agriculture. Agriculture is an important business. We need to keep it and help it flourish. If we lose this opportunity, we have lost it forever."

Sam Shields, who, with his wife, Susan, operates Lolans Farm on Thompson Street, the last dairy farm in Middleboro, agreed, noting that the notion of farmers feeling increasingly isolated is true.

"It's what we need because the fanning community has become so small," he said. "We no longer have a group of dairy farmers that can support one another. It's incumbent upon us to educate people who are moving out of urban areas and don't know anything about living in the country. There is a whole myriad of issues

that we all have in common." Among the commodities represented at the meeting were cranberries, produce, dairy, livestock, horses, timber and hay. More than 100 stable permits are issued annually in Middleboro and, according to Town Planner Ruth Geoffroy, about 25 percent of the land in Middleboro is under Ch. 61, 61A or 61 B, which indicates that it is in some form of agricultural production.

Statistically, Mr. Vieiera said, Massachusetts ranks 43rd in the country in agricultural production but 14th in net income per farm and fourth in production per acre. In terms of the amount of subsidy farmers receive, he said, Massachusetts farmers receive 12 percent of federal government payments as their net income compared to Illinois' 104 percent, Wisconsin's 54 percent and North Dakota's 131 percent.

"I'd say these people (Massachusetts farmers) know how to produce some product," he said.

lain Ward, a conservation farm planner with the Plymouth County Conservation District and a Middleboro resident who helped to facilitate Monday night's meeting, said the steering committee will likely base the special town meeting warrant article on the articles that were presented to Westport and Dartmouth voters. The committee must decide on a definition of farms and farmers, what the board's mission will be, whether the farmers who serve on the commission must be residents or simply land owners in town, and the structure of the board. Westport, for example, has seven regular members and may have as many as five alternates. Mr. Ward said he would like to have everything in place prior to the September town meeting "so as soon as the article is approved, we can start."

Hoping to see similar commissions established in every town in the county Mr. Ward said that Middleboro is "setting the example by creating a paper trail so it can be duplicated, just like what Westport and Dartmouth did for us. That way it can be regional, except that each town will have its own authority so (Middleboro) is not counseling someone in Carver, for example."

Volunteering to serve on the steering committee were Larry Harju, Darlene Anastas, John Steill, Joe Rich, lain Ward, Edward Parks, Wendy Cameron, Anita Cole, Peter Beaton, Jim Waite, David Gates and Carolyn LaCroix.

The meeting ended with a hearty round of applause.