By RUDI HEMPE
CELS News Editor and Reporter
The popular perception of Rhode Islanders is that farming here is on life support.
Now, however, several officials, institutions and organizations are trying their best to bury that perception with a variety of approaches intended to replace life support with network support.
The farming experts providing this support may come from different directions but they all have the same goals—improve the lot of Rhode Island farmers, take steps to curb the disappearance of agricultural land, find new ways to promote local agricultural products and reconnect the people with local farms.
As a result, an alphabet soup of acronyms is now in place and, through a variety of methods ranging from ordinary newsletters to formal seminars and workshops, help is coming from all directions to boost the state’s 900 farms.
The tone for this statewide effort was sounded loudly last fall when Mark Rey, the United States Department of Agriculture Undersecretary for Natural Resources and the Environment, was welcomed at the Farm Bill Forum held at the URI Bay Campus.
A number of speakers delivered remarks including W. Michael Sullivan, former CELS professor who is now the director of the state Department of Environmental Management (DEM).
Sullivan, himself a small farmer, lauded the Rhody Fresh milk cooperative, cited the state’s long-standing support for providing funds to purchase the development rights to farmland, the proliferation of farmers’ markets and the fact that the state is second nationally in terms of direct marketing agricultural sales.
W. MICHAEL SULLIVAN, director of the state Department of Environmental Management, is hoping the new Farm Bill will provide more assistance to Rhode Island.
But, continued Sullivan, while the farm protection programs are fine, there is a consequence when owners apply for aid and find that their access to capital is markedly decreased. Furthermore the commodities programs in the Farm Bill do not apply to the vast amount of Rhode Island agriculture and hence there is a |
need for more equitable distribution of funds to this state. For the state, the Farm Bill should provide educational opportunities for farmers, financial support for initiatives and such technical aspects as nutrient management programs, he said.
The other messages at the workshop struck a familiar note—that Rhode Island farming is unique and does not easily fit into the legislative model for the big farming areas of the country.
“I think that Rhode Island agriculture, if it is anything, is about innovation,” said Dr. Jeffrey Seemann, dean of CELS. “How can we take ideas like Rhody Fresh to the next level?” Seemann asked. Addressing Rey, the dean continued “I would ask as you look to the authorizing language for the next Farm Bill that you think about how that Farm Bill can be able to make more investments in agricultural innovation.”
Perhaps the new Farm Bill will address some of the things voiced at the October workshop. But a lot of people are not waiting that long to get started on finding solutions for the state’s farmers.
Here’s a sampling of the some pro-farming initiatives in the state:
The Rhode Island Center for Agricultural Promotion and Education—(RICAPE)
RICAPE started with a farm viability grant and now it is operating in concert with DEM and URI CELS.
STU NUNNERY, executive director of the RI Center for Agriculture Promotion and Education, heads up a new effort to promote RI agriculture in concert with URI and state agencies.
The center’s emphasis is on education (especially school children), professional development and outreach.
Heading up the center as executive director is Stu Nunnery who feels it is important to promote agriculture as a center of quality of life in the state.
“I do not see the next generation coming up continuing farming under the present scenario,” said Nunnery. “Farming is difficult and earnings are small in comparison to someone offering money for land development.”
Multiple things have to be addressed, he said, but “one of the best things is to connect the agricultural community with the business community to promote agri-tourism and economic development.”
That process has already started. This spring, Nunnery, DEM’s Division of Agriculture and (continued...)
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