Two topics dominated when the Martha’s Vineyard Farm Bureau recently hosted representatives from state government and the statewide farm bureau: housing and the possibility of building an animal processing facility on the Island.
State Representative Dylan Fernandes, Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation president Warren Shaw, and Michael Holcomb, the district director for State Senator Julian Cyr, attended Friday’s public meeting with local farmers.
Local farmers addressed their concerns, including housing and labor shortages with state representatives.
— Ray Ewing
The farm bureau was founded in 2020 with a mission to support and advocate for Vineyard farmers, with Dan Martino and Brian Athearn representing the Vineyard as state appointees. The farm bureau complements the activities of the Agricultural Society, an organization that farm bureau president Dan Martino described as “the strongest community glue that you can have.”
The farm bureau, however, has the mandate to actively initiate and advocate for legislation impacting the agricultural sector.
Since its founding, the local farm bureau has been involved with a bill that would remove aquaculture from The Merchant Marine Act of 1920 (commonly known as the Jones Act), a federal law aimed at protecting maritime workers from injuries at sea. In advance of the public meeting, Mr. Martino expressed the belief that insurance expenses associated with the Jones Act were cost prohibitive for small aquaculture businesses to the point of possibly causing bankruptcy. So far, the bill remains pending with the U.S. Congress.
As Island farmers look to the upcoming growing season, many said they are particularly concerned with finding housing for seasonal workers. Complaints were raised about the restrictions and requirements for dormitory-style housing and town zoning laws that are prohibitive for construction.
Mr. Fernandes responded by expressing frustration and concern about the local crisis, saying that the Vineyard has arguably one of the biggest problems in the state.
“It’s astounding how little Martha’s Vineyard has done on the issue of housing. There’s no real coordination here,” he said. “You have the property tax base here to do something about housing. You have to till the fields on this. The Vineyard is going to very quickly become Nantucket.”
Many farmers expressed the desire to revisit the possibility of building a local animal processing facility. The current procedure has farmers taking meat off-Island to be inspected. Julie Scott of Slough Farm noted that the closest facility to the Island is Meatworks in Westport, on the border of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Ms. Scott also reminded everyone that Meatworks is raising its prices. Mr. Shaw added that off-Island slaughterhouses already have more business than they can handle.
Eric Glasgow of Grey Barn, however, posed questions about a local processing plant, including potential consistency of product, obtaining skilled and trained butchers on the Island and what the fee structure would be.
The problems of labor shortages and H2B visa restrictions were also raised. Mr. Fernandes pointed out that H-2B is a federal program that has been scaled back and he urged local farmers to contact federal representatives.
Other issues raised included zoning exemptions needed to support agro-tourism and Canada geese infestation.
Mr. Shaw assured all assembled that the statewide farm bureau would help with many of the issues but that actions on housing would be needed at the county level. A general message sent by all of the presenters, and backed by Agricultural Society executive director Lauren Lynch, was that contacting state and federal officials through letter writing campaigns would be a solid grassroots action for Islanders to undertake.