SOUTHWICK — Agricultural Commission Chair Burt Hansen said Aug. 11 that the open farm day the commission had previously discussed for this fall would not be able to take place as they had originally planned.
Hansen said that there would not be enough time to organize the event this year, and the group would rather put effort into having the event next year.
“I know I’m going to be extremely busy over the next couple of months. I am trying to retire from my day job,” said Hansen.
Agricultural Commission member Maryssa Cook-Obregón said that she had reached out to some of Southwick’s farms in the spring to gauge their interest, but she has not followed up because she didn’t have any new information.
The idea behind the open farm day would be for people to be able to visit many of Southwick’s farms in a single day, like an open house.
Cook-Obregón said that she had envisioned the farms having events like tractor rides or tours of the farms throughout the day, with people having the ability to purchase specialty products from each farm. She said one farm owner suggested having the Agricultural Commission supervise some of the farms on that day, to ensure nobody interferes with farm operations. She said that would likely require more organization than the commission could pull off by September.
One resident suggested instead having an event where farm owners come to a single location with their products and information about their farms, which would be far easier to organize.
The discussion between Agriculture Commission members was only an informal discussion, as they had a meeting scheduled but not enough members arrived to form a quorum. No vote was taken, but Hansen and Cook-Obregón agreed that the open farm day should be planned for the fall of 2022.
