Tour Hears Hope, Challenges at Farm

The challenges and opportunities facing many family farms were as plain as the shirt on Dean Koshivas' back and the open expanse of field adjacent to his third-generation family farm on Norfolk St.

The shirt was for the paving company Koshivas co-founded after growing up on the farm and the field could be the site of a planned expansion of Arcadian Farm's retail store operations. 

"I had to leave the farm. I wanted to make money," he said Wednesday as Congressman Jim McGovern's Farm Tour made a stop at his farm and orchard. "But I couldn't turn my back either.

"We're ready to move forward now," Koshivas told a delegation that included the number two in the US Department of Agriculture, Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, as well as state agriculture officials. "We want to expand our farmstand and do more value-added products."

As the group toured the farm, Merrigan informed Koshivas of grant opportunities to help him plan his expansion and to invest in greenhouses to extend his growing season. And Koshivas said the farm continues to operate thanks to the tireless work of full-time manager Christine Chabot, his son and, at times, his own paving crews. 

Merrigan said the challenges facing Arcadian are echoed throughout agricultural concerns in the state, which she believes can be a model for reconnecting Americans with the source of their food. 

"We need to find ways to get young people to stay in farming," Merrigan said, noting that nearly a third of farmers nationwide are over 65. Despite being an urban state, she added, Massachusetts sets a positive example for her "Know your farmer, know your food" campaign. "This is local fresh food being grown by local residents for local residents."

For his part, McGovern said he had asked to serve on the House Agricultural Committee this term because he had seen just how robust the farming community is in his district. The Democrat's two-day farm tour is meant to highlight programs for helping those farms, as well as collect feedback on how federal and state officials can be more helpful. 

"After I was elected, I really had my eyes opened to just how many of these small farms were in my district and how important they are to the local economies," he told Patch. "These farmers are juggling a lot of balls and we want to be there to help them if we can."

At Arcadian, Koshivas said internal family divisions that had stalled expansion plans have been worked out. With the farm stand thriving year round thanks to a growing legion of regular customers, direct retail sales now accounting for 85 percent of the farm's revenues, Arcadian hopes to do even more retail sales with more value-added farm products on the shelves. The farm's apple orchards are also ready for an upgrade, he added. 

Koshivas credited Hollison officials and residents for nurturing local farms and with backing his own plans to grow. "We get a lot of great support from the commmunity," he said.