Boesch Farm Lease Subject Of Tonight’s Land Trust Hearing

In July, the EG Land Trust of Pat’s Pastured to be the new tenant farmer at Boesch Farm on South Road. Now the Land Trust and McNiff must negotiate the terms of the lease. A hearing tonight (8/22/11) is an opportunity for people to learn more about what McNiff wants to do at Boesch, and for Land Trust members to hear from members of the public about what they hope to see there.

McNiff was chosen out of to take over the tenancy after abruptly in June. Eacker had farmed the property since 2004, raising vegetables and some fruits and operating a community-supported agriculture program known as a CSA.

McNiff, who worked for the Southside Community Land Trust and Casey Farm before going out on his own with Pat’s Pastured, raises and sells organic beef, poultry and pork. At Boesch, he has proposed  raising vegetables on one acre of land. That has disappointed some in the community who were hoping to have a replacement that more resembled Ledge Ends.

“I hope that we are able to answer some questions and alleviate some of the concerns that have been raised about Pat's Pastured beginning a lease on the Boesch Farm,” said Land Trust Chair Steve Whitney via email Sunday.

“The Land Trust will be considering the issues raised as we negotiate the lease terms with Pat,” said Whitney. “I am confident that many concerns can be adequately addressed through the lease process. I truly believe that Pat and the Land Trust have the same goals in mind: to enter into a partnership to allow sustainable farming that involves and educates the public on historic farmland.”

Donna Dyer, who lives on Narrow Lane, west of Boesch off South Road, organized more than a dozen people to come to a Land Trust meeting. Dyer, who has not returned phone calls or emails for comment on this story, has made several comments on stories about Boesch and McNiff on EG Patch. [Ed. note: Dyer said Tuesday evening that she had not received any emails or phone calls from EG Patch.]

In , Dyer said that she and others in her group wanted to “maintain the integrity of what the Land Trust is entrusted by the public to do” and “to support the efforts of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management in protecting Scrabbletown Brook … Hunt River Watershed and ultimately Greenwich Bay from contaminant....”

In addition, she said, her group wanted a wider search for a farmer who was interested in fruit and vegetable farming.

According to Ken Ayars, chief of agriculture for DEM, the state has a big stake in Boesch Farm, having contributed $480,000 toward its purchase in 2003.

“We make those investments for the sake of the continuation of farming in the state,” said Ayars last week. “It’s agriculture, with the goal of preserving both good farmland and farming operations for the sake of really protecting the food supply for Rhode Island. We don’t distinguish between types of agriculture.”

Ayars said that there is a conservation plan in place to monitor water and soil quality and that it will continue under McNiff. Contamination results “when you’re overloading the capacity of the natural environment,” said Ayars. “It would result if you had a concentrated number of animals in a small area. All of Pat’s management is the exact opposite of that. He rotates his fields. He doesn’t allow them to be concentrated.”

“If we want our food to be locally based, then we have to allow farmers to farm under good management,” Ayars said.

The hearing begins at 7 p.m. tonight at Town Hall. Sign ups to speak during the hearing will take place between 6:30 and 7. According to the agenda (which is attached, left), speakers are limited to one turn at the podium and they must direct their comments to Land Trust members.