“Engaging with Farmers” Guide

A year and a half in the making, MACD’s Small Farms Engagement Guide, now titled “Engaging with Farmers: Conservation planning on the small and diverse farms of Massachusetts,” is at last ready for widespread dissemination. Led by a team of talented MACD consultants, the project was commissioned by and for our colleagues at NRCS, many of whom participated in the development process – along with many other professionals at various partnering agencies as well as some two dozen farmers who took time out of their busy days to provide their input during personal interviews with the project team.

For a full description of the content and purpose of the guide, please see the Table of Contents and Introduction (pages 3-5). The intended audience is summed up by the first sentence: “Whether you are a new or long-time conservation planner – or any other professional who seeks to engage effectively with farmers in Massachusetts – this guide provides tools and strategies designed to help you evaluate and improve your interactions.”

Several unique features are available through the guide, such as a series of video clips placed alongside relevant content in the guide. These short clips are taken from those farmer interviews and serve to supplement the topics covered and bring it all to life. In addition, by opening the PDF, you’ll be able to activate all the many “hotlinks” to other useful materials throughout the guide and especially in the Additional Resources at the end.