Farmers seek voice, recognition

The abandoned rail bed near Al Horton's bee farm in Dunstable is frequented by bikers and walkers. Years ago, Horton set up an 8-foot-high netting to prevent the insects from flitting from his apiary and stinging people as they careened past during the warm months.

Horton thinks this is the reason that he has never had a complaint about his farm. But he knows other beekeepers in the area who have problems with their neighbors.

''It can be a problem, if it's near someone's home and the people are allergic," he said.

Such anecdotes are becoming a familiar story line in towns like Dunstable, which are struggling with new development while trying to retain their agrarian heritage.

Horton is among a growing chorus of local farmers advocating a right-to-farm bylaw and an agricultural commission, two measures designed to lend a political voice to the local farming community.

Though worded differently from town to town, right-to-farm bylaws seek to generate awareness among incoming residents that the town has a farming tradition, but give no additional legal power to farmers or their properties. The law is aimed at building mutual understanding between farmers and newcomers, some of whom may be moving from metropolitan areas.

An agricultural commission's primary responsibility is to mediate farming disputes -- such as complaints about farm vehicles, smells, and noise -- and to provide recommendations regarding farming to the public and local boards.

Both measures, in varying forms, are catching on across the state this year, said Kent Lage, assistant commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. Westford, Pepperell, and Acton have recently adopted bylaws establishing agricultural commissions, joining a total of 42 cities and towns in the state that have done so this year, he said. As many as 30 more communities have the bylaws in the pipeline, he said.

Pepperell voters at a special Town Meeting signed off on a right-to-farm bylaw in October.

In Groton, local farmers, flower sellers, and vegetable growers have just started banding together to begin tackling questions about forming an agricultural commission and a right-to-farm bylaw. Agriculture Resources Commissioner Doug Gillespie is scheduled to talk to local residents tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. in the Groton Grange on the subject.

Sally Smith, an owner of Common View Farm in Groton and a flower seller, said Agriculture Resources' campaign urging cities and towns to adopt agricultural commissions has piqued the interest of local farm owners.

''There have been misunderstandings about what a farmer can and can't do on a property" in Groton, said Smith. ''[Farmers] feel like they need a voice."

Smith said the right-to-farm bylaw also can let new people moving into the town know that they have a farm next door and help foster understanding between new and old neighbors. ''It lets neighbors know what is happening and is clear about what you are moving into," she said.

Besides arbitrating disputes, agricultural commissions can also help secure federal and private agricultural grants to protect farmland, Lage said.

They generally serve as advisory committees to other boards, but towns, through the bylaw voting process, can imbue them with more political muscle, if desired, he said.

Pepperell Town Administrator Robert Hanson said both bylaws were passed in October almost unanimously. He said the agricultural commission is primarily advisory in nature.

''The agricultural commission may issue an opinion," said Hanson. ''They do not have authority, when push comes to shove."

Cathy Tyler -- an owner of Twin Pine Farms, a Pepperell horse-training facility -- said the Pepperell Horse Association prompted the citizen-based push for the bylaws, after seeing Westford and Acton recently adopt the measures.

''We felt we needed to do it in Pepperell," Tyler said. ''We are far more rural than Westford and Acton."

Tyler said Pepperell is horsey, with numerous horse pastures and riding rings scattered throughout the town. She said she has good neighbors who don't complain, but that horse farms can pose a bit of nuisance at times.

''I can pull in at 3 a.m. sometimes from a horse show in Montana," she said. ''Sometimes I'll have all my barn lights on at 5 a.m. from a baby being born. . . . People moving into the community may not be aware of this sort of thing."

Horton said the steering committee in Dunstable, which he chairs, hopes to bring forward both a right-to-farm bylaw and an agricultural commission bylaw next spring.

The plan is to strike a clause from the right-to-farm bylaw model provided by the state, which imposes a $300 fine if home sellers don't notify their buyers of a farm next door, he said. The steering committee believes that policing the measure would prove too costly and time-consuming for the town, Horton said.