Written by Michael Leff, Director of MACD

MACD’s Small Farms Engagement Guide (MACD+NRCS) 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. (You can see a list of that full cast of characters on page 2 of the guide.)

Speaking of sharing, I’m writing to share some exciting news – or at least exciting to me and hopefully useful to many of you. 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. (You can see a list of that full cast of characters on page 2 of the guide.)

For a full description of the content and purpose of the guide, please see the Table of Contents and Introduction (pages 3-5). Basically, 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.”

I’d like to call your attention to one unique feature in particular, which is accessible by opening the PDF attached – namely, 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.

We do have a limited number of hardcopies of the guide as well, and I can share a few if you’re interested. It’s a real beauty to behold – though you’ll obviously need to view it in electronic form to activate the links.

In the coming days, we’ll be circulating the “Engaging with Farmers” guide to partners and interested parties far and wide, and I encourage you to do the same. Feel free to post it on your websites or include in any direct outreach to your constituents. We welcome your feedback at any point as well by emailing