Night Owl Gets Farm Grant

Thursday, the Baker-Polito Administration announced $1,000,000 in grants to 23 Massachusetts farms -- including Franklin's Night Owl Farm --  to implement practices that improve food safety within their operations. The Agricultural Food Safety Improvement Program (AFSIP), administered by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR), is a competitive grant program that allows produce and aquaculture operations to address food safety on their farms, enabling the operations to meet buyer demands, increase consumption of local food, and protect public health by reducing food safety risks.

Night Owl Farm, LLC, located on Prospect Street, earned a $46,000 grant for a Washing & Packing Facility.

“I am grateful to the team at Night Owl Farm for their commitment to farming and food safety,” said State Representative Jeffrey Roy. “This grant will be a great enhancement to the washing and packing facility at Night Owl and will allow them to continue growing the farm and increase consumption of local food. We appreciate the Baker-Polito administration’s assistance for our local farm operations and food safety.”

“The Commonwealth’s agricultural industry continues to grow and upgrade its practices to both meet marketplace demands and regulatory requirements,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “These grants underscore our Administration’s commitment to helping farmers implement important upgrades within their operations to ensure that food safety risks are managed, that their marketplace needs are addressed, and their businesses continue to grow.”

“Improving food safety practices is important for Massachusetts’ farmers in order to provide the highest quality produce and protein sources for consumers across the Commonwealth and beyond,” said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. “These food safety grants provide a proactive approach for the sector to upgrade their practices to help ensure safe local food production continues for years to come.”

This round of grant funding has a focus on assisting commercial oyster farmers to comply with the Department of Fish and Game’s (DFG) Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) and the Department of Public Health’s (DPH) Vibrio Control Program. Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp) is a human pathogen known to cause foodborne illnesses from the consumption of raw oysters. To address these foodborne illnesses, the Vp Control Plan requires strict harvesting controls for oysters. Examples of awards to aquaculture operations to help meet these requirements include oyster graders, refrigerated vehicles, and ice machines that work towards reducing the temperature of oysters at harvest and continued cooling of oysters thereafter.

“The Baker-Polito Administration is committed to supporting the state’s local farms utilizing a variety of strategies and funding programs, such as the Agricultural Food Safety Improvement Program, to enable great access to fresh, local food that is grown and harvested according to appropriate food safety practices,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Bethany Card. “These grants will further assist farmers in helping modernize their operations and strengthen the local food supply safely and sustainably.”

“A goal of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources is to help keep the state’s food supply safe and secure,” said MDAR Commissioner John Lebeaux. “By assisting farmers with grants and technical assistance, the Baker-Polito Administration is helping to modernize their operations, open new market channels, and meet regulatory requirements that will directly benefit farmers and consumers of their products.”

Grant funds for produce operations provided through AFSIP focus on assisting these efforts meet regulations under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), as well as to protect public health, sustain public confidence in the food system, and meet buyer requirements. Examples of awards to produce operations include cold storage, wildlife fencing, washing/packing facility upgrades, and produce washing lines. The following additional local farms are receiving grants through the AFSIP program:

Brox Farm, Inc. Produce Storage Upgrades; Dracut, MA; $49,000

Fat Moon Farm, LLC Refrigeration; Chelmsford, MA; $50,000

Hagers Farm Market, LLC Washing & Packing Facility; Shelburne, MA; $172,000

Kosinski Farms Washing & Packing Upgrades; Westfield, MA $29,000

Deluxbury Oyster Company, LLC Walk-In Refrigeration; Duxbury, MA; $14,739

Stone Soup, LLC Washing & Packing Equipment; North Easton, MA; $26,000

Spindrift Oysters, LLC Wholesale Facility Food Safety Equipment; Westport, MA; $48,000

Farmer Dave's, LLC Wildlife Fencing; Dracut, MA; $50,000

Quonquont Farm, LLC Washing & Packing Upgrades; Whatley, MA; $10,700

Northern Collective, Inc. d/b/a Field Point Oyster Wholesale Facility Food Safety Equipment; Wellfleet, MA; $50,000

Honeysuckle Oyster Farm Walk-In Refrigeration; Edgartown, MA; $48,000

Elliot Farm, LLC Wildlife Fencing; Rochester, MA; $50,000

Barnstable Sea Farms Refrigerated Delivery Van; Barnstable, MA; $50,000

Upinngil Farm Washing & Packing Facility; Gill, MA; $102,800

Martino's Seafood Two Ice Machines; Oak Bluffs, MA; $6,400

Freedom Food Farm, LLC Washing & Packing Upgrades with Walk-in Cooler; Raynham, MA; $84,500

Johnny Putt Farm Washing & Packing Facility; Littleton, MA; $8,500

Round Island Shellfish Oyster Cages; Fairhaven, MA; $3,100

Red Shirt Farm, LLC Refrigeration; Lanesborough, MA; $28,500

Monk's Cove Oysters Refrigerated Van; Pocasset, MA; $50,000

Signature Oysters Oyster Tumbler; Edgartown, MA; $13,360

Paines Creek Oyster Company Ice Machine; Brewster, MA; $9,401

“I'm grateful to the Baker-Polito administration for the grant to the Johnny Putt Farm in Littleton to improve the farm's washing and packing facilities,” said State Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Marlborough). “If we are serious about keeping our farms, we must do everything we can to ensure they remain financially viable and have 21st century machinery and infrastructure.”

“As a farm community, our local farmers are an integral component of our local food source,” said State Representative Colleen Garry (D-Dracut). “I am so thrilled that Farmer Dave and Brox Farm will be receiving these grants to allow them to continue to keep their crops safe and healthy for our community’s families.”

For more information about the Agricultural Food Safety Improvement Program, please visit MDAR’s AFSIP webpage.