Innovative Farm Tools Used by Berkshire Farmers

By Martha Jackson Suquet

Gentle Time Farm, in Old Chatham, NY

Farmers make use of a wide variety of tools to produce food, from the simple and hand-powered to more complex machines. For larger-scale farm operators, their toolset often includes large tractors with appropriate implements for soil-working, haymaking, planting, and more. Smaller vegetable growers take advantage of an increasing number of highly specialized tools to maximize efficiency and improve ergonomics. Many farmers buy their tools from companies specializing in niche farm machinery, while others build or adapt tools to fit their exact needs.

For small-scale farmers, decisions around which tools to invest in arise as farmers increase production. The handheld broadfork, beloved by no- and low-till farmers for its ability to gently work the soil with less damage than a rototiller, is a valuable tool but requires a fair amount of manual labor to operate. Gentle Time Farm, in Old Chatham, NY, makes use of a motorized version of the broadfork that works with their walk-behind BCS tractor. Farmer Kaija Xiao says the tool “has completely changed our ability to maintain no-till practices at a 1-acre scale with only 3 people.” While it can be cumbersome to attach to the tractor, the farmers could broadfork the entire farm in one morning if needed.

Some tools are determined by a farmer’s specific crop choices. Baby lettuce mix and other salad greens, for example, can be a profitable crop on a small scale but require lots of time and labor to plant and harvest. Full Well Farm combines a Jang seeder, a single row seeder that pairs custom rollers to the small to medium size seeds, for precise planting with a Farmers Friend greens harvester to improve the process of growing salad greens. A washing machine converted into a greens spinner completes the process, drying greens more thoroughly and efficiently than a hand-powered spinner. “My shoulder greatly appreciates not spinning greens by hand,” notes farmer Laura Tupper-Palches.

We’ve noticed other cool tools around the Berkshires. Barrel root washers, originally designed by Grindstone Farm in Western NY, help farmers wash large volumes of root crops. Precision seeders make the tedious task of starting seedlings in the greenhouse a bit easier. Keeping harvested crops cold is another challenge, and many farmers make use of the CoolBot, a controller that works with a normal A/C unit to create cold storage spaces. This tool offers a viable alternative to pricier commercial refrigeration units. Paper pot transplanters allow farmers to quickly transplant rows of seedlings. For livestock farmers, automatic gate openers help with rotational grazing, eliminating some of the daily labor involved with moving animals to new pasture.

Farmers are resourceful, and sometimes the right tool is a creatively repurposed common object. Berkshire Grown’s own Program Manager, Alyssa VanDurme, who is also a vegetable farmer and proprietor of Field of Love Co farm in Sheffield, reports that one of her favorite tools is a common kitchen fork, used to pop seedlings out of their trays for transplanting.

For those tools more complex than a fork, companies often develop them in collaboration with farmers. Johnny’s Selected Seeds, a Maine-based seed and farm supply company, has been working with local farmers to design and refine tools for 20 years. Multiple manufacturers have developed implements for the popular BCS walk-behind tractors, in response to the needs of small-scale farmers. And farmers often develop tools themselves – communities like Farm Hack allow farmers to share designs and troubleshoot new tools.

Even the most useful farm tools come with challenges. Full Well Farm’s Tupper-Palches notes that their Jang seeder has a significant learning curve, and requires some experimentation to figure out the right seed plates to use for each crop. One farmer’s favorite tool might prove frustrating to another. Farming requires extensive skill and experience, and tools don’t replace that for the farmer – the right tool for each job needs to be combined with the farmers’ knowledge. Tools reduce bodily fatigue, shave precious time from repetitive tasks, or improve the farm’s bottom line through increased precision.

Berkshire Grown's 2023 Impact Report: Supporting Farmer Skill Building

When Ashni Sunder visited the Berkshires early in the pandemic, she discovered a pre-existing farm that seemed to be waiting for an attentive farmer. Inspired by “the substantial Black history of the area,” notably W.E.B. Du Bois andElizabeth Freeman (also known as Mumbet, her enslaved name), Ashni invited two friends to stay and farm with her. “I fell in love with the land and was struck by the community and culture.”

“Mumbet’s story spoke to us. I was deeply impacted by how Elizabeth Freeman utilized the law to advocate for her sovereign rights to be free.” Mumbet’s Freedom Farm took shape, a Black and Brown queer-led farm that works toward becoming “a space to explore and embody love and liberation...that uses Earth as our guide and teacher and source of inspiration.”

As the farm grew, and Ashni began selling to Berkshire Grown’s Farm to Food access program, she needed additional training, particularly around developing a crop plan. She was excited to learn about our 1:1 consulting for farmers that would pay an experienced local farmer to help Ashni create a plan. “Jen Salinetti of Woven Roots Farm has years of experience farming. It was beautiful to have that connection and that Jen’s valuable time was compensated. It is important to support an amazing woman of color and recognize the work she’s doing.”

Read the article here in the 2023 Impact Report.

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2024 Guide to Local Food & Farms

Read Berkshire Grown's 2024 Guide to Local Food & Farms

here.

The Guide is your resource for local food and farm products!

Use it to find farm stands, CSA farms, pick-your-own farms and orchards, as well as locally sourced value-added products like charcuterie, preserves, and fermented foods and locations and hours of food pantries across the county.

You can also find the best in locally grown food and products near you by using Berkshire Grown's searchable map!

Berkshire Farmers Markets Summer Season begins!

Find fresh, local food around Berkshire County and the surrounding region.

Visit Berkshire Farmers Markets to find your local farmers market during this summer season.

Use SNAP or HIP, WIC or Senior Coupons? Many of the markets offer Market Match and other budget-boosting programs. Visit Berkshire Farmers Markets for dates, locations, and more information on where SNAP, HIP and other benefits are honored. Click here to learn about HIP program basics and FAQs.

What we're reading:

Berkshire farmers markets aren't just catering to the rich these days

By Jane Kaufman for The Berkshire Eagle

Reach for an heirloom tomato at a farmers market today and you're as likely to rub elbows with someone who can afford to pay top dollar as you are with someone who can't.

This hasn't always been the case. In the 1990s, farmers markets boomed in popularity and produce prices cultivated exclusivity. But market-rate prices didn't result in sustainable prosperity for farmers. Whole swaths of the community were priced out of farmers markets and their fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables. Farmers couldn't afford to produce for any less and still make their livelihoods viable.

Fast forward to today: Farmers markets no longer are the purview of the affluent shopper. The heirloom tomato is within reach to both the haves and the have-nots.

Read the entire article here.

Bushels of good news: Berkshire County orchards off to a 'spectacular' start in 2024. In 2023, a frost in May devastated orchards for the season.

By Jane Kaufman for The Berkshire Eagle

Apple trees are blossoming in the Berkshires. And knock on wood, warmer temperatures are here to stay.

That means Berkshire County orchardists appear to have dodged a repeat of a May 2023 killing frost that wiped out apple crops and curbed the harvest, especially for the orchards in low-lying areas.

Last spring's devastating frost arrived the morning of May 18, just as apple blossoms had reached peak bloom. The frost coated and killed most of the blossoms, along with orchard owners' hopes for a robust crop in 2023. Some Berkshire County orchards were devastated and popular pick-your-own seasons in the fall were nixed, too. Orchards simply didn’t have the apples. Read the article here.

(Image courtesy of Riiska Brook Orchard, Sandsifield.)