Sawyer Farm-Massachusetts
For many farmers, incorporating soil health practices into their operations is a process of trial and error. This is true for Sawyer Farm, an organic, horse-powered, no-till farm in Worthington, Massachusetts, owned and operated by Lincoln Fishman and Hilary Costa. They purchased the farm in 2010 and have cultivated three acres of storage crops. They started farming with horses to connect with the labor involved and to move away from reliance on fossil fuels.
“Working with limited power causes you to think more about whether the work you're doing is necessary. You can see the strain and the sweat from the animal, and it makes you aware of the areas of your work that are wasteful,” says Lincoln about working with his two horses, Trixie and Polly.
Over the last 10 years, Lincoln and Hilary have shifted the farm to a fully no-till operation. However, finding the time and resources to invest in no-till equipment that also worked with their horse-powered tractor became increasingly challenging. Funds from AFT’s New England Farmer Microgrants Program allowed them to purchase new equipment to expand and extend their farming operation.
The New England Farmer Microgrants Program, launched by American Farmland Trust in 2020, helps farmers in New England overcome financial barriers to land access, expand onto new land, and plan for farm succession.
“This grant money allowed us to purchase equipment that we would have either done without or sacrificed something else significant,” says Lincoln Fishman. “We believe that shifting to no-till is the right thing to do for our soil and our plants, but the new systems we're developing require experimentation and time. It is hard to justify experimental equipment purchases. This grant allowed us to speed up our process and move towards efficiency in our no-till system.”
Lincoln and Hilary are currently in their second year of no-till practices. Their farming practices help to build the soil's organic matter while reducing the need to purchase inputs from off the farm. These techniques are still a work in progress, but Lincoln is optimistic that this investment in soil health practices will benefit both the Earth and the local community in the future.
