Opinion

‘It Is Impossible to Farm If There Is No Farmland Left’

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We are Laura Haverland and Andrew Morley, farmers in Little Compton, R.I. Our farm business, Sweet & Salty Farm, is the only dairy farm left in our town. We make cheese and yogurt from the milk of our grass-fed Jersey cows.

We are writing to urge Rhode Islanders to vote yes on Question 4 on Nov. 5, which would fund environmental programs, including continued farmland preservation in Rhode Island, so future generations of farmers like us can continue farming in this great state.

Fifteen years ago, after working for other dairies, cheesemakers and food businesses in other states, we set out to start our own farm. We cast a wide net throughout the Northeast looking for the right combination of good markets and access to high-quality farmland.

We were introduced to an incredibly kind-hearted couple in Little Compton who were retired dairy farmers. They had conserved their family farm decades before.

Because of their foresight to protect their land as farmland forever, it was still available for us to rent and build our new business around. Without the combination of the retired dairy farmers’ generosity and planning, and the state’s farmland conservation program, it is very likely we would be farmers in some other state.

Farming is the most rewarding work we have ever done. However, nearly everything about farming is challenging. It is physically difficult work, but not impossible. It is economically difficult to make a living farming, but not impossible.

It is, however, impossible to farm if there is no farmland left. Rhode Island is at risk of losing its farms for good if farmland conservation work stops.

If Rhode Island is going to weather the challenges that a changing climate is bringing us, including disrupted food supply chains, we need more farmers, more farms and more food grown here in Rhode Island.

The farmland conservation funding in Question 4 is a critical piece to making it all happen.

We urge all Rhode Islanders to support Rhode Island’s colorful collection of small businesses that are our farms in every way you can, including voting yes on Question 4 in November.

Laura Haverland and Andrew Morley own Sweet & Salty Farm in Little Compton.

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