New England Public Radio

Crop Rot Impacts Local Farms

The disease is called Phytophthera Capsici It is somewhat similar to a blight that attacked  local tomato and potato crops two years ago. Whereas that rot was caused by an airborne disease, Phytophthera Capsici  is water-borne and targets other crops.

“It affects vine crops like pumpkins and summer squash and cucumbers…it can affect peppers.”

Andy Cavanaugh is an educator at the UMass Extension Service. He says the disease has been in the area since the 1980's. There are no known chemicals to eradicate it. The most common method is the rotation of crops away from infected fields and instituting more aggressive drainage methods. But Cavanaugh says flooding from the large amount of rain that's fallen since the spring — compounded by Tropical Storm Irene — has spread contaminated soil onto previously clean fields. And he estimates that more than half of the fields along the Connecticut River Valley alone are already contaminated, meaning fewer options for farmers to grow their crops.

“It’s difficult for them, you know, planting out all these crops…and in some cases, especially, you know with CSA farms and farmers, where they have to have a diversity of crops, they have to plant these things. They can’t just say the heck with them, I’m going to put everything into sweet corn…putting a lot of money and time and effort and land into it, and knowing that if it happens to be a wet year, you’re going to lose most of it.”

While local farms and farmers markets will feel the pinch, Cavanaugh says consumers may not see much of a difference as stores will make up the shortage with crops from out-of-state producers. For New England Public Radio, I'm Kari Njiiri.

 

Post-Irene Cleanup and Repairs Continue

Nearly five weeks after Tropical Storm Irene blew through the Connecticut River Valley, residents, farmers, small businesses and ecologists are making headway in the recovery. But there's plenty of work still to be done.

Williams Farm in South Deerfield sits on the banks of the Deerfield River and saw heavy flooding after Tropical Storm Irene. The river deposited up to 3 feet of silt on almost all of its fields of vegetables. Chip Williams owns and operates the 250-acre farm with his father.

"We actually lost a fair amount of topsoil and hopefully we can find some in other areas and move things around. We're thinking at least damage to the field is probably upwards of $500,000 to $600,000."

Williams says he and his family have removed debris and restored 20 of the 60 to 70 acres that were damaged.

"We still have a fair amount of work to do and we may not be able to finish, I mean, unless we get some assistance. We can't afford to put up that type of money on our own. The only assistance so far has been low interest loans. Well, we already have those to keep the farm going as it is."

Williams is one of dozens of farmers in Massachusetts, Connecticut and hard-hit Vermont who will have to report damages to their local farm service agency. Even after a formal assessment is made, along with an emergency declaration, there's no guarantee funding will be available from state and federal agencies.

The US Department of Agriculture has made disaster declarations in 9 counties in Massachusetts, 11 counties in Vermont and 4 counties in Connecticut. Massachusetts Agriculture Commissioner Scott Soares says that although final assessments may not be available for a year, its clear that thousands of acres of farm land were damaged.

"Which may not sound like much to some of our western neighbors but for Massachusetts when we have total arable acres of about 500,000 acres, when we start to get to thousands of acres being impacted and not only the crops being lost on that land but actual soil being gone, it's a really dramatic impact."

Farmers growing produce for human consumption may have most of their losses for the year behind them now. But Soares notes that many livestock farmers saw their feed crops washed away or contaminated, and now will be forced to pay more to buy feed on the open market.

While farmers struggle on, many residents are working to clean up the Connecticut River itself. A mega-edition of the annual  "Source to Sea" Connecticut River cleanup takes place this weekend. Hundreds of volunteers will remove trash and debris carried into the river and washing up onto the banks. Andrew Fisk is executive director of the Connecticut River Watershed Council, which coordinates the event. He's standing at the point where the Westfield and the Connecticut rivers meet, in Agawam.

"This year is really different just because of the storm and what Irene has done to the river all the way up in Vermont and than all the way down to the Sound."

There's no obvious debris or damage to be seen here — but Fisk says that up and down the river's entire length the states' natural resources agencies are still measuring impacts on the river's ecosystem and miles of altered channels, Fisk says, and families and scuba divers alike are welcome to assist in cleanup efforts in and around the river on Saturday.

"People are working in boats as well and they'll get along the shore line and pull out tires, appliances. We have pulled old cars from the river. You name it, it's come out of the river."

 It is getting easier to get around away from the river. State departments of transportation are reporting roads in generally good condition. Highways and bridges throughout Vermont are now open, but a few backroads have construction delays.  In Connecticut roads are all back in service. In Massachusetts, a nearly six-mile section of Route 2 – -a tourist magnet known as the Mohawk Trail — is still closed. If you want to get from Charlemont to Florida, Massachusetts you'll have to take a 37-mile detour.

But that is the only major route in Massachusetts still closed.

All 3 states are urging leaf-peepers to stick with their plans. Ann Hamilton, President of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce in Massachusetts, says she's hoping the Route 2 detour won't deter business in her area.

"We are open for business just like Vermont is. And it's a detour and it's really not far out of the way and I'm sure there's just as much beautiful foliage along that route as there is along Route 2."

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is breaking up the Route 2 repairs into four different contracts, and hopeS to finish the project before snowfall. And while overall recovery costs in Western Massachusetts are now estimated at close to $100 million – that's still just a tenth of the $1 billion in damages estimated in Vermont.

MA DOT Announces Timeline for Route 2 Repair between Charlemont and Florida

Massachusetts Department of Transportation officials have fast tracked the bidding process for contractors to repair a six mile stretch of Route 2. New England Public Radio's Jill Kaufman reports.

It's been almost five weeks since significant storm damage from Irene closed Route 2 between the town of Florida, just before North Adams and Charlemont. This week state officials  expedited the bidding process for contractors to repair severe slope failures adjacent to the road,  roadway instability, eroded bridge approaches, and retaining-walls. State Secretary of Transportation Richard Davey says bids were taken on Monday–contracts were awarded Wednesday and the goal is to re open the road by mid-December.

"All in all it will take about $35-million dollars to repair all the damage that's been done. That would take months to secure those contracts; we did it in days. And it's because not only of the emergency situation from tropical storm damage, but also we know that Route 2 is an important life line for our customers in western Massachusetts."

Short cutting the process required approval from  the State Inspector General. Davey — who was appointed as Secretary of Transportation just weeks before Irene hit — says while the road is expected to be open by mid-December, barring any major snow storms, additional work will take place in the spring.

“Source to Sea” Cleanup

The annual Connecticut River Cleanup may be needed this year more than ever, after Tropical Storm Irene carried trash and debris into the waterway. On Saturday [Today] hundreds of volunteers are expected to pick up trash from river banks, and even scuba dive.

The Connecticut River Watershed Council is pushing its "Source to Sea" cleanup this weekend. Andrew Fisk is executive director of the group, coordinating the annual event. He's standing where the Westfield and Connecticut rivers meet, in Agawam.

"This year is really different just because of the storm and what Irene has done to the river all the way up in Vermont and than all the way down to the Sound."

There's no obvious debris or damage to be seen here — but Fisk says up and down the river's entire length the states' natural resources agencies are still measuring impacts on its ecosystem and miles of altered channels. Fisk says families, boaters and scuba divers are all welcome to help in and around the river during the clean up.

"People are working in boats as well and they'll get along the shore line and pull out tires, appliances. We have pulled old cars from the river. You name it, it's come out of the river."

The Massachusetts Office of Health and Human Services reports that the water quality advisory has been lifted for the river. The water is technically listed as safe again for recreational use. But the state also cautions if boaters can't see into the water to the depth of their hull,  they shouldn't take their boat onto the river. Many tributaries still run muddy due road rebuilding and infrastructure work, Fisk says.

"Particularly where the river is muddy and silty, be very careful because there's a tremendous amount of debris in the river. So we're asking people to be really cautious if you're out in a boat and in most locations it's really still not safe to swim. We don't recommend that."

The Source to Sea cleanup is still looking for volunteers. Anyone interested should contact the Connecticut River Watershed Council.