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Advocates call for dedicated climate resilience fund for farms and fisheries
Summary
Regional planners, farm advocates and nonprofits told the committee that H.119/S.60 should create funding and technical assistance for drainage, infrastructure and climate‑smart practices after testimony about flood‑related crop losses and damaged acreage.
Witnesses including regional planners and farm technical assistance providers urged the joint committee to support H.119/S.60, which would establish a fund to help farms and fisheries adapt to climate stressors.
"Climate change has increased microburst storms that can destroy an entire farm's crop in a matter of minutes," said Karen Petinelli, principal natural resource planner for the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District, representing the Rural Policy Advisory Committee. Petinelli said proactive funding would finance controlled‑climate agriculture, climate‑resilient management and infrastructure improvements to reduce disaster consequence.
Steven Taranto, climate program manager at Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA), described on‑the‑ground losses from 2023 flooding: "Jack's farm has 200 acres underwater, mostly potatoes... we're talking about 6,000,000 pounds of potatoes lost from that 1 200 acre flooded field." He and other witnesses said farmers need direct payments and multi‑year funding to implement costly measures such as ditch maintenance, improved drainage and other landscape scale projects.
Brad Fesmire of the Southeastern Massachusetts Agricultural Partnership (CMAP) and others told the committee that several federal Climate Smart grants and projects that would have supported multi‑year adaptation planning have been canceled or evaporated, increasing the need for a state backup fund.
Proponents asked lawmakers to design programs that provide both capital and technical assistance, and to prioritize projects that reduce long‑term vulnerability. The committee did not record a formal vote on H.119/S.60 at the hearing.
