The North Amherst Community Farm is a small, local, not-for-profit organization devoted to preserving farmland and promoting sustainable farming practices in our community. The capital campaign we completed in 2016 will preserve our 30+ acre farm property in North Amherst, MA.

How NACF works

NACF operates via a shared stewardship model; community owned farmland with a long-term, affordable lease to succeeding generations of farmers. Starting with its purchase in 2006, NACF’s farm property was leased to Simple Gifts Farm, a for-profit entity which operates an organic CSA. This model has provided a local, sustainable food source and accessible open space for everyone in the community until 2024.

SGF worked hard at improving the farm; drilling a well and installing an irrigation system; clearing brush that encroached on the farm fields over decades; adding greenhouses for winter production and PV solar panels on the CSA share barn; increasing soil fertility using a small scale livestock program.  In 2024, Simple Gifts discontinued their farming operation.  Several local farms are currently renting the land and greenhouses.  NACF has initiated a visioning process to decide in cooperation with the local community, what’s next for the farm.

The following story in the Daily Hampshire Gazette provides an update.

For more stories on what’s happening on the farm, see: News and Views.