Dartmouth farms receive government funds to offset climate change

Three local farms — Dartmouth Orchards, Coastal Vineyards and Gidley Farm — are among hundreds of farms across Massachusetts to receive their share of $20 million in government aid to compensate for crops lost to an arctic freeze in early February, a frost in May, and catastrophic flooding in July that ruined fruit harvests across Massachusetts. 

In some cases, farms lost all of their harvests to severe weather events that wiped out apple, peach, plum and pear orchards across the state.

“After seeing the devastating damage and listening to farmers who lost their livelihoods over the summer, we knew we had to do something to support the agricultural industry,” Governor Maura Healey said in a press release. 

To qualify for aid, a farm needed to have lost 15 percent or more of its harvest to a natural disaster.

In response to the 2023 natural disasters, The Natural Disaster Recovery Program grants funds to farms that have suffered losses to extreme weather events.