Resources from UMass Extension and the Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment: ag.umass.edu/coronavirus
The western region of Massachusetts is composed of Berkshire, Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin Counties. The largest city in the region is Springfield, located in Hampden County, along the Interstate 91 corridor on the Connecticut River.
SPRINGFIELD — Amateur crafters and do-it-yourselfers will soon be able to "make it" in downtown Springfield.
The University of Massachusetts Design Center in Springfield, MassDevelopment and the Springfield Business Improvement District plan to open Make-It Springfield in a vacant storefront at 168 Worthington St. next month. (MassLive 5/20/16)
The UMass Design Center together with MassDevelopment's Transformative Development Initiative [TDI] are hosting "Make-It Springfield", a temporary "pop-up" makerspace in downtown Springfield during June 2016.
The Springfield makerspace is the latest downtown revitalization project implemented by Michael DiPasquale, Director of the UMass Design Center, as part of CAFE's ongoing efforts to spur economic development and revitalization in the state's third largest city.
Katie Campbell-Nelson, UMass Extension Vegetable Program and Tom Waskiewicz, UMass Extension 4-H Youth Development Program, comment on this year’s asparagus crop. Campbell-Nelson says during the recent cold weather that farmers were irrigating their asparagus at night to keep it from freezing, but she expects there will be a bountiful supply in the next few weeks. Republican, 4/29/16
A winter of extreme warmth and cold, combined with recent roller-coaster conditions, could reduce this year’s apple crop, and will more than likely result in a much smaller peach crop, according to fruit growers looking out this week on snow-covered orchards. UMass tree fruit experts offer observations. Worcester Telegram and Gazette, 4/5/2016, WFCR/NEPR, 4/5/2016
If you are a devotee of New England sugar houses and their distinctive seasonal crop, you may soon be eating your syrup-drenched pancakes along with a side order of concern.
Kristina Stinson, plant ecologist at the University of Massachusetts, recently received a two-year, $149,800 grant to study the impact of climate change on the quantity and quality of sugar maple sap, including its chemical composition.
HOLYOKE — Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (professor Prashant Shenoy, College of Information and Computer Sciences) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing battery technology at the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center that could make the hydropowered city even more carbon neutral.
AMHERST, Mass. – The Stockbridge School of Agriculture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is now offering a fully online associate of science degree in sustainable food and farming. Starting in September 2016, the 60-credit associate degree will allow students to study sustainable food and farming from anywhere in the world. (News Office 2/11/16)
Are you wondering if a robotic milking machine is right for your farm? If so, be sure to attend a one-day conference on Wednesday, February 24 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. at UMass Crop and Animal Research and Education Center in South Deerfield. This event will share perspectives from both farmers and industry representatives on robotic milking to help you decide whether or not robotic milking is a viable option for your farm. Come and speak with farmers who have the system in place.
Students and faculty from UMass Amherst have become welcome partners in the work of effective planning for Massachusetts’ third largest city. Through collaboration between the UMass Amherst Design Center in Springfield, Massachusetts and that city’s Planning Department, students from the University twenty miles to the north have been actively creating opportunities for citizen engagement and innovation.
Got trees? Plan to attend a one-day conference on Tuesday, March 8 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Stockbridge Hall, UMass Amherst. This conference is designed for tree care professionals, volunteers, and enthusiasts including arborists, tree wardens/municipal tree care specialists, foresters, landscape architects and shade tree committee members.
