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.
A study to explore the role of fermeneted foods in boosting the immune system was conducted by UMass Food Science at Real Pickles (food producer) over a year and a half. Reserchers examined microbiome communities in the Greenfield facility which could lead to future studies and a better understanding of how to enhance nutrition in fermented foods. (Gazette 10/11/18; Recorder 10/15/18)
A news story recaps two departmental milestones celebrated within a week at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. (Republican 10/5/18; News Office release 10/2/18; News Office release 9/25/18)
U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern met with local agricultural organizations as part of his eighth annual farm tour. UMass Agricultural Leaning Center was one of his stops. (Recorder, Republican, 8/21/18; New Office Release)
Recorder (Greenfield) columnist and former UMass Extension staffer talks about the value of the UMass Extension program. The Recorder, August 14, 2018.
Young people had a chance to showcase their farming skills at the Franklin County 4-H Fair, which was held Saturday, June 30, at the Heath Fairgrounds. (Recorder 7/6/18)
The University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Laboratory of Medical Zoology (LMZ), better known for its national tick-borne disease testing service, has begun mosquito testing with the arrival of 15,000 vials of mosquitoes collected from 47 sites across the continent as part of National Science Foundation’s National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) project, says microbiologist and LMZ director Stephen Rich.
The cold, wet weather this month has set the vegetable growing season behind, according to Katie Campbell-Nelson, a vegetable expert with the UMass Extension in Amherst. (NEPR, 4/24/2018)
“Young Men and Women, Do You Wish to Make the Farm Produce More and Pay Better?”
Christine Hatch, extension associate professor of geosciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, comments on planning for the real potential for more powerful and frequent storms due to climate change. "There can be more than one '100-year flood' in a decade," she says. (Gazette 2/14/18)
CAFE’s enterprising interim farm manager, Bob Skalbite, is actively working on a much-needed project at several of the university farms. He is tackling a task that many of us put off, but would benefit from in our own homes: cleaning house and holding a tag sale.
