WCAX covered Sunday’s Flavors of the Valley local agriculture expo, emphasizing the impact of Tropical Storm Irene on area farms. Excerpts from the coverage:
But perhaps no farming event this year can go without mention of the recovery many farms still face seven months after Tropical Storm Irene.
Betsy Luce, of Sugarbush Farm in Woodstock, says last August her business took a three-fold hit. “The two most prevalent ways to reach our farm are covered bridges. Both of them were disabled and will be disabled for one or two years. Our own road washed out and then we were impacted by less tourists coming to the state,” she said.
The Luce’s farm has been in business for nearly 50 years and has managed to bounce back, but not all have been so lucky.
“It’s kind of, one challenge creates another. There was a lot of damage to crop land and silt and having trouble raising crops, which means you have trouble feeding your animals or raising crops for human consumption like you used to do,” said Anne Duncan Cooley with the group Upper Valley Strong, one of the few non-food tables at this year’s event. She wants farmers to know help is still available to lessen the burden of recovering from Irene. It’s going to be an ongoing effort for probably at least another year,” she said
Video of the full report and interview is available here: http://www.wcax.com/story/17456967/upper-valley