Berkshire Ag Ventures nurtures farms into next generation

Fort Hill Farm owners Paul Bucciaglia and Rebecca Batchie, and son, with Dan Carr.
Provided
Fort Hill Farm owners Paul Bucciaglia and Rebecca Batchie, and son, with Dan Carr.
GREAT BARRINGTON — With the right support, local farmers can turn a challenging season into a successful harvest.
Neil Chrisman and Joel Millonzi founded the nonprofit Berkshire Agricultural Ventures (BAV) in 2017 to help local farmers in the Berkshire-Taconic area (Berkshire County, Massachusetts; Columbia and Dutchess Counties, New York; and Litchfield County, Connecticut).
In BAV’s sunny office overlooking downtown Great Barrington, Executive Director Rebecca Busansky recalled the origins of BAV.
“Joel told me a story about him and Neil,” she said. “They’d just get in the car and drive around, talking to farmers about their needs, where the gaps were, and how to fill them.”
Seven years later, the group has assisted over 150 local businesses.
BAV’s “core services” are grants, loans, and technical assistance. They’ve provided $2.1 million in low interest loans, $1.5 million in grants, and 2,000 plus hours in technical assistance.
Busansky stressed BAV’s focus on low interest, flexible loans. They lend at 0 to 3%. Typical nonprofits will charge closer to a 7 to 8% interest rate for cost of capital, to pay staff etc.
Busansky said, “We rely on our mix of grants and donors to step up. We subsidize our loan program.”
Other funds come from state and federal grants, foundations, and private donors. BAV is a USDA microlender. They have a system called the Resilience Grant Fund where they can provide up to $5,000 “catalyzing” grants. Busansky said, “The idea with this is to get a farmer over the finish line.”
The cows at Hawthorne Valley Farm in Columbia County are only in the barn when necessary.Patrick Grego
BAV hires grant writers to consult with farmers. Since the pandemic, farmers have seen more grant opportunities; yet without certain knowledge, there’s “not an equal playing field.” Busansky explained, “By pairing farmers with a consultant, we can really make a difference,”
BAV’s specific programs include Local Meat Processing Support, Climate Smart Agriculture, and Market Match Fund.
The Market Match Fund is an initiative in its third year, working towards food access and economic development. It provides a funding stream, based on BAV fundraising, to match SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) dollars at Berkshire farmers’ markets. Customers can match up to $30 in eligible products, including meat, dairy, and even baked goods.
Ciana Barnaba, Community Relations & Resource Development Manager, brought the fund to life, with her experience managing farmers’ markets in New York City. There was a disconnect between farmers’ markets when it came to SNAP, creating a burden for those in charge.
Busansky said, “Market Match is a triple win piece. BAV helps farmers’ market managers, the low income community, and farmers.”
Ben Crockett, Climate Smart Agriculture Program Manager, explained his work, “The Programming for Climate Smart Ag is this huge umbrella of different practices of farm management looking at how farmers adapt to a changing climate.”
Drought ravished 2022. There were extreme floods in 2023. The climate is volatile.
Crockett explained a case he worked on last year. BAV did a risk assessment for Kelley Babbin at Howling Flats Farm LLC. Essentially, Crocket spoke with Babbin about her “biggest risks.”
First, her farm was below sea level, and second her farm suffered unexpected changes from towns shifting water discharge to fields. Impacted by severe flooding, Babbin couldn’t graze.
Crocket said, “We built a plan to amend her soils,” invested in Silvopasture, and paired her with a grant writer. Ultimately those systems improved drainage and reduced flooding consequences.
West Stockbridge Farmers Market.Patrick Grego
BAV also focuses on exploring issues across the broader food system. For instance, how can a farmer use all of a slaughtered animal for products, to reduce environmental consequences and increase economic benefits for food demand?
Bone broth, meatballs, and roving butchers are a part of the answer.
The Local Meat Program started four years ago with a report from Kitchen Table Consultants which found the major barrier for livestock farmers was access to meat processors. Busansky said, “If farmers can’t get appointments to process their animals, they can’t get products out to market.”
BAV developed long-term technical assistance engagements with meat processors, a livestock working group, The Meat Up (a newsletter and Listserv), and a HACCP hotline with Nicole Day of AgriForaging Food Safety for health and safety issues.
Considering new projects, Busansky said, “One area we’re looking at now is this real need to get the next generation of farmers onto farmland.”
LAKEVILLE — While William and Angela Cruger, Wells Hill Road neighbors of the Wake Robin Inn and staunch opposers to the redevelopment project currently under review, were expected to join the public hearing for the expansion as intervenors last week, it was announced at the Aug. 20 meeting that they would not.
The Crugers, who currently have a lawsuit pending against the Planning and Zoning Commission for a May 2024 zoning change that allowed for Aradev LLC’s application in the first place, joined as intervenors during the first round of public hearings in the fall of 2024. As intervenors, the Crugers were allotted space during the hearing process to present their own information and findings with the same right to time as the applicant, bringing in their own slate of expert consultants to dispute Aradev’s own findings.
The Crugers’ attorney Perley Grimes announced in an Aug. 18 letter on behalf of the Crugers that they would not seek intervenor status during this round of hearings. The decision came after Grimes and William Cruger faced pressure at the previous week’s hearing continuation on Aug. 14 to present experts in a timely manner and with new information.
During the Aug. 20 continuation of the hearing, William Cruger said, “We agree with the sentiment that very little has changed here,” reflecting a frequently voiced opinion during this hearing process that the revised application changes little about the scale and intensity of the development. He said many of his experts’ talking points would be similar to last year as the same issues remain, and that he doesn’t want to take time away from residents to contribute their own input.
He said that despite not filing a formal intervention, he will continue to correspond with the experts as the hearing continues and submit new information into the public record. “It shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody that we continue to consult,” he said.
P&Z member Allen Cockerline praised 2024’s intervention, saying it “really elevated the discussion.” He agreed, however, with P&Z Chair Michael Klemens that any new information must be filed promptly so that both the Commission and the public have time to digest it: “It can’t be 11th hour.”
During the meeting Aug. 20, Aradev announced it would be removing all-day outdoor music at the proposed seasonal pool, which proved to be a highly unpopular aspect of the revised application.
A comparatively abbreviated public comment session saw several familiar complaints about the scale and intensity of the redevelopment.
Elyse Harney, who founded a successful real estate company in Salisbury nearly 40 years ago and has been a vocal detractor of the application, spoke as a professional in the field, she said: “There’s not a question in my mind it will diminish property values.”
The hearing was continued to Tuesday, Aug. 26 at 6:30 p.m., and under the current schedule it must close by Sept. 9.
Trooper Donahoe on patrol at the North Kent Road entrance on Saturday afternoon, Aug. 23.
KENT — Hopeful river-goers were disappointed last weekend to arrive at North Kent Road, an access point to a popular summertime hangout on the Housatonic River, and find both sides of the dual entrance barricaded with a state trooper vehicle on guard.
Kent’s Resident Trooper Vicki Donahoe, sitting in the vehicle on Saturday afternoon, said that the town decided to close the location to vehicles after litter was left behind the previous weekend, which saw several hundred visitors flock to the swimming hole.
“It wasn’t horrific,” she said, but on Monday morning there were a number of trash bags that had been left by the trailhead on the bottom of the road, and more loose litter down the trail and on the beach. The action follows weeks of public outcry from residents disturbed by late night parties and garbage buildup at the site.
Trooper Donahoe had been stationed at the road’s entrance since 10:30 a.m. and had turned many vehicles away. She resumed the position on Sunday and is set to spend all of Labor Day weekend watching the roadway. Donahoe said she is confident that the measures will keep recreators from making it down to the river: “I think it’s going to work.”
Kent First Selectman Marty Lindenmayer announced the closure on Aug. 20 in an email to the town, warning that anyone who attempts to move the barriers and utilize the roadway will be “prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Lindenmayer’s statement frames the decision as a “safety, security, sanitary, and ecological response,” and that the town is seeking a permanent solution. Lindenmayer is able to close the road because it is town owned, though a long-term plan for the site will involve several other interest groups, such as Eversource Energy, the state Department of Energy and the Environment, the Kent Land Trust and the Housatonic Valley Association.
In a conversation before the closure, HVA Watershed Conservation Director Mike Jastremski said any future plan for the swimming hole must see the river as a public resource, not just as a problem that needs a solution.
“I think it’s incumbent upon us, and when I say us, I mean the whole constellation of stakeholders around river access to accommodate that desire in a way that is best for site neighbors, for river towns, for visitors and for hitting those three legs of the stool, which are safety, equitability and sustainability.”
At an Aug. 4 Board of Selectmen’s meeting, Jastremski suggested the installation of a dumpster and port-a-potty at the site as a means of dealing with the most immediate issues. In an Aug. 21 comment, Lindenmayer stated that since the town does not manage the shoreline of the river, “there is no way we are going to assume the financial responsibilities of manpower and equipment it would take to manage having a dumpster and/or port-a-potty on site.”
Lindenmayer said that he plans on leaving the road closed until the weather cools and people focus their leisure time elsewhere: “hopefully by mid-to-late September.”
The only transfer in Norfolk in July was the sale of this Greek Revival home in the center of Norfolk at 17 Maple Ave. for $550,000.
NORFOLK — Three condo sales on Greenwoods Road spiked Norfolk real estate activity during the months from April to July. Among the 13 transfers there were seven single family residences with six closing at $500,000 or above. This summer, the number of days a house remains on the market in Norfolk has fallen to only 16 days in July 2025, down from 56 days last year.
At the end of August, seven single family homes were for sale with four listed above $3 million. Of the six land parcels for sale, three are asking above $1 million.
Transactions
338 Westside Road – 5 bedroom/3.5 bath home built in 1908 sold by Samuel A. and Alice C. Anderson to Jenny Childs Preston for $500,000 transferred on April 2.
12 John Curtis Road – National Iron Bank’s 2,523 square foot commercial building sold by National Iron Bank to 144 MSEH LLC for $695,000 transferred on April 7.
Old Goshen Road – 4.4 acres sold by Jane Denise Elmy to Lynda S. Cohen for $30,000 transferred on April 7.
122 Tower Hil Road – 3 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 2.1 acres sold by Francesco and Josephine Ferorelli Co.-Trustees and Martha Saxton Trust Agreement to Safe & Good LLC for $800,000 transferred on April 9.
243 Schoolhouse Road – 4 bedroom/3.5 bath home built in 1761 sold by Jonathan P and Lindsey L. Pizzica Rotolo to Christophe and Tenzeen Choonvala Vohmann Living Trust for $1,275,000 transferred on June 24.
508 Litchfield Road – 4 bedroom/4bath home on 13.1 acres sold by Heather M. McShane to Andral L. Moss and Peter R Chaffetz for $1,250,000 transferred on June 26.
47 Maple Avenue – 3 bedroom/2 bath house sold by Estate of William J. Zibluk to Christian A. and Pamela E. Marino for $205,000 transferred on June 30.
3 Greenwoods Road East, Unit 3A – Condo sold by Jerry Rosenfeld and Marion Harris to Kelly M. Philips for $195,000 transferred on June 30.
75 Greenwoods Road East, Unit 2 – Condo sold by Christopher S. Bagnall to Aaron Kuem Lai and Heather Brooks Perkins for $178,000 transferred on June 30.
3 Greenwoods Road East, Unit 2B – Condo sold by Kelly M Philips to Christopher S. Bagnall for $139,500 transferred on June 30.
Parker Hill Road – 60 acres sold by Brett Austin Robbins for $80,000 to Eric Schleich transferred on July 8.
17 Maple Avenue – 4 bedroom/2.5 bath Greek Revival home sold by Peter R Chaffetz and Andra L Moss for $550,000 to Brian M Van Baush and Amy D Sullivan transferred on July 28.
* Town of Norfolk real estate transfers recorded as sold between April 1, 2025, and July 31, 2025, provided by Norfolk Town Clerk. Transfers without consideration are not included. Current market listings from Smart MLS. Note that recorded transfers frequently lag closed sales by a number of days. Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Salesperson with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in CT and NY.
A man was pinned under his Subaru on Saturday, Aug. 23, after he had exited the car but then attempted to stop it from rolling into the metal disposal bin at the Norfolk Transfer Station. Norfolk Ambulance and the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department responded within minutes and lifted the vehicle, freeing the man whose left leg had become wedged between the car frame and a concrete slab, according to a witness who said the driver was standing after he was freed.