HATFIELD - Szawlowski Potato Farms is sprouting spuds on newly acquired land this year thanks to a fall purchase of nearly 185 acres of prime farmland on the Sunderland-Hadley town line, on Route 47 and Plumtree Road.
The Franklin Land Trust assisted with the conservation of 184.4 acres of land formerly owned by S & J Land Trust. The farm that had been rented for many years to ConnLeaf Inc. for shade tobacco production is comprised of almost all prime agricultural soils. In addition, it represents one of the largest properties in Sunderland and Hadley in single ownership.
These two attributes made it a significant agricultural resource. Plus, it is located in a large farm block, across Route 47 from the Kuzmeski and Tudryn agricultural preservation restrictions and serves as a critical component of the rural, scenic character of Route 47.
“We are using the land to grow potatoes. We have land that abuts it to the north and south that we already owned, and it made it more efficient for crop production,” said Diane Szawlowski Mullins, director of marketing and public relations for the largest potato farm in Massachusetts.
Szawlowski Potato Farms (swazpotato.com) is now more than a century old, founded in 1910 by Polish immigrant John R. Szawlowski.
Franklin Land Trust assisted in the sale of an agricultural preservation restriction on the farm by S & J Land Trust to the state Department of Agricultural Resources' APR Program, in part by providing $204,500 required funding in local match until reimbursement funds were available through the state Highway Department Scenic By-way Program. That money was borrowed from a private source and the Conservation Fund, said Richard K. Hubbard, executive director of the land trust.
“It is one of the largest single-ownership tracts of farmland in the Pioneer Valley, in the middle of a large APR block, creating a string of APRs from Montague to Hadley,” Hubbard said.
The agricultural preservation restriction program is a voluntary program intended to offer a non-development alternative to farmers and other owners of prime and state-important agricultural land who are faced with a decision about the future use and disposition of their land.
The program offers to pay farmers the difference between the fair market value and the agricultural value of farmland in exchange for a permanent restriction that precludes any use of the property that will have a negative impact on its agricultural viability.
Now headed by four of John Szawlowski's grandsons, the potato farm grows about 2,500 acres of round white, red, Yukon gold and russet potatoes. The farm also purchases and packs potatoes from growers throughout the country, providing product to customers in any variety and size all year long.
Mullins, a great-granddaughter of John R. Szawlowski, is a member of the fourth generation of the family to work for the family business; some fifth generation members are also working there.
She said the farm’s purchase of the land is positive for the region “because the land is clearly going to be used as it was protected to be – for agricultural purposes; our intention is to farm the area for years to come.”
Szawlowski’s sells potatoes to retail supermarkets and food service companies in the Northeast.
“It has been a concern for about 10 years to do something to conserve (that Route 47 property),” Hubbard said. “It’s always gratifying to conserve a beautiful parcel of farmland like this” significant agricultural resource.
The parcel includes three APRs: 73.4 acres in Hadley, 53.5 acres in Sunderland and another 57.5 acres in Sunderland.
The acreage includes old tobacco barns and a building once used for a dormitory for farm laborers. “We’re exploring the options for what we could do with it for educational purposes,” Mullins said of the former dormitory.
The original Szawlowski farm was located in Northampton, but, in 1972, the city took 75 acres of the farm by eminent domain for its industrial park, and the family moved its headquarters to Hatfield.