Seeking Proposals: State-Owned Farmland
MDAR, on behalf of the Department of Public Health, is soliciting proposals for the agricultural use of approximately 43 +/- acres of state-owned property consisting of 10 field areas located at the Western Massachusetts Hospital in Westfield, Massachusetts.
Deadline for responses is December 19, 2019, with bids awarded in January. For details, please read the RFR. For an example of a license please access this link.
The primary purpose of the State-owned Farmland Licensing Program is to make publicly-owned agricultural land available to farmers and others through agricultural licenses.
State-owned farmland parcels which are under the Care and Control of MDAR, and which are licensed for 5 year periods include:
Agawam Criminal Justice Training Center, Agawam (12.00 acres)
Danvers Agricultural Reserve, Danvers (205.50 acres)
Former Grafton State Hospital 1, Westborough (16.10 acres)
Taunton State Hospital, Lakeville (49.30 acres)
Middleborough 1 Middleborough (8.40 acres)
Northampton Agricultural Reserve, Northampton (283.75 acres)
Westborough State Hospital, Westborough (18.46 acres)
Westborough State Hospital, Westborough (51.10 acres)
The Department also licenses out farmland on other state properties under agreement with the appropriate state agency. Land licenses are bid out through an RFR process. Related RFR and other program notices will be posted here and in the Farm and Market Report.