UMass sustainable farm program spreads

SOUTH DEERFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Massachusetts is leading the way for green jobs and sustainable farming.

A Brookings institute survey found that Western Massachusetts has one of the sixth largest economies for green jobs.

State officials toured a UMass research farm in South Deerfield, where they are using solar power to grow sustainable crops. It's a formula that is being copied nationally.

"We are setting a huge example, it's a huge validation when the federal government comes in without being asked to take this program and blow it up nationally,” said Rick Sullivan, secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

Scott Soares of the Mass. Dept. of Agricultural Resources said, "We see such great agricultural operations in western Mass, generally in the Pioneer Valley, globally known for the soil quality and the production that we see here and the bridges between rural and urban communities just as a result of the farming has been remarkable for the growth we've seen."

The solar learning labs at the farm are also used by 13 middle and high schools in western Massachusetts