http://tinyurl.com/llthssx

The link to to an article on the impact of new farming regulations-

Sweet corn season will begin this month without one of Akron’s favorite
> growers.
>
> Bessemer Farms, the only working farm within the city of Akron, has
> stopped growing vegetables for local tables.
>
> Farmer Don Bessemer this year planted all of his fields with soybeans
> instead of the corn, squash, peppers, lettuce and other vegetables that he
> typically grew. His farm market on St. Michaels Avenue is closed, and he
> has laid off all of his workers.
>

The cause-

> Bessemer called it quits out of frustration with pending federal food
> safety regulations that likely will require farmers to very specifically
> track their produce and how it is handled from seed to sale, among other
> things.
>
> The new rules are part of the Food Safety Modernization Act, sweeping
> changes within the Food and Drug Administration aimed at making our food
> system safer by being able to pinpoint where contamination occurs. The
> federal law was passed in 2011, but how it will be implemented is still a
> work in progress.
>
It would have added $100,000 to start and at least $30,000 per year direct
costs and a lot more indirect costs. So we beekeepers want diversity and
not mono-cultures while the government is making it harder for a farmer to
do just that.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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