The ordinance reads:
"Section 2 Definitions
Farm shall include any parcel or contiguous parcels of land, or water bodies used for the primary purpose of
commercial agriculture, or accessory thereto. Commercial shall be defined by the minimum acreage
requirement (1) or the gross sales and program payment requirement (2) specified in Massachusetts General
Law Chapter 61A, Section 3, as amended. Farm shall include youth related agricultural activities, such as
but not limited to 4-H, irrespective of minimum acreage or gross sales and program payment requirements.
Farming or agriculture shall include, but not be limited to the following: *Farming in all its branches and the
cultivation and tillage of the soil;
*Dairying;
*Orchards;
*Production, cultivation, growing and harvesting of any agricultural, aquacultural, floricultural, viticultural or
horticultural commodities;
*Growing and harvesting of forest products upon forest land, and any other forestry or lumbering operation;
*Raising livestock including horses;
*keeping of horses as a commercial enterprise;
*Keeping and raising poultry, sheep, goats, swine, catle, ratites (such as emus, ostrich and rheas), camelids
(such as llamas and camels) and other domesticated animals for food and other agricultural purposes,
including bees.
1. In 2005 the minimum acreage requirement was not less than 5 acres.
2. In 2005 the gross sales or program payment requirement was not less than $500 per year.
Section 3 Right to Farm Declarations
*All these guidelines are subject to applicable local, state and federal regulations.*
Farming shall encompass activities including, but not limited to, the following:
*Operation and transportation of slow moving farm equipment over roads within town;
*Control of pests, including, but not limited to, insects, weeds, predators and disease organisms of plants and
animals;
*Application of manure, fertilizers and pesticides;
*Conducting agriculture related educational and farm based recreational activities, including agri-tourism,
provided that the activities are related to marketing the agricultural output or services of the farm;
*Processing and packaging of the agricultural output of the farm and the operation of a farmers market or farm
stand including signage thereto;
*Maintenance, repair or storage of seasonal equipment or apparatus owned or leased by the farm owner or
manager used expressly for the purpose of propagation, processing, management are sale of the agricultural
products;
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*On-farm relocation of earth and the clearing of ground for farming operations;
*Revitalizing draining or irrigation ditches, picking stone, erecting, repairing or maintaining fences, and
clearing, rejuvenating and maintaining pastures;
*Herding of livestock from area to area, including along roads.
