Mission Statement:  The purpose of the Effingham Agricultural Commission is to protect agricultural lands, preserve the rural character, provide a voice for farmers and encourage agricultural based business and activities, as well as promote stewardship and best management practices for property and natural resources.

Meets the fourth Wednesday at 7 pm at the Town Offices. 

 Annual Report for 2012

2012 has been a fairly quiet year for the Agricultural Commission.  Early efforts focused on facilitating the formation of a steering committee for an Effingham farmer’s market.  Many thanks to Jim Morris, Celine Bergeron, Brenda Perry and Barbara Thompson with consulting assistance from AnnMarie Sargent for stepping up to take charge of this endeavor.  Although not an official function of the Agricultural Commission, we would like to report, with input from the farmer’s market steering committee, that the market was a great success.  It was held on the Boyle’s Family Market property and had twelve vendors present on opening day. 

As the Commission is strictly an advisory board, one of our main functions is to educate the public about the status of agriculture in the Town, County and State.   Whenever possible, we have a display that is put out to encourage residents to give input on various subjects, from asking for their interpretations of rural character to input on legislative issues pertinent to agriculture.  To assist us in these endeavors the Commission has joined both the NH Farm Bureau and Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA).  The NH Farm Bureau has a newsletter which presents all legislation being considered in the State Congress and gives us the opportunity to recognize quickly those issues crucial to farming/ agriculture. NOFA is a large organization devoted to providing workshops and seminars on a wide range of subjects from grants for farmers to almost any subject on horticulture. We would like to encourage anyone who is involved in agriculture in any form to feel free to contact the Commission for help in researching, clarifying or assisting in any of these areas. 

The Commission currently has four members and two alternates.  We would welcome anyone who would like to participate in looking out for the interests of the agricultural community.  Our regular meeting is the fourth Wednesday of the month starting at 7:00 pm at the Town Offices on School Street and the public is always welcome.