Connecticut farmer Will O’Meara faces a host of challenges. Finding affordable property with fertile soil and battling a rapidly warming climate make his job feel like running against the wind.
“But one of our biggest challenges is finding and retaining employees that are able to afford to live in our area,” he told Straight Arrow.
O’Meara lives in a region blanketed with crop fields. But development is encroaching, placing his farm squarely in the urban/rural interface where growers compete with housing developers for precious acreage.
“A 12,000 square-foot ranch on our street sold for about $400,000,” O’Meara said. “It’s very difficult for farm workers to find places to live nearby, especially if they’re young and don’t have a spouse or partner.”
O’Meara wishes he could pay workers enough to afford property in his corner of Connecticut, where an acre of farmland sells for $14,400. He can’t.
