FARMINGTON – Two Farmington Grange members are inviting farmers and those who want to farm to a series of meetings this winter to help farmers farm more profitably and help people get into farming.

The next meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Feb. 2, at the Marble Family Farm on Holly Road. Farmers who need more land and help on the farm, people who want to get their unused farmland back into production and those who want to start farming but are discouraged by the high cost of farmland and shaky rural economy are invited to attend. Contact Marble at 491-6166 to confirm attendance.

Marble and Stephen Scharoun are scheduling the series of meetings with a three-fold goal: to help area farmers, to get more Franklin County farmland back into production and to help more people get into farming.

The two hope to start a lend/lease program that will match farmers looking for more land with people who have land and who would like to see it remain in or get brought back into production. They also want to work on development of a program that provides people who want to start farming with access to a wide range of farm-based skills through an apprentice/internship with local farmers.

Eight people attended the first farmers’ meeting in January. Discussions included an exchange between two market gardeners on walk-behind tractors, one farmer’s need for haying equipment and an impending bill in the legislature that would bring agriculture back into the classroom.

Marble and his family run Marble Family Farms, known for its year-round greenhouses and breads. Scharoun, a historical archaeologist, is concerned with all aspects of historic preservation, especially as it relates to agriculture and the rural trades.