Agriculture in Duxbury

Duxbury is an active agricultural community

From the Historic O’Neil Farm, cranberry bogs, livestock, and specialty crops, to residential farming with goats and chickens, Duxbury’s agriculture community has a major stake in proactive efforts to ensure water quality.

Duxbury's long history of agriculture dates back to the 17th century.

The Historic O’Neil Farm is the last remaining working dairy farm in Duxbury.  The 145-acre property has been in continuous agricultural use since the early 1700s and is permanently protected as one of the oldest and last working farms on the South Shore of Massachusetts.

Current Agricultural Activity

Duxbury remains an active agricultural community today, primarily through Cranberry farming and hundreds of acres of properties assessed for agricultural use.

  • Cranberry Farming: Duxbury ranks as the sixth largest cranberry producer in Massachusetts.
  • There are ten active cranberry farms in Duxbury today, covering over 100 acres of cranberry bogs that are both privately owned, and also leased by the town of Duxbury to cranberry growers.
  • There is an additional 27 properties in Duxbury, spanning just under 850 acres, which are assessed for Agricultural use.

Cranberry Farming in Duxbury and Massachusetts

The application of fertilizers and pesticides on Cranberry Bogs is an activity regulated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts through the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR).

 

Massachusetts state-wide plant nutrient regulations (330 CMR 31.00) and pesticides (333 CMR 2.00-14.00) establish standards for application of plant nutrients to agricultural land. Information, documents and resources can be accessed through the “Plant Nutrient Management” link on the MDAR main webpage or directly through the following link: https://www.mass.gov/plant-nutrient-management/.

 
Cranberry plants get nutrients from the soil, water, or fertilizers added to the bog. As a perennial crop plant, cranberries have the capacity to store and reuse nutrients in old leaves, wood, and roots. Cranberries are adapted through evolution for growth on acid, sandy soils. These soils have little nutrient content and the plants such as cranberries that evolved on them have correspondingly low nutrient needs. So while cranberries require the same nutrients as other plants, they are unique in that the amounts required are much smaller than for most crop plants.

 

Cranberry growers have the resources and guidance of the USDA/Natural Resources Conservation Service, the USDA/Agricultural Research Service, the UMass Cranberry Station, and Massachusetts Cranberries (the trade association for cranberry growers in Massachusetts, also known as the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association).
Pesticide application on Cranberry bogs in Duxbury is subject to both Massachusetts and Federal regulations, and Massachusetts requires that restricted use pesticides can only be applied by a person with a valid state pesticide application license. These licenses are maintained through mandatory continuing education.

 

In addition, Duxbury Cranberry Farmers have the benefit of the research and extension services provided by the UMass Cranberry Station, who over the last 100+ years have developed Best Management Practices, fact sheets, the cranberry production guide, the cranberry chart book, along with other educational pieces and opportunities for the grower community https://ag.umass.edu/cranberry/.


There are numerous regulatory agencies with authority over numerous facets of cranberry farming. These include but are not limited to: US EPA (Clean Water Act, pesticides), US Army Corps of Engineers (Clean Water Act), Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (pesticides and nutrients), Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation (dam safety), Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (Wetlands Protection Act, Water Management Act), Department of Fish & Game (anadromous fish, Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program).

 

Duxbury Right-to-Farm Community

It is the policy of this community to conserve, protect, and encourage the maintenance and improvement of agricultural land for the production of food and other agricultural products, and for its natural and ecological value. This disclosure notification is to inform buyers or occupants that the property they are about to acquire or occupy lies within a community where farming activities occur and are encouraged. Such farming activities may include, but are not limited to, activities that cause noise, dust, and odors. Buyers and occupants are informed that any property within the Town of Duxbury may be impacted by commercial agricultural and farming activities.

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