Sayer Palmer was all ready to launch her businesses, coming into 2020. She’d long had plans to start a farming career, but they’d been delayed after she became pregnant in 2018. Now, she was ready to get started, providing fresh, local produce to Grafton, Canaan and Enfield.

“I had started ordering seeds, gathering supplies, and doing a lot of crop planning and business planning,” said Palmer, owner of Open Woods Farm in Grafton.

Then, in February, the coronavirus outbreak began to catch her attention. In March, Vermont announced that it would not open farmers markets because of the pandemic, and Palmer was worried that New Hampshire might do the same, undermining her business plan.