We're teaming up with our friends at Cornell PRO-DAIRY and UVM Extension to bring you a dairy sustainability workshop! Hear about the latest, cutting-edge water, soil, and climate research from Cornell and UVM Extension.

 

Workshop highlights include:

You can check out the full agenda here!

 

Lunch will be provided. Register online for this free event by April 8.

 

If you cannot register online or have questions about your registration, please call the UVM Non-Credit Registration Office at 802-656-8407. For program questions, contact Abby Augarten at 802-656-7544 or abigail.augarten@uvm.edu.

Thank you to these farmers, individuals, and businesses for joining or renewing their membership with the Champlain Valley Farmer Coalition for 2024!

Access to appropriate conservation equipment & services is essential to the successful implementation of many conservation practices on farms. It’s awfully tricky to plant a field of no-till corn without a no-till drill, or to seed cover crops without the appropriate equipment!

To help land managers connect with conservation equipment/services available to them within and around the state of Vermont, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets has created an online conservation equipment & services locator that can be found here.

 

VAAFM is eager to grow this list of conservation equipment/services so that it can better capture the extent of equipment & services available in Vermont. If you offer any equipment or services that you would like to feature on this resource, please fill out and return the “Submit New Equipment/Services” form located on the webpage. There is no charge to feature equipment/services on this resource. 

 

Contact Ellen Friedrich at 802-261-5629 for more information about the agricultural conservation equipment & services locator.

Registration is open for the Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Summit. On April 2-3, the summit will bring together dairy farmers, processors, service providers, and industry stakeholders from across the northeast in Albany, NY.

 

From farm innovation to processing expansion and more, you'll leave with new ideas to put into action, peer-to-peer connections, and strategies to build a more resilient dairy sector.

 

Click here to register! Discounted rates are available for dairy farmers, processors, and students.

 

Join Dr. Heather Darby and Sara Ziegler from the University of Vermont Extension and Sarah Flack from Sarah Flack Consulting for a day-long workshop focused on how soil health, soil fertility, and grazing management impact forage productivity and quality and your farm’s viability. Joshua Green from Trees for Graziers will be available to provide information and resources on successfully establishing trees in and around pastures.

 

Please register by March 29 for this free event. Click here to print and mail in your registration or register by phone by contacting Susan Brouillette at (802) 656-7611.

The State of Vermont received a $16 million grant from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) in 2015. In 2020, this grant was extended for five years with an additional $10 million in assistance to farmers and forest landowners. This program provides financial and technical assistance for the development and implementation of water quality improvement throughout Vermont. Funds are available for agricultural and forestry best management practices, for wetland restoration, and for agricultural, wetland, and forestry easements.

 

Priority is given to smaller farms and forest operations for practice implementation with a focus on agronomic and forestry water quality improvement practices, grazing, and feed management. Unique opportunities through RCPP include the following:

 

 

All Vermont farm and forest landowners are eligible, however strong priority for agricultural practice funding is given to small farmers (CSFO and SFO). Easement prioritization is based on water quality protection value and availability of funding.

 

Landowners who are interested in this RCPP program are encouraged to reach out to the RCPP planners with the VT Association of Conservation District. General programmatic questions may be directed to: Marli Rupe, Agricultural Water Quality Section Chief, Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, marli.rupe@vermont.gov or 802-490-6171. Click here for more information. 

 

Provides pasture management technical assistance and financial assistance to Vermont farmers to improve water quality and on-farm livestock exclusion from surface waters statewide. Applications accepted year-round. Click here for more information.

 

Provides technical and financial assistance to Vermont farmers for in-field agronomic best practices to address critical source areas, erosion, and surface runoff. The Program’s goal is to reduce soil erosion and improve soil and water quality on cropland that contributes a disproportionately high level of nutrients in runoff. Such areas of cropland are considered “Critical Source Areas” (CSAs), representing a small proportion of the landscape yet a high proportion of nonpoint source pollution loads. Applications accepted year-round. Click here for more information.

 

A voluntary program designed to reduce sediment runoff and improve water quality by removing land from agricultural production and establishing vegetative buffers. State and federal funds are used to compensate landowners for the loss of productive agricultural land through upfront incentive payments and annual rental payments based on the total acreage dedicated to vegetated filter strips, forested buffers, or grassed waterways. Applications accepted year-round. Click here for more information.

 

The CRRP will provide funding for projects that make capital improvements or capital expansions that were delayed due to the negative economic impacts of COVID-19. Eligible uses for these funds include the development of affordable housing, improvements to or new construction of childcare facilities, projects for nonprofits and small businesses in impacted industries*, and municipal water supply and wastewater projects. These recovery funds are intended to retain and expand existing businesses and nonprofit organizations with a preference for projects located in regions and communities with declining or stagnant grand list values. The application is now open and will remain open until all funds are allocated. Click here for more information.

 

Rural Energy for America Program (REAP)

The program provides guaranteed loan financing and grant funding to agricultural producers and rural small businesses for renewable energy systems or to make energy efficiency improvements. Agricultural producers may also apply for new energy efficient equipment and new system loans for agricultural production and processing. Applications accepted year-round. Click here for more information. Contact Tracy Rexford with any questions regarding REAP at  tracy.rexford@usda.gov.