Hemp Happening: Rural Vermont, Full Sun Company of Middlebury, VT and Vote Hemp Host a Hemp Networking Event
In light of President Obama signing the federal Farm Bill that included a section which allows hemp cultivation by higher educational institutions, and Vermont’s passage of transformative hemp legislation last year, Rural Vermont, Full Sun Company of Middlebury, VT, and Vote Hemp will be hosting a hemp networking gathering and special screening of the hemp documentary, Bringing it Home. The event is intended for all those interested in cultivating hemp, and networking with other Vermont farmers, processors and advocates. The event will be held on Wednesday March 19, 6pm-9pm, at the Ilsley Public Library in Middlebury.
Read More Conservation Helps Farmers Purchase Pawlet Farm
Tim and Brooke Hughes-Muse and their four young daughters are now the happy owners of a 39-acre sweet potato farm aptly called The Laughing Child. The purchase of their farm was made possible through the Vermont Land Trust’s Farmland Access Program, which helps farmers connect with affordable farmland through conservation.
Read More New England Meat Industry Professionals will Convene in March
Registration is now open for the 2014 New England Meat Conference
Read More Farm to Institution Grant Funding Available
The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) announces $40,000 available to agricultural producers and food hubs serving institutional markets through the Local Food Market Development Grant program for 2014.
Read More RURAL VERMONT RELEASES 2013-2014 REPORT ON RAW MILK PRODUCTION AND SALES and Legislative Priorities for Improvements to the Raw Milk Law
Rural Vermont has released the 2013-2014 Report on raw milk production and sales. For the fifth year since the passage of Act 62, which enables the direct sale of raw milk by farmers to consumers, Rural Vermont has presented to the legislature an overview of how the current law is working for farmers and the economic impact of raw milk sales. Although, there is growing consumer demand for raw milk, Vermont famers consistently report that current regulations need to be amended to make raw milk production more economically viable for farmers and practical for consumers.
Read More UVM to Be Key Sponsor of Food Systems Journal
The University of Vermont is one of four new sponsors supporting the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development (the Food Systems Journal), along with three other leading North American university programs focused on food systems.
Read More Vermont Digital Economy Project partners, VCRD and VtSBDC, are offering free digital advising for farm and forest businesses
The Vermont Digital Economy Project is committed to assisting farm and forest businesses adopt digital technologies that, if used appropriately, will result in working landscape businesses becoming more profitable and more productive. The Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) is accomplishing this through a combination of one-one advising conducted by the Vermont Small Business Development Center (VtSBDC), workshops at the upcoming NOFA Winter Conference on Feb 15 and 16th, and a Food Systems Hackathon held in conjunction with Code for BTV, Room 9 Redevelopment and the New Moran Team, and the University of Vermont.
Read More New Farm to Plate Energy Success Stories
The Energy Cross-cutting Team of the Farm to Plate Network released 7 Energy Success Stories at the 2014 Farm Show. The Energy Success Stories showcase farms, businesses, vendors, installers, and technical assistance providers that have made a difference with energy efficiency savings and renewable energy production.
Read More Trained culinary students ready for employment: Community Kitchen Academy graduating students
Looking for skilled kitchen or food manufacturing employees? In February and March, the Community Kitchen Academy in Barre and Burlington will be graduating students who are ready to enter the workplace. CKA is a statewide program of the Vermont Foodbank in local partnership with Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf and Central Vermont Community Action Council. CKA is accredited to provide qualifying graduates 9 college-level academic credits, and graduates have ServSafe certification, extensive knife skills, and 13 consecutive weeks of working and receiving instruction in a high volume production kitchen.
Read More USDA-AFRI Site Reports and Farmer Survey
Small and Medium Scale Farm Growth and Persistence at the Rural-Urban Interface: Balancing Family, Goals, Opportunities and Risks.
Read More Best Management Practices to Log-Based Shiitake Cultivation in the Northeast Published
Full A-Z Shiitake mushroom production and marketing guide available for free download www.uvm.edu/~susagctr/resources/ShiitakeGuide.pdf
Read More Winter webinars and workshops: “Extreme Home Composting” taught by Highfields staff
This winter, Vermonters will have a chance to attend a number of free home composting classes to help them reduce the amount of organic waste they send to the landfills. In a series of USDA-sponsored online “webinars” and in-person workshops in January, February and March, staff of the Highfields Center for Composting will show participants about the benefits of compost, compost system options, and how to maintain their pile to produce high-quality, nutrient-rich compost.
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