First Tapping Celebrates Vermont's Maple Season and Sugarers
Buck Family Maple in Washington hosted the annual First Tapping event on March 18th with Governor Phil Scott. The maple season began early this year with some warm weather, but colder weather has continued the season into late March. MORE
by Ellen Friedrich, VT Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets
The Best Management Practices (BMP) Program provides technical and financial assistance to farmers for the implementation of engineered, structural improvements on farmsteads which are designed to protect and improve water quality. The BMP program provides up to 90% cost share on eligible practices. The following are some examples of BMP eligible practices:
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Manure storage structures
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Composting stack pads
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Barnyard runoff collection systems
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Gutter & ditches to divert clean water
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Laneway development and stream crossings for livestock
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Milk house waste collection and treatment systems
Since 2020, the BMP program has provided nearly $40 million in cost share supporting water quality improvements on about 130 different farms across the state.
The Severy Farm, owned and operated by Nate and Karianne Severy, is one of the many farms which has received technical and financial assistance through the BMP program.
The Severy Farm is a small 100% grassfed and organic dairy in Cornwall, VT. With the help of BMP funding, the Severys did a major revamp of their waste collection and management systems. They replaced an old and damaged concrete barnyard, created a gravel stack pad to store solid manure, and built a reception pit with a pump system to collect milkhouse waste and liquid manure from an adjacent holding area.
Liquid waste and runoff generated from each of these components is now fully collected in a clay-lined earthen manure pit, and a new access road was added to enable proper management of the pit.
These updates not only supported the Severy family in more securely capturing their waste and meeting their water quality goals, but they have also proven to be a major labor-saver for the farm.
Applications to receive technical and/or financial assistance through the Agency’s Best Management Practices (BMP) Program are due by April 1, 2024. Applications received by April 1st will receive an initial field visit from state engineers this spring. On average, state-designed projects receiving BMP financial assistance are not ready to begin construction until one year after the initial engineering field visit is completed. So, if you are interested in a potential BMP project for 2025, this is the perfect time to submit a BMP application! Applications submitted after April 1st will likely not receive an engineering visit until spring of 2025.
Visit http://agriculture.vermont.gov/bmp for more information on the BMP Program and to find an application. If you have any questions, please contact the BMP program coordinators Ellen Friedrich (802-261-5629) or Emma Redel (802-261-5628).
The top image depicts the Severy Farm before BMP project implementation. The bottom image depicts the Severy Farm with the new manure pit, barnyard, stack pad, and access road installed with the help of BMP funds.
More Information on BMP's Here
Multiple Ways to Apply for $600 Pandemic Stipend in Vermont
By Farm First
The Farm and Food Worker Relief (FFWR) Program from the U.S Department of Agriculture provides eligible workers with $600 stipends for expenses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Farmworkers (dairy, meat, and produce) that worked between January 27th, 2022-May 11th, 2023, within the United States or U.S territories are eligible. Immigration status is not an eligibility criteria but workers need to provide proof of identify and employment.
Workers that are eligible for relief payments are those in frontline farming activities, grocery stores, or meatpacking* who incurred expenses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This work should have been performed in the United States or certain U.S. territories (Guam, American Samoa, or Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) between January 27th, 2020, and May 11th, 2023. Applicants must self-certify they have not received this relief from another grantee.
Eligible workers can apply through PASA Sustainable Agriculture, which has partnered with other organizations in Vermont to connect with farmworkers and support them through the application process. You can access the PASA application at www.farmworkers.org.
Support is available 24/7 via email, in English at [email protected], or in Spanish at [email protected].
Toll free phone support is available in English and Spanish at (833) 469-3397 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 11:30 am–2:30 pm ET.
Farmworkers in Vermont are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. Processing times vary, but can take several weeks. It’s very likely that these application windows will permanently close by early summer.
Click Here for More Information on the Farm and Food Worker Relief Program
Online Locator for Agricultural Conservation Equipment & Services
By Ellen Friedrich, VT Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets
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 at:
The locator includes a spreadsheet and interactive map that showcase conservation equipment/services such as no-till drills, soil probes, and custom manure application or cover cropping services that are available for borrow, rent, or hire. If you or someone you know needs help locating conservation equipment/services available for rent or hire, please check out this resource!
We are 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 locator’s webpage. Listings are limited to equipment/services which can help land managers protect and promote soil health, water quality, or other natural resources. Eligible conservation equipment/services from both public organizations and private individuals/businesses can be included. 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.
No till drills are one of the numerous types of equipment featured in VAAFM’s agricultural conservation equipment & services locator.
Visit the Ag Conservation Equipment & Services Locator
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