As of midnight on October 1, the 2014 Farm Bill has officially expired. With the House on a six-week recess starting that same day, we now can't expect to have a new Farm Bill until at least after the midterm election in November.
October's Member of the Month: Maria Reade
Apply by Wednesday, Sept 19 to the Vermont Fresh Network Conference Program
A review of David Fleming’s Lean Logic, a Dictionary of the Future and How to Survive It (623 pages, Chelsea Green, 2016).
Cobb Hill was founded in 1997 on the principles of sustainability, resilience, and intentional living.
Meet a multi-disciplinary team from Lamoille County, working together to improve and expand the district's farm-to-school programs.
NOFA Vermont's executive director, Enid Wonnacott, recognized for Lifetime Achievement in the Vermont Agricultural Hall of Fame.
4th Annual Farmer Olympics to be Held at Sterling College on August 8
According to a study done by the American Independent Business Alliance, “On average, 48 percent of each purchase at local independent businesses was recirculated locally, compared to less than 14 percent of purchases at chain stores.” Whether it’s dairy, maple, produce or fruit, skipping the supermarket and instead buying food directly from Vermont farmers helps keep more money in the local economy, and in turn helps grow the economic well-being of Vermont.
37th NOFA Vermont Annual Winter Conference February 16-18, 2019 | University of Vermont, Burlington, VT Proposal application period: July 1, 2018 – September 19, 2018
Many of us choose to call Vermont home because we have a love for local food, the working landscape and our strong rural communities yet the future of Vermont’s working landscape is now in jeopardy. What will Vermont look like without small, family dairy farms and what will take their place? How do we protect this way of life? These are tough questions that many in the industry and throughout the state are asking. We have been working with partners to determine what we can do to help dairy farmers in this time of genuine crisis.
Member Survey Results
Honoring Our Roots, Tending Our Future August 10-12, 2018 • Hampshire College, Amherst, MA
NOFA-VT has started a fundraising campaign to add an additional $50,000 to our Farmer Emergency Fund. Organic dairy farms in Vermont, and nationwide, are seeing historical lows in their pay price, with some farmers receiving an almost $10/cwt (hundred weight, or hundred pounds of milk) drop over the past year. Some milk buyers have also implemented a quota, limiting the amount of milk a farm is able to produce.
There’s a problem in Vermont. Small-scale shepherds are drowning in their own wool. Why? It’s because of a lack of small-scale fiber mills in the state. This letter is a plea for creative business people to consider opening a mill. Being a shepherd and not a miller, I haven’t done any formal market research, but my off-the-cuff guess from informally chatting with both shepherds and millers is that the state (or larger region) could support several small-scale mills.