Calendar
Calendar - Events of Interest and Grant Deadlines
Updated 07/11/2024
July 12, Friday
Monitoring Change in Soil Structure, Biodiversity, and Landscape Function
12:45 - 4:30 pm, Thetford, VT
July 13, Saturday
Open Farm at MacGlaflin Farm
34 Case Hill Road, Claremont NH
11am - 2pm
Farm tours, farm equipment, cows and calves, dairy bar, lunch provided, Cruisin' Cow ice cream, Cabot cheese. And face painting!
July 15, Monday
Agroforestry, Managing for Pollinators, and Planned Grazing in a Changing Climate
Maplemont, 2742 Route 5 South, Barnet, VT.
This event has been postponed... new date to be determined...
July 15, Monday
Grazing workshop with Sarah Flack. Two pasture walks in one day in Massachusettes. Stay for BBQ dinner if you like. More information here: grazing workshop.
July 16, Tuesday
Field Renovation, Fall Seeding, and Equipment
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Ballam Farm, Pete's Stand Lane, Walpole, NH
We'll talk equipment for field renovation, establishing forage stands, fall seeding, and weed management. Join us and see equipment in action! CRWFA is co-sponsoring this Cheshire County Conservation District event, with Chris and Holly Gowdy, Tom Beaudry, Carl Majewski, and more.
July 16, Tuesday
Grazing workshop with Sarah Flack. Three pasture walks in one day in the Taconics in New York. More information here: grazing workshop.
July 16, Tuesday
Focus on Farm Biosecurity
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
UVM Paul Miller Research Farm Classroom, 500 Spear Street, South Burlington VT
Planning and implementing on-farm biosecurity practices is foundational to preventing the spread of disease, ensuring animal health, and securing food supply safety across farms of all sizes and types. The goal of managing farm biosecurity is to prevent new diseases from entering the farm and to control existing diseases from spreading between livestock or to livestock on other farms. https://na.eventscloud.com/ereg/index.php?eventid=804821
July 17, Wednesday
Vermont NRCS State Technical Committee Meeting
9:30 am - 12:00 pm
Online or in Person at USDA State Office in Colchester
Click here for the MS Teams virtual meeting
Meeting ID: 291 923 452 159 Passcode: QGuSQL
Or call in (audio only):
+1 202-650-0123,,990739545# United States, Washington DC (Phone Conference ID: 990 739 545#)
For more information, see here: Vermont State Technical Committee Meeting | Natural Resources Conservation Service (usda.gov)
July 17, Wednesday
Maximizing Growing in Small Spaces
4:00 - 6:00 pm
Wild Fern Farm, Kingston NH
NOFA NH with UNH Extension/Northeast SARE & Land for Good
July 18, Thursday
Pests, Parasites, and Pastures: Livestock IPM
Philo Ridge Farm, Charlotte, VT
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
July 17-18, Wednesday-Thursday
North American Manure Expo
Auburn, New York
The Expo offers two full days of tours, demonstrations, education sessions and networking, all delivering the latest and greatest in manure management solutions and technologies in the heart of the Finger Lakes region. View the website for all details, including registration links, the agenda, and accommodations.
For the full schedule, visit ManureExpo.com.
Registration is now open for tours and expo-passes. Take advantage of early-bird rates (that end June 15) and secure your spot on your preferred tour! Register here today.
July 18, Thursday
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
July 19, Friday
4:00 - 6:30 pm
Lead Soil Test, Hartland Farmer's Market
153 US-5, Hartland, VT 05048
Home - Hartland Farmers Market
NRCS is offering free soil screening for lead, in conjunction with the UVM Extension. Bring 2 cups of your soil in a sealed, plastic bag and NRCS will perform analysis and give you the results on the spot.
July 21, Sunday
Adapting to Farming in a Flood Plain
9:00 am - 1:00 pm
282 Intervale Rd, Burlington, VT 05401
NOFA VT: Much of Vermont’s most agriculturally important lands are located in low-lying areas prone to flooding. Though flooding enriches soils and enhances farm productivity, it also poses serious challenges to food safety, natural resource management, and long term farm business viability. Join us in exploring how two established farms in Burlington’s Intervale are navigating the complexities of floodplain farming.
Andy Jones, Intervale Community Farm, and Dylan Zeitlyn, Diggers’ Mirth Collective Farm, will share how their farms are adapting production systems, business models, and expectations as a result of increasing flood severity. Andy and Dylan will also be joined by Patrick Dunseith and Ben Fishbein of the Intervale Center who will discuss landscape wide stewardship, riparian buffer design, the role of native plants in building flood resilience, and the Intervale Center’s strategy as land manager for sustaining agricultural production in these vital lands.
To learn more, contact Nancy LaRowe at nancy@nofavt.org or 802-296-1883.
July 24, Wednesday
Solar Grazing & Silvopasture
2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Meach Cove Farms, Shelburne VT
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/solar-grazing-climate-smart-practice-tickets-898021134387
July 25, Thursday
UVM Crops and Soils Annual Field Day
Boarderview Farm, Alburg VT
You will tour the research trials including perennial grasses, soybeans, small grains, hemp, hops, and other crops, as well as choose to participate in one of the afternoon sessions that will include Fenceless Grazing, Precision Ag and Drone Seeding, Managing Forages, Tour of Grains, or a Sensory Session with a sensory circuit of bean sampling, cheese, maple syrup, and beer with hops.
Lunch by Susan LeClair LLC is included (BBQ chicken and the fixings) and certified crop adviser and water quality education credits available. View the event flyer here. Registration is now open at https://go.uvm.edu/2024annualfieldday.
July 25, Thursday
Cottage Baking with Local Grains
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Brot Bakehouse School and Kitchen, 38 Meade Road, Fairfax, VT 05454
NOFA-VT. Info and register here: Register Today
August 2, Friday
Hayfield Management and Evaluation
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Robinson Family Farm, 2328 Halls Stream Road, Pittsburg, NH 03592
This meeting will focus on hayfield care, including fertility, improvement and recovery of previous idle fields, and weedy species identification. Robinson Family Farm will highlight the hayfield improvement project they are undertaking with support from the Coös County Conservation District Climate Resiliency Grant. Other topical conservation efforts in the CT River headwaters will also be discussed. 2 – PAT Credits (pending) The event is rain or shine.
CRWFA will be there with an Aitchison seeder to demonstrate. Let's carpool and go fishing while we're up there.
August 14, Wednesday
Protected Growing With High Tunnels in a Changing Climate
4:00 - 6:00 pm
Joe's Brook Farm, 1525 Joes Brook Rd, St Johnsbury, VT
NOFA-VT: Protected Growing With High Tunnels in a Changing Climate
In our changing climate, many farms are considering or utilizing protected growing spaces to have more control over aspects like temperature and water. Learn about siting a new high tunnel and the management of water, heat, and wind for new and existing structures. Take a tour of and learn about the greenhouses at Joe’s Brook Farm. Owner Eric Skovsted will showcase their heater set ups, automatic irrigation through drip and overhead, automatic and manual roll up sides, different types of fans and vents, explain their moving greenhouse, propagation house with bench heat, and more infrastructure and construction considerations. UVM Extension’s Joshua Faulkner will discuss water management related to high tunnels, including planning to account for site hydrology and addressing drainage around new and existing structures.
To learn more, contact Nancy LaRowe at nancy@nofavt.org or 802-296-1883.
August 21
No-till at the Human Scale
5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Uphill Farm, Whitefield, NH
More details to come...
August 23
NRCS application deadline, Vermont. It's early this year! Talk to your Conservation District or NRCS contact for details.
August 31, Saturday
9:00 - 1:00 pm
Lead Soil Test, Norwich Farmers Market
https://www.norwichfarmersmarket.org/
NRCS is offering free soil screening for lead, in conjunction with the UVM Extension. Bring 2 cups of your soil in a sealed, plastic bag and NRCS will perform analysis and give you the results on the spot!
September 25, Wednesday
4:00 - 6:00 pm
Exploring Agroforestry and Native Tree Cultivation
Dartmouth Organic Farm, Hanover NH
https://www.nofanh.org/craft
Grant Opportunities
August 23
NRCS application deadline, Vermont. It's early this year! Talk to your Conservation District or NRCS contact for details.
Strengthening the Region's Food Supply Chain - Funding Opportunity
Supporting innovative ideas and collaborations that result in increased regional sourcing by New England’s educational institutions.
The Henry P. Kendall Foundation is excited to announce the launch of the 2024 New England Food Vision Prize. The Prize program aims to increase the amount of regionally-produced food served in K-12 school districts, colleges, and universities across New England.
We believe that educational institutions are uniquely positioned to support a thriving and resilient regional food system by leveraging their purchasing power to support local and regional producers and by using their nutrition and dining programs to directly engage students as consumers - showing them how food choices impact health, community, the economy, and the environment.
$1 million will be awarded in prizes ranging from $25,000 to $200,000 to teams seeking to build resiliency, relationships, and capacity within New England’s food supply chain through projects that result in increased preparation, sourcing, serving, or use and consumption of local and regional food in K-12 cafeterias and higher education dining halls.
Since 2018, the New England Food Vision Prize has supported more than 27 unique projects that test innovative ideas, invest in leaders, and help make measurable progress toward a more self-reliant regional food system. Now in its fifth year, we look forward to supporting ideas and projects that help advance our region toward producing 30% of its food by 2030. Read about past winners and their projects on our website!
Starting April 10th, we invite New England school nutrition and campus dining teams, together with their nonprofit, government and municipality, and for-profit partners from across the region to submit their best ideas for increasing regionally-sourced food on their menus. Prize criteria, eligibility, and timeline can be found on our website.
May 31, 2024 : Deadline for Letters of Interest
Letters will briefly explain the idea, how the project meets the criteria, and which institutions and partners will collaborate to realize the goal. Letters should be no longer than two pages. Instructions, details on submission, and more information on the Letter of Interest process here.
Submit Letters of Interest (starting Apr. 16)
June 21, 2024 : Invitation for Full Proposal
The Foundation will review all submitted Letters of Interest and invite a subset of teams to submit full proposals for consideration.
August 9, 2024 : Proposal Deadline
Proposals will expand on the original idea to include responses to a series of prompts, which will be the basis upon which applications are scored by staff and externals reviewers.
Click to Submit Letters of Interest
Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets announces new grant targeting the "Middle of the Supply Chain" to build food systems resiliency
USDA Resilient Food System Infrastructure Grant will distribute $3.2 Million to Vermont Businesses
The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets is releasing grant details for a new USDA initiative to build resilience in the food supply chain, provide more and better markets to farms and food businesses, support the development of value-added products, and promote equitable and safe jobs. These Resilient Food System Infrastructure grants, or RFSI, will reach all 50 states and territories. Vermont is awarding over $3.2 million in grants, broken into two rounds, to Vermont businesses and organizations that strengthen local and regional food systems.
Grants will support critical sectors of the “middle of the supply chain,” meaning everything between farm production and selling in stores. This includes aggregation, distribution, manufacturing, processing, storage, transportation, and wholesaling of Vermont food products. RFSI’s goal is to reduce bottlenecks and offer more infrastructure to get quality, Vermont made products to customers.
“These grants will help strengthen our food supply chain that helps feed us,” Vermont Agriculture Secretary Anson Tebbetts said. “Strengthening these important links will help build resiliency and prosperity in Vermont’s working lands. This was a recommendation of Governor Scott’s Future of Agriculture Commission. It’s great we are acting on this recommendation.”
This grant program supports products such as specialty crops, dairy, grains for human consumption, aquaculture, and value-added products. Per USDA requirements, meat and poultry are excluded from this opportunity.
The first round of RFSI grants will be for infrastructure projects for things such as increasing processing capacity; modernizing storage, tracking, and IT systems; constructing new facilities; increasing dry and cold storage; installing climate-smart equipment; or modernizing facilities to ensure food and worker safety. Details for this grant are announced today in the Request for Application which can be found online, along with a FAQ that will be updated periodically. There is approximately $2 million available for this round. Grants will range from $100,000 - $500,000 with a 50% match (25% reduced match available). Projects will run from Fall of 2024 to early 2027.
The second round of RFSI grants will be for equipment-only projects that fall within the program’s goals of enhancing the middle of the supply chain. Approximately $1.2 million will be available for this round, with grants ranging from $30,000 to $100,000 with no match requirement. Full grant details will be available in August 2024 and projects will begin in early 2025.
To review the RFSI program and begin the application process, visit the program website here:
https://agriculture.vermont.gov/grants/resilient-food-systems-infrastructure
Due Date: Applications are due via WebGrants by June 5, 2024 at 1:59pm. Contact Julia Scheier with any questions at Julia.Scheier@vermont.gov or 802-522-7042.
