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Events, News & Jobs
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News
Ring in Spring with Vermont's Local Banquet!
Our Spring issue features articles on Vermont sheep shearing and tanning, bakers & brewers who collaborate, cover crops for the home gardener, and how to keep small farms thriving without encouraging them to get big... read more!
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Over 260 Students to Compete in Ninth Annual Jr Iron Chef VT Competition
Ready, set, chop! On Saturday, March 19, 58 middle and high school teams will compete in this year’s Jr Iron Chef VT. In its ninth year, this youth culinary competition was one of the first in the nation to focus on local food and school meals. Participation has more than doubled since its founding, and teams now come from every corner of the state. It has challenged and inspired nearly 3,000 kids to connect with where food comes from, cook from scratch, and eat healthy, local foods.
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Agency of Agriculture Announces Food Safety Modernization Act Educational Workshops
The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (VAAFM) will hold three workshops on Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) final rules on March 31 in Montpelier, April 4 in Burlington, and April 5 in Rutland. These workshops will provide an overview of the FSMA Produce Safety Rule, which affects farms that grow, harvest, pack or hold fresh produce. The April 4 workshop, co-hosted by the Vermont Department of Health, will also cover the FSMA Preventive Controls for Human Food rule, which affects food processors.
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Agency of Ag Announces Second Round Trade Show Assistance Grant Recipients
Fourteen Vermont Businesses Receive $14,000 to Attend National Trade Shows Today the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (VAAFM) announced the recipients of second round funding from the Trade Show Assistance Grant Program, an initiative of the agency’s Domestic Export Program designed to assist Vermont food and forest businesses in making and maintaining connections with buyers, brokers and distributors via out-of-state trade shows. A total of $14,000 was awarded to fourteen Vermont businesses to attend trade shows in New York, Las Vegas and San Francisco and to exhibit their Vermont-made products in front of thousands of regional and national buyers.
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Working Lands Committee Releases Year-Long Report and New Mapping Tool
On Thursday, February 25th, the Forestry Committee of the Working Lands Enterprise Board (WLEB) released the final report of the Forest Systems Analysis, conducted by St. Albans based Yellow Wood Associates. The year-long project brought together hundreds of members of the forest and wood products industry. The three main takeaways defined a need for: • increased public awareness of the economic importance of the forest and wood products sector • industry wide network development; and • increased consumer demand for Vermont-made wood products.
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A New Beginning for a Fayston Farm
A historic hill farm in Fayston is being revived as a working farm. Today, valley-based farmers and food entrepreneurs Sebastian von Trapp, Georgia von Trapp, and Joey Nagy purchased the former Tenney Farm from the Vermont Land Trust. The 280-acre farm had been generously donated to the land trust in 2014 by Skip Tenney, who had owned the property for more than 50 years. Through its Farmland Access Program, the Vermont Land Trust conducted a farmer search and selected the von Trapp and Nagy partnership to purchase the Tenney farm. The Tenney Farm, was sold to the two-family partnership, Marble Hill Farm LLC, for its appraised agricultural value.
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Couple Purchases Locust Grove Farm from Vermont Land Trust
Susan Monahan and Hisa Kominami are gearing up for a busy season on a 35-acre farm they bought from the Vermont Land Trust. The farm is near the village of East St. Johnsbury on U.S. Route 2. Its red barn, with the words “Locust Grove Farm” on the siding, is an iconic landmark that is well known to travelers and locals. Susan and Hisa’s new farm business will be called Roots Too Farm.
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Vermont Farmers in the Rock River Watershed Can Receive Assistance to Protect and Improve Water Quality
Through the National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI), NRCS will help agricultural producers in 187 priority watersheds apply conservation measures that contribute to cleaner water downstream, including the Rock River Watershed in Vermont. Applications Due March 18.
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Vermont's Orleans County Natural Resources Conservation District Receives $674,000 to Protect and Improve Water Quality
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) State Conservationist Vicky Drew said that Vermont received $674,000 in funding for one state-level project targeting water quality in Lake Memphremagog. “The Orleans County Natural Resources Conservation District will lead this effort which aims to install conservation practices to address degraded water quality from agricultural runoff,” explained Drew.
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Vermont NRCS announces April 15th deadline for Vermont farmers to apply for assistance through EQIP
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced that April 15, 2016, is the next cut-off date to apply for fiscal year 2016 funds through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).EQIP can also help Vermont farmers meet Federal, State, and local environmental regulations and is an important Farm Bill conservation program that helps established farmers as well as beginning, historically underserved, and limited resource producers.
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3rd Annual Made in Vermont Marketplace Call for Exhibitors
Booths are selling fast! Join us as an exhibitor at the 2016 Made in Vermont Marketplace Trade Show, coming April 16-17, 2016 to the Champlain Valley Exposition!
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Aqua ViTea Kombucha Expands Operations Locally
The Vermont Kombucha brewing company Aqua ViTea has expanded its production to Middlebury. Since 2012, the company has based its operations out of an 8,000-square-foot brewing facility located at the Bristol Works complex in Bristol, VT. Consecutive years of increased production and significant growth have escalated the company’s infrastructure needs and necessitated new equipment investments. Middlebury’s burgeoning Exchange Street corridor offered a local solution.
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