Vermont Sustainable Agriculture Council Selects Roger Rainville and Borderview Farm as Recipient of Annual Award

The Vermont Sustainable Agriculture Council has announced their selection of Roger Rainville’s Borderview Farm in Alburgh as the 2014 Vermont Sustainable Agriculture Farm of the Year. The award was presented at the Vermont Sustainable Agriculture Council meeting on September 9, 2015 at Shelburne Farms in Shelburne, Vermont.

The nomination from submitted by the UVM Extension NW Crops & Soils team described Mr. Rainville’s work as transformative and inspirational.
“His leadership in Vermont’s farming community has helped transform our state’s agriculture. For example, Roger was a founding member and chair of the Farmer’s Watershed Alliance (FWA), a farmer group in the Lake Champlain Basin concerned about water quality. Under his leadership, the FWA has provided farmer-to-farmer technical assistance to implement a number of environmentally friendly production practices including soil aeration, cover cropping, reduced tillage, and manure injection. To date, the FWA has implemented practices on over 250 farms, covering more than 50,000 acres in the Basin. To acknowledge FWA’s work under Roger’s leadership, in 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) New England office recognized the FWA with an Environmental Merit Award for its efforts “to promote good environmental stewardship practices and improve water quality.”

“Roger has also given back to our agricultural community through his service on several other committees, including the Farm Service Agency state and county committees, northern Vermont Natural Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) Council, Lake Champlain Islands Agricultural Network, 4-H advisory board, Dairy Herd Improvement Association Eastern advisory Board, Extension Advisory Council, and Grand Isle County Farm Bureau board of directors.”

Past recipients of the Sustainable Farm of the Year award include: Consider Bardwell and Wayward Goose Farms, Harvest Hill Farm and the Northeast Regional Vermont Hospital, Post Oil Solutions, Does Leap Farm, Bakersfield; Shelburne Vineyards, Shelburne; Shelburne Orchards, Shelburne; Harlow Farm, Westminster; Intervale Community Farm, Burlington; Butterworks Farm, Westfield; Lilac Ridge Farm, West Brattleboro; and Adams Farm, Wilmington; Golden Russet Farm, Shoreham; Blue Spruce Farm, Bridport, Someday Farm in East Dorset, La Platte River Angus, Shelburne and Choiniere Family Farm, Highgate.

The Vermont Sustainable Agriculture Council was established in 1990 by the Vermont legislature to promote research and education that will encourage the development and use of economically and ecologically sound sustainable agriculture practices. Members include the Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, and leaders from UVM’s Extension and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Green Mountain College, K-12 education, non-profit, and agriculture sectors.

Administrative support is provided by the UVM Center for Sustainable Agriculture. Established in 1994, the Center provides timely information to Vermont communities and the UVM campus. Part of UVM Extension, the Center conducts innovative research, supports the development of promising practices, cultivates partnerships, and informs policy to advance sustainable food and farming systems.