Agricultural economists from University of Connecticut are paying up to $100 for volunteers to participate in one of two decision making sessions, one on January 20 and the other on January 21, during the Vermont Grazing and Livestock Conference at Lake Morey resort in Fairlee. They are working with ecologists from University of Vermont and other conservation groups to connect conservation with working landscapes in a manner that makes conservation profitable for Vermont’s farm businesses. During the sessions they seek your participation to learn about and develop competitive processes to enroll land in conservation programs, possibly making this part of your farm’s actual, profitable business. For example, you will be asked to consider how it might change your farming business if you were to agree, in exchange for a sufficient payment, to enroll 10 or more acres of your hayfield in a bird conservation program for one summer. Before arriving for a session, please think about how enrolling a hayfield in conservation, and delaying harvests for 65 days in summers, would affect your business. How would this change your need for labor, your management time, revenues from farm sales, need for feed for livestock, fertilizer costs, or whatever else might be appropriate to your farm business.
You can pre-register for the sessions online through https://uconn.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6DaxOQYDHpQ6ool or you can register during the conference. You will receive $100 to participate in the sessions. Alternatively, if you commit to participating in the session and are planning to attend the conference on both days (January 20 and 21), you can receive a full waiver of your conference registration fees. For more information please contact Stephen Swallow at stephen.swallow@uconn.edu with a copy to bobolinkproject@gmail.com or call 860-486-1917.
Agricultural economists from University of Connecticut are paying up to $100 for volunteers to participate in one of two decision making sessions, one on January 20 and the other on January 21, during the Vermont Grazing and Livestock Conference at Lake Morey resort in Fairlee. They are working with ecologists from University of Vermont and other conservation groups to connect conservation with working landscapes in a manner that makes conservation profitable for Vermont’s farm businesses. During the sessions they seek your participation to learn about and develop competitive processes to enroll land in conservation programs, possibly making this part of your farm’s actual, profitable business. For example, you will be asked to consider how it might change your farming business if you were to agree, in exchange for a sufficient payment, to enroll 10 or more acres of your hayfield in a bird conservation program for one summer. Before arriving for a session, please think about how enrolling a hayfield in conservation, and delaying harvests for 65 days in summers, would affect your business. How would this change your need for labor, your management time, revenues from farm sales, need for feed for livestock, fertilizer costs, or whatever else might be appropriate to your farm business.
You can pre-register for the sessions online through https://uconn.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6DaxOQYDHpQ6ool or you can register during the conference. You will receive $100 to participate in the sessions. Alternatively, if you commit to participating in the session and are planning to attend the conference on both days (January 20 and 21), you can receive a full waiver of your conference registration fees. For more information please contact Stephen Swallow at stephen.swallow@uconn.edu with a copy to bobolinkproject@gmail.com or call 860-486-1917.
Brittany Cole Bush (AKA BCB Shepherdess) is a non-traditional agrarian. Self-deemed a modern-day urban shepherdess, BCB is an innovative young entrepreneur in the work of land stewardship and livestock through prescriptive grazing efforts on public and private lands in California. Learn how stacked livestock enterprises in production of fiber, meat and hides as well as prescribed grazing as an ecosystems service is proliferating in the West and other regions of the country, helping to keep multi-generational operations viable and creating new opportunities for first time graziers. BCB will talk about the work of the "New Pastoralists" and how land stewardship through grazing strategy is playing an essential role to shaping the future of the faces in ranching and farming.
Is it enough to build a business around pastured meat or milk? What about the many other possibilities to help bring farm financial success and stability? Join Ferme Brylee co-owners Lise Villeneuve and Brian Maloney as they describe the ups and downs of creating a complementary agritourism business including the time commitment, doing diversification without a strong centerpiece operation, managing people, and working together closely as a couple.
This session will consider soil as a climate solution, focusing on research, policy and activism. Seth Itzkan, who is co-founder of Soil4Climate, has just returned from the international climate conference in Marrakesh (COP22) and will discuss the latest science and review initiatives on soil and climate from France and the Commonwealth of Nations. Jesse McDougall of Studio Hill Farms in Shaftsbury, Vermont, will discuss his efforts in crafting the Vermont Regenerative Agriculture Certification Bill that will be reintroduced into the Vermont Senate this term.
Seth is the co-founder of Soil4Climate, a Vermont-based organization with global reach.
