Champlain Valley Crop, Soil & Pasture – UVM Extension
Cultivating Healthy Communities
The 2015 No-Till and Cover Crop Symposium was a huge success! We are already processing the evaluations to continue to improve and advance the conversation. If you missed the symposium, or would like to revisit the information, we have posted the pdf files of the presenters.
champlain.crops@uvm.edu | (802) 388-4969
The annual Vermont Farm Show will be held on January the 27th-29th (Tues-Thurs), at the Champlain Valley Expo, in Essex Junction, VT. All community members are welcome and there is something for everyone! Children, and children at heart, always enjoy the equipment and animals on display, the public can come learn about innovative agriculture practices happening in their community, and ‘foodies’ will enjoy the Wednesday ‘Buy Local Market’. There will be opportunities to have friendly and engaging conversation with a variety of representatives in the agricultural community – from seed, machinery and product vendors, trade organizations, Extension agents, state and national technical advisers, and financial organizations.
Growers, artists and home-chefs can submit products for the annual product competition. Many types of products will be on display including maple syrup and maple products, vegetables, apples, field crops, Christmas trees and wreaths, honey, eggs, home goods, and fiber arts. The UVM Middlebury Extension office is your local drop-off site for product entries. Please drop off entries by noon on Monday January 26th. Just be sure to fill out your tag with appropriate information and follow product entry rules. For more information about the Farm Show and the product entry rules, visit the website: http://www.vtfarmshow.com or call (802) 461-8774. Feel free to contact the UVM Extension Middlebury office, (802) 338-4969 or (800) 956-1125, e-mail: champlain.crops@uvm.edu or stop by: 23 Pond Lane Suite 300, Middlebury, VT.
Don’t miss this event! Our No-Till and Cover Crop Symposium with be held February 19th, 2015.
It will be located at the Sheraton, in Burlington, VT.
More information to come (see link in side panel).
Join the UVM Extension’s Champlain Valley Crop Soil & Pasture Team and Northwest Crops & Soils Program, the Champlain Valley Farmer Coalition and local farms to check out what farmers around the Champlain Valley are doing on their farms to fit cover crops into their cropping systems.
Friday, October 31st • Pouliot Farm • 1:00-3:00 PM
1478 VT Route 128, Westford, VT 05494
See annual ryegrass, white clover and forage radish mixed right in with Urea and seeded at sidedress time in July. The Pouliots got a great catch, and now we can see how it survived the traffic during harvest, talk to the farmers about whether or not it competed with the corn, their herbicide program and see what they might change for next year. An added bonus…Tony will bring out the Great Plains twin-row corn planter.
Thursday, November 6th • Vorsteveld Farm • 1:00-3:00 PM
1/3 Mile East of Panton Village on Panton Rd.
The Vorstevelds welcome us back to get a look at the cover crops that have been growing since mid-August, see the results of manure injection and more. We’ll also see how their winter rye, winter wheat, oat, radish cover crop is doing that they seeded immediately after corn harvest…and how that cover crop did after manure was injected right after seeding. We can also talk to the Vorstevelds about their ‘minimum till’ system they have been using on their heavy clay soils. 
Friday, November 7th • Clifford Farm • 1:00-3:00 PM
6147 VT Route 116, Starksboro, VT 05487
Check out results of two different cover crop studies – all in one field. See 10 different three-way cover crop mixes, each planted in July, August and September. We’ll also take a look at a research plots with winter rye drilled and broadcast, with and without Tillage Radish planted in mid-September. All of these plots also have portions with and without manure applications. We’ll also take a look at winter rye broadcast and rolled – per NRCS specifications.
Meet us at our office at 278 S. Main St, St. Albans BEFORE 1pm to join this tour. Depending on numbers, we may rent some vans.
Please RSVP by November 6.
Come learn about cover crops and our NWCS research looking at cover crop varieties, planting dates, and seeding rates at this field day at Roger and Claire Rainville’s Borderview Research Farm, 146 Line Road, Alburgh, VT
Directions: From Route 2 in Alburgh, turn onto Route 225 (Border Road). Drive toward the Canadian Border. As you approach the border, turn Left just BEFORE Customs. In front of you, there will be a dirt road (Line Road) that
goes West along the border. Borderview Farm is the first farm on the Left.
The UVM Extension Champlain Valley Crop, Soil & Pasture Team and the Northwest Crops & Soils Program were joined by farmers and technical advisers at the first conference in New England dedicated to No-Till and Cover Cropping systems for field crop growers in our area. We welcomed speakers from around the country and from Vermont – including Extension specialists and researchers, farmers and consultants.
Click the picture below for the PDF version of the conference proceedings.
Videos:Frank Gibbs NRCS Resource Soil Scientist sharing from a root pit
The ‘smoke test’ results from Frank Gibbs’ experiment on continuous no-till soils.
Aerial Seeding Cover Crops into Corn (Richmond, VT) – 2013
Loading Cover Crop Seed into the Helicopter – 2013
DAY ONE (Feb. 19)
Reduced Tillage Success – presented by Rico Balzano
No-Till Considerations – presented by Jeff Sanders
No-till and Cover Crops on a Pennsylvania Dairy Farm – presented by Jim Harbach and Gerard Troisi
Keeping Your Phosphorus Where it Belongs in No-Till Fields – presented by Frank Gibbs
Precision Agriculture for Conservation Tillage Success – presented by Guy Palardy
DAY TWO (Feb. 20)
Cover Crops No-Till and Diversity – presented by Jeff Carter
Earthworms – The Key to Quality No Till Soils_- presented by Frank Gibbs
Cover Crop Mixes After Corn Silage – presented by Sjoerd Duiker
Cover Crops at North Island Dairy – presented by Andre Quintin
Cover Crops for No-Till Systems on a Pennsylvania Dairy Farm – presented by Jim Harbach
Double Cropping with Cover Crops – Winter Rye Forage at Deer Valley Farm
Aerial Seeding Cover Crops in Vermont – presented by Kirsten Workman
All farms in Vermont will be impacted by environmental regulations around water quality. Join the discussion to find out how to work together as farmers and take the initiative to be proactive and be part of the solution.
Join us on January 8th at the Vergennes American Legion at 6:30 pm to:
CVFC Annual Meeting
January 8, 2014 | 6:00 – 8:30 PM
Vergennes American Legion
AGENDA
6:00 – 6:30
CVFC ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
6:30 – 7:00
SOCIAL TIME
Cash Bar & H’orderves: catch up with friends & neighbors after a busy field season
7:00 – 8:30
PROGRAM
Farmer Panel, Chuck Ross, & David Mears
8:30
Travel home or stick around for some more social time!!
RSVP
info@champlainvalleyfarmercoalition.com | (802) 388-4969
November 8th * 10:00 am to 11:30 pm * Ferrisburgh, VT
No-Till Cover Crop FIELD DAY
Can no-till, cover crop mixes and manure work in corn silage on the clay soils of the Champlain Valley?? We’re trying to find out. Please join us at the site of one of our on-farm research trialsJoin the Champlain Valley Crop Soil & Pasture Team and Deer Valley Farm as we share our preliminary results from our Cover Crop Diversity in No-Till Systems SARE Partnership Project. Come check out our on-farm research plots of two different cover crop mixes in corn silage on CLAY SOIL
Click HERE for the Field Day flyer
RSVP to (802) 388-4969 or kirsten.workman@uvm.edu
November 14th * 10:00 am to 2:30 pm * Bridport Community Hall
Champlain Valley Grazing Symposium
Join us as we wrap up this year’s grazing season and think ahead to next year! Come hear how planned grazing can be fun and profitablee. Troy Bishopp, aka “The Grass Whisperer” is an accomplished grazier on his own farm in NY state, in addition to working with the Madison County Soil & Water Conservation District/Upper Susquehanna Coalition as their regional grazing specialist. Troy brings a holistic approach to grazing planning by helping farmers chart a course that pays attention to their personal goals as well as their profits. Julie Smith, UVM Extension Dairy Specialist, will also be here to discuss how to manage and troubleshoot common herd health issues including Johne’s, BVD, and nutritional deficiencies. Julie’s focus is on biosecurity and preventive animal health management. Hope to see you there!
Click HERE for the Grazing Symposium flyer
Register & purchase tickets: http://grazingsymposium2013.eventbrite.com/
SEE YOU THERE!
Watch Jeff Carter, UVM Extension Agronomist, and Leanna Compagna from Scholten Family Farms in Weybridge talk about how this prolonged wet weather is impacting farms across Vermont.
Annual reports for the CV Crops Team, No-Till Grain Drills and Livestock Exclusion.
Here are some success stories:
CV_Crop_Team_Impact_Report_2012
CV_Crop_Team_No-Till_report_2012