New Dairy Grant$ :Business Plan Review Available for Applicants

A new round of grants for dairy farmers that are members of the St. Albans Cooperative was announced on March 14th. Funds donated by Commonwealth Dairy to the VT Housing and Conservation Board will support the grants program. Grant proposals up to $40,000 each will be accepted. Farm applicants will be required to submit a business plan with their application for the grant and UVM Extension Farm Viability will be available to provide pre-review of  business plans before they are  submitted with  applications.

Any farms that would like to get their business plan reviewed before application must contact Liz Gleason at the Vermont Farm and Forest Viability Program, 802-828-3370 or email at liz@vhcb.org. Go to this link for all the information you need about the grants program. http://www.vhcb.org/Farm-Forest-Viability/dairy-grants/

The grant application deadline is April 28th. Farms must remember that  pre-review  requires the submission of  plans in advance of April 28th to allow ample time for review and revisions. Follow the link above for more details.

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Health Care Changes for Farms

Vermont Health Connect has been providing information sessions about important changes to health care enrollment for farmers.  Most recently they have developed this guide:VT Health Connect Ag Producer Resource Packet 3.3.14.

This is a critical time for businesses and individuals. There is a March 15th sign up deadline for individuals seeking coverage to begin April 1st. Many group association plans that farmers have traditionally enrolled through will expire on March 31st.

Click the link above to open the most recent VT Health Connect guide and find details, frequently asked questions and important contacts.