Shifting gears

Mary Peabody on Mary L Peabody, UVM Extension Professor

For the next year, beginning October 1, 2014, I will be stepping back from day-to-day program delivery and management to focus more deeply on the areas of direct marketing and labor management as they impact small […]

It's a good thing you can juggle...

Mary Peabody on Women's Agricultural Network Blog

It’s official. We have arrived at that time of year when you think you can’t possibly do one more thing. You’re exhausted. Your back hurts (not just in the morning now but all the time), the weeds are out of […]

On Mother's Day: Testing Your Food Waste IQ

Mary Peabody on Women's Agricultural Network Blog

In honor of Mother’s Day (I’ll explain later), let’s see what you know about food waste in the U.S.: A. What food category yields the most waste at the consumer level? Grain Products Seafood Fruits and […]

USDA Census of Agriculture: Reading between the lines

Mary Peabody on Women's Agricultural Network Blog

After a very long wait the 2012 USDA Census of Agriculture data are starting to roll out. While the meatiest (pun intended) reports are not expected until May the preliminary data are attracting a lot of […]

It's time to gather together...

Mary Peabody on Women's Agricultural Network Blog

Right now, before the change of seasons really settles in make plans to attend the upcoming 4th National Conference for Women in Sustainable Agriculture. Registration is open and if you hurry you can still make […]

Mechanizing your farm--yes, no, maybe?

Mary Peabody on Women's Agricultural Network Blog

I surveyed our Facebook friends a few days ago about future blog topics and a trend started to develop pretty quickly. It seems several of you have either smaller land holdings or some land that needs to be […]

What Your Employees Don't Know Will Hurt Your Business

Mary Peabody on Women's Agricultural Network Blog

This time of year many farmers and growers begin prepping for the market season. Before long, customers will be lining up at local farm stands and farmers’ markets ready to buy. Before the cash changes hands, […]

The Economics of Happiness

Mary Peabody on Women's Agricultural Network Blog

As we enter the holiday season, and the final days of another year, it seems inevitable that we take time to assess where we are in relation to where we hope to be. The following article was written before the […]

Build a Dream Team for Your Business

Mary Peabody on Women's Agricultural Network Blog

My friend Grace and I were having lunch when a group of people took the table next to us. It became clear after a couple minutes that they were coworkers in a travel business. They were discussing an upcoming […]

Ag Biz Management Tools

Mary Peabody on Mary L Peabody, UVM Extension Professor

Some worksheets that I use in my workshops for new farmers. If they are useful I invite you to use them: SMART Goals Planning Worksheet  

A history of cooperative extension

Mary Peabody on Mary L Peabody, UVM Extension Professor

All universities engage in research and teaching, but the nation’s more than 100 land-grant colleges and universities, have a third critical mission—extension. “Extension” means “reaching out,” and—along with teaching and research—land-grant institutions “extend” their resources, solving public needs with college or university resources through…[Read more]

No Excuses! Actions for growing the ranks of women farmer-leaders

Mary Peabody on Women's Agricultural Network Blog

With new markets come new farmers. For every farm operator under the age of 35, the U.S. has six farm operators over 65, many of whom are on the verge of retirement. To meet our current and future needs, Agriculture Secretary Vilsack called on federal, state and local governments to support the development of 100,000 new […]

The Biggest Hurdle to the Local Food Movement...?

Mary Peabody on Women's Agricultural Network Blog

Amid all the debate surrounding local foods, consumer health and preserving our regional agriculture the biggest hurdle of all might be the issue that we are not talking about–time! All the locally produced food in the universe will only be valuable if people have the time to buy it, prepare it and eat it. To turn these […]

2012 International Women's Day

Mary Peabody on Women's Agricultural Network Blog

“If women farmers had the same level of access to resources that men have,  they could increase yields on their farms by 20 to 30 percent —vital gains at a time when about one in seven people goes hungry. No wonder the UN declared the theme of International Women’s Day 2012 Empower rural women—end hunger and poverty .” Thursday, March 8, 2012 […]

Information Overload

Mary Peabody on Women's Agricultural Network Blog

Information overload . They call it “drinking from the fire hose”. That’s the perfect analogy for my life right now, and maybe yours as well. So much information coming through so quickly I waffle between the anxiety that I’ll miss something important and the thrill of discovering one more excellent blog that I want to follow but […]

On Tradition and Thankfulness...

Mary Peabody on Women's Agricultural Network Blog

Thanksgiving is the perfect holiday to express appreciation for all of the things that are too easy to take for granted the rest of the year. Many families have a tradition of sharing one thing they are thankful for and at our table it is sometimes mushy and sentimental but more often funny and light-hearted. Whatever […]

Engaging Youth in Community Development

Mary Peabody on UVM Extension Building Capacity Blog

It us ually starts like this. Community spokesperson : We need to get young folks to stay in this community. Can you help with that? Me: Can you say a little more about what you are looking for? Community spokesperson : All of our kids are leaving. They graduate high school but there are no jobs for them. Sometimes they go off […]

It's good to have sister programs...

Mary Peabody on Women's Agricultural Network Blog

Last week I joined 150 others at the Women in Sustainable Ag Conference hosted by our sister program the Pennsylvania Women’s Ag Network . It was wonderful to be in the company of women all dedicated to agriculture.  Here is what I learned (or relearned) in those four days… Sometimes, women just need to be in the company of […]

European markets are wonderful...and different

Mary Peabody on Women's Agricultural Network Blog

I am a farmers’ market junkie. I can (and do!) spend hours roaming around taking in the abundance of all things animal, vegetable and mineral. Good markets are a feast for your senses and a tonic for the blues. I don’t recall ever leaving a farmers’ market without a smile on my face. I love markets […]

If you can't stand the heat...

Mary Peabody on Women's Agricultural Network Blog

It is August and I am in a panic. With the exception of eight quarts of blueberries and four packages of asparagus I have not canned, frozen, pickled, dried or preserved a single thing this season. Preserving the harvest is in my DNA. My great-grandmothers, grandmothers, aunts and mother were all preservers. The truth is they […]