Written by Shannon MacDonald “I come because I want to be with other people who want to learn about agriculture. We want to make Vermont and Vermont agriculture the best that’s possible for a long time,” said one local farmer, explaining why he attends the UVM Extension Annual Crops & Soils Field Day. On July …
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Written by Hillary Emick and John Bruce Preliminary Results It is already time to get ready for planting winter wheat. Each year, UVM Extension evaluates winter wheat varieties to determine those that will perform best here in Vermont. This year, the project evaluated 44 varieties of winter wheat, including six varieties of soft white winter …
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Cover cropping offers many benefits, such as weed suppression, building soil organic matter and biodiversity, reducing erosion, and decreasing nutrient loss. But selecting the best species and variety for a farm’s location and goals can be tricky, especially given increasingly erratic weather conditions. Despite this challenge, the number of U.S. farmers using cover crops has …
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Written by Amber Machia The Vermont growing season offers a short window to produce, harvest, and store nutrients in the form of forages for dairy cattle, including hay crop silage and corn silage. This process can be challenging, but the result is rewarding for you, your livestock, and your operation. The goal is to harvest …
An armyworm outbreak has been reported in Fairfax and Waterbury areas. The armyworms have been primarily feeding on grass fields. Armyworm moths generally blow up from the south in storms. Please don’t panic, but do go out and scout your corn and grass fields for armyworms. When full grown, the caterpillars can be almost 1.5 …
Written by Lindsey Ruhl UVM Extension NWCS Research Specialist Lindsey Ruhl and 4-H educator Wendy Sorrell, attended the 110th National Association of County Agricultural Agents (NACAA) Annual Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference in Billings, Montana, June 29 – July 2, 2025. There were over 1,200 attendees from 45 states. Presentations ranged from 4-H programming to research …
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When we harvest hay crop silages, naturally occurring bacteria present on the forage are responsible for completing the fermentation process we rely on to preserve the silage. During fermentation, bacteria take sugars in the forage and convert it into organic acids that acidify the material and preserve nutrients. Goals for good silage fermentation: 1. Rapid …
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Course Content UVM Research Specialists Amber Machia and Sara Ziegler have developed a new online course designed for technical assistance providers. The goal of this course is to provide education and resources for new technical service providers with foundational information around grazing planning and providing grazing-related technical assistance to production livestock farmers in Vermont. This …
Summer annual grasses, such as sudangrass and millet, can be good emergency forage crops if your feed inventory is low or you want to supplement pastures during the hot summer months. These grasses love heat and only need a few months to yield 3 to 5 tons of highly digestible dry matter per acre. There …
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By Bryony Sands Spring has finally arrived! Cows are being turned out to pasture, and farmers are busy out in the field. This season is full of new life, but a familiar parasitic arachnid is once again putting a damper on things. Tick populations are becoming more active, and they are on the rise in …