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Boards Backs Southern VT Slaughterhouse

Recently the Rutland Herald included an article about the Westminster, VT selectboard hearing a request for public support in favor of a state grant application to renovate the former Coastal Seafood building as a slaughterhouse serving southeastern VT and nearby Massachusetts and New Hampshire. http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20090307/NEWS02/903070343/1003/NEWS In addition to addressing an underserved portion of the region […]

Transporting Broiler Chickens Could Spread Antibiotic-Resistant Organisms

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have found evidence of a novel pathway for potential human exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria from intensively raised poultry—driving behind the trucks transporting broiler chickens from farm to slaughterhouse. A study by the Hopkins researchers found increased levels of pathogenic bacteria, both susceptible and drug-resistant, on […]

We’re Back and It’s Turkey Time

It’s been a busy fall for the Pasture Program, and I’ll be the first to admit that I’m behind on posting the many pictures and notes taken on pasture walks and workshops this summer. I look forward to sharing those summer experiences with you as the cold weather draws on. We also have some great […]

If You Want Safe Food, Know Where It Comes From

No, this article isn’t *quite* what I expected from the title, but it had a really educational diagram showing how to tell where your eggs are coming from, and some references to web sites for trackable products. In VT, we debate the merits of labeling food origins through National Animal ID, but at the same […]

Environmental Sustainability of Dairies

I was reading an article on Grist.org about new efforts in the dairy industry to incorporate more sustainable practices, and a recent Dairy Sustainability summit. The article wasn’t terribly detailed, but did make a statement that “Numerous studies have demonstrated that organic dairy production produces between one-half to one-third fewer greenhouse-gas emissions and uses about […]

VT Compost Company Action Alert

This is posted on the NOFA-VT website, with a list of actions local farmers and consumers may take to support VT Compost Company. While this may not seem to directly affect livestock farmers, many of the farmers within the Pasture Network and VT Grass Farmers Association are diversified producers as well as appreciating the sustainable […]

Scientific Findings About Organic Agriculture

The Leopold Center at Iowa State has collected a series of peer-reviewed studies regarding various aspects of organic agriculture. This project was developed in response to claims that there are no significant differences in products produced under organic standards than products produced conventionally. Included in the articles cited are findings related specifically to grass-based animal […]

Raw Milk Now on Craig’s List

Now that the VT limitation on advertising raw milk has been removed (please note that there is still a limitation of on-farm sales to less than 50 quarts per day), the internet has become one more tool to connect local farms with prospective customers. http://burlington.craigslist.org/grd/749339260.html

Meat, Free Trade and Democracy

While looking around for Pasture Calendar events this month, I came across this article titled, “Meat, ‘free trade’ and democracy” by corporate anthropologist Jane Anne Morris. Not only does the article note the rejection by other countries of US imported beef, but also US state control taken away over 100 years ago in the name […]