Burlington--Through a recently awarded three-year U.S. Department of Agriculture Conservation Innovation Grant, the University of Vermont (UVM) Extension Northwest Crops and Soils Program and the Vermont Association of Conservation Districts have partnered todevelop soil health peer learning groups for farmers.
The goal of these groups is to advance the soil health of Vermont farmland. Through this program, farmers will learn to benchmark soil health, evaluate soil health gaps and track changes in soil health on their farm.
The project will help identify trends in soil health and ecosystem service benefits that the agricultural landscape provides to Vermont. It also will include peer-to-peer learning and one-on-one mentoring to build soil health plans and foster implementation.
The project will begin in winter 2023 with farmer recruitment, soil health benchmarking and plan development in the first year, followed by implementation and discovery in subsequent years. It will include both virtual and on-farm meetings.
To learn more, contact UVM Extension agronomist Heather Darby at (802) 524-6501, ext. 437, or heather.darby@uvm.edu.