UVM Extension Cultivating Healthy Communities

Northwest Crops and Soils Program

Discovery Acres

Discovery Acres is a participatory action research model, created to understand the impact of conservation practices on water and soil quality. In the fall of 2020, Discovery Acres was established on a privately-owned farm in the St. Albans Bay watershed.

GOALS

Deploy a farmer-led research, demonstration, and outreach program focused on the relationship between commercial agricultural production and water quality.
Educate and improve communication among the agricultural community, community members, researchers, and policy makers.
Identify and implement effective environmental management practices that are compatible with profitable agriculture.
Work collaboratively with farmers, researchers, and government organizations to meet the research needs of Vermont farmers.

The Vermont Clean Water Initiative Program provided funding to support the planning and establishment of the Discovery Acres site. Discovery Acres has an advisory board comprised of four farmers as well as representatives from the VT Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets, the VT Agency of Natural Resources, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service, the Lake Champlain Basin Program, and Miner’s Institute. Since the start of the project, this group has been meeting to develop the Discovery Acres concept and research priorities.

Discovery Acres Vermont was recently accepted to be a member of the national network of Discovery Farms. The Discovery Farms® Program was founded in Wisconsin in 2001 tasked with the goal of developing on-farm and related research to determine the economic and environmental effects of agricultural practices on a diverse group of farms. Research is used to educate and improve communication among the agricultural community, consumers, researchers, and policy makers. There are Discovery Farms programs in Arkansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

For additional information please contact Ivy Krezinski or the St. Albans University of Vermont Extension Office:

ivy.krezinski@uvm.edu

802-524-6501

Equipment at the St. Albans Discovery Acres site (below).

For More Information

Learn more about research being done by other active Discovery Farm programs at their websites:

Discovery Farms Wisconsin - https://uwdiscoveryfarms.org/
Discovery Farms Minnesota - https://discoveryfarmsmn.org/
Arkansas Discovery Farms Program - https://aaes.uada.edu/centers-and-programs/discovery-farm-program/
Discovery Farms North Dakota- https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/df
Discovery Farms Washington- https://www.wadiscoveryfarms.org/home

EVENTS

Discovery Farms® multi-state webinar – Tuesday March 28, 2023, 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET.

Join us for the 2nd annual Discovery Farms® webinar to hear program updates from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arkansas, and Vermont! You can register here for this free 3-hour webinar.

The Discovery Farms® network hosted a free webinar titled, Cover crop and water quality: A multi-state webinar featuring the work of Discovery Farms Programs (click to view flyer) on Wednesday February 16, 2022, which included presentations from the Discovery Farms programs in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arkansas, and Vermont.

Cick here to watch the recorded YouTube video.