Discovery Acres Vermont

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 or 802-656-7610

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:

 

          

   

EVENTS

Discovery Farms Multi-state Webinar - Tuesday, March 26, 2024, 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time

On March 26, the Discovery Farms® Programs in Wisconsin, Vermont, Arkansas and Minnesota will host a virtual webinar titled “Emerging Contaminants and Water Quality: The Importance of On-Farm Research”. Join this interactive webinar to learn more about farmer-led water quality research in these four states and how the Discovery Farms® network is responding to emerging concerns. This 2 ½  hour webinar will begin at 9:00 am Central Time and 10:00 am Eastern Time. CCA CEU credits will be available.

Click here to register for this free webinar!

PAST EVENTS

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

Recording available here!
In case you missed it, a video recording of the 2nd annual Discovery Farms® webinar is now available online at https://youtu.be/gtz-szLP_LM. Watch the recording to hear research presentations from the Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arkansas, and Vermont Discovery Farms programs.

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.