Current research and projects are focused on:

• Soil quality impacts of farming methods, through trials of forage species, agroforestry projects, and research into compaction.
• Grass-fed beef production
• How small adjustments in management practices can affect milk production, in trials examining the timing of supplementation for organic dairy cows
• Investigating Vermont wool for non-traditional uses, including pellets for farms and gardens.
• The potential for alternative management practices to provide ecosystem services while increasing farm resiliency to climate change
• How we can affect water quality in the entire Connecticut River watershed by bringing a team problem-solving approach to work with individual farms
• Tools for grass farmers to monitor grazing behavior and forage utilization in real time.
• Understanding the potential for wood-chip pads to relieve pressure on recovering pastures and as out-wintering areas.
• Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship program to help keep new and young livestock farmers learning what they need to be successful graziers.
• What impact we can have on the whole region's farm and food system, economy and ecosystem by a networked regional approach to good grazing.
• How we can improve grazing practices in order to support water quality.

Recently completed projects:

• Findings from Farmer Mini-Grants in partnership with the Vermont Grass Farmers Association.
• Vermont Organic Custom Grazing project (with report)
• Bedded Pack Survey Report (PDF download)
• Dairy Systems & Sustainability (PDF download)
• Equine Pasture Management Project (opens in a new window)
• Pasture forage quality and yield response to irrigation, N fertilizer, and organic amendments
• Biodiversity & Cattle Wellbeing

Improved soil health helps protect water quality, increases profitability, helps sequester carbon, and increases a farm's resiliency to withstand extreme weather events.  Healthy soil is the foundation of sustainable farming, and is a primary consideration in our research projects.

Though nearly all of our work is centered around soil health, the projects listed here have a particular soil health component:

• Pasture Management & Water Quality
• Enhancing Research & Education for Grass Farmers
• Increasing ecosystem services and climate change resilience on livestock farms.
• Connecticut River Watershed Assistance (Long Island Sound RCPP)
• Pollinator-Friendly Solar Resources

Recently completed projects:

• Designing Variable-Width Filter Strips on Vermont Fields Using the AgBufferBuilder ArcGIS Tool
• Ensiled leaf fodder on a Maine goat farm SARE project report.

• Enhancing Food Security in the Northeast through Regional Food Systems
• Understanding Food Security among Resettled Refugee Families
• Extending the Season for Vermont's Resettled Refugee Farmers and Gardeners

Completed research and projects:

• Farmers & Food Access

• Connecticut River Watershed Assistance (Regional Conservation Partnership Program)
• Researching Tile Drainage Systems through Edge of Field Monitoring
• Increasing Ecosystem Services & Climate Change Resilience
• Designing variable-width filter strips on Vermont fields using the AgBufferBuilder ArcGIS tool
• Demonstrating effects of biological and mechanical compaction best management practices on soil properties and water movement

• Investigating Vermont Wool as a Material for Building & Other Industrial Uses
• Economic Case Studies of Climate Adaptation Practices
• Milkweed as an Alternative Crop for Climate Adaptation

Recently completed projects

• Guide to Farming-Friendly Solar
• Elderberry as a Commercial Crop
• Shiitake Mushrooms as a Farm/Forest Enterprise
• Swine Industry Research final report, 2016 (PDF download)
• Establishing Market Presence for New American Farmers
• Dry Beans in Vermont

We are here to help new and existing farmers find the land they need to sustainably grow crops and raise livestock while achieving financial viability.

Recently completed projects in this area:

• Launch of the newly improved New England Farmland Finder website to improve regional access to farmland
• The New Farmer Project, originally a project of the Center is now a vibrant and active stand-alone program within UVM Extension.

Our current Farming & Climate Change Research projects include:

• Economic Case Studies of Climate Adaptation Practices
• Increasing Ecosystem Services & Climate Change Resilience
• Designing variable-width filter strips on Vermont fields using the AgBufferBuilder ArcGIS tool
• Demonstrating effects of biological and mechanical compaction best management practices on soil properties and water movement

We have a special interest in understanding how community structures and relationships are part of lasting, vibrant farm and food systems.  Current and recent work in this area includes:

• The Who Farms? project.
• New American Farmer Project