The Intervale Community Farm (ICF), established in 1990 and located along the Winooski River in Burlington, is one of Vermont's oldest and largest community-supported agriculture (CSA) farms. Andy Jones has been manager of this certified organic farm since 1993, growing 25 acres of a wide variety of vegetables including cucumbers, squashes, pumpkins, melons, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, spinach, lettuce, peppers, and tomatoes.

Read more about the farm's operations and this report.

The farm has developed strong relationships with its 600 member-customers and Andy has built a reputation as a leading organic farm practitioner in the Northeast. As Andy explains, "On a 100-year floodplain, ICF soils have long been recognized as productive farmland, albeit subject to flooding. The irony is that much of the floodplain which ICF farms is composed of sandy soils, which drain well but need to be irrigated during dry periods." Over the past several decades, the impacts of climate change in the Northeast have meant an increase in extreme weather events including heavy downpours and extended dry hot periods throughout the growing season.

Download methods, budget, analysis and key findings

Details of methods, partial budget, and sensitivity analysis with tables and figures. (PDF)

Key findings of the project. (PDF)

Located at the northeast corner of Addison County Vermont, the Doyle-Burrs operate a 272 acre diversified family farm. They purchased what had previously been a dairy farm for over 140 years in 1986.  The Doyle-Burrs started the conversion to organic certification by selling the dairy herd and moving to hay and produce operations in 1993.

The farm operates a pick-your-own berries operation, an on-site farmstand and a CSA program. They also sell their produce at local farmers markets and wholesale to schools, restaurants, and food stores in Burlington, Williston, Winooski and Bristol, Vermont.

Over the past 15 years, Last Resort Farm (LRF) has experienced an increase in extreme weather with heavy precipitation.  Farm co-owner Eugenie says, “Storms have been worse, causing soil erosion. In June 2015, we had 20 inches of rain as measured by our rain gauges on the farm and that was also confirmed by the Addison weather station.”

Read the project case study (PDF file download).

Read more about project details and the economic analysis (MS Word file download).

Milkweed is the sole food source for the beloved monarch butterfly, but it has long been considered undesirable for most farmers.

Herbicide use and increased cultivation of genetically modified crops have caused a severe decline in milkweed and monarch butterfly populations.   But recent innovative uses for milkweed fiber have piqued the interest of some innovative farmers in the Northeast.

Milkweed production provides ecological benefits including semi-permanent soil cover and monarch butterfly, pollinator and other wildlife habitat.   Additionally, milkweed can provide a specialty fiber crop that enables farmers to meet a new market demand for natural fibers while adapting to climate change and having less environmental impact.

With these benefits, it makes sense that interest is growing.  UVM Extension Northwest Crops and Soils Program has been investigating the feasibility of producing milkweed as a commercial crop with farmers in Vermont.  The Center is now conducting an economic case study as part of our climate adaptation case study series with NRCS and the NE Climate Hub.