Gund Fellow, Professor, UVM Extension

Heather Darby is an Agronomic and Soils Specialist for the University of Vermont Extension. Being raised on a dairy farm in Northwest Vermont has allowed her to play an active role in all aspects of dairy farming and gain knowledge of the land; creating an awareness for the hard work and dedication required to operate a farm. These practical experiences, complemented by her education have focused her attention towards sustainable agriculture, and promotion of environmental stewardship. Heather is involved with research and outreach programs in the areas of fuel, forage, and grain production systems in New England.

Publications

Selected

  • Heleba, D., H. Darby, V. Grubinger. 2015. On the Ground: Putting Agroecology to Work through Applied Research and Extension in Vermont. In: Méndez, V.E., C.M. Bacon, R. Cohen and S.R. Gliessman (eds) Agroecology: a transdisciplinary, participatory and action-oriented approach. Invited book for the Advances in Agroecology Series. CRC Press/Taylor & Francis.
  • Darby, H. and C. Callahan. 2015. On-Farm Oil Based Biofuel Production. In: A. Dahiya (ed). Bioenergy: Biomass to Biofuels. Elsevier, Inc. Boston, MA.
  • Schattman, R., E., Mendez, K. Westdijk, M. Caswell, D Conner, C. Koliba, A. Zia, S. Hurley, C. Adair, L. Berlin, H. Darby. 2015. Vermont Agricultural Resilience in a Changing Climate: A Transdisciplinary and Participatory Action Research (PAR) Process. In: N. Benkeblia (ed.) Agrocecology, Ecosystems, and Sustainability. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
  • Aimee N. Hafla, Kathy J. Soder, André F. Brito, Richard Kersbergen, Fay Benson, Heather Darby, Melissa D. Rubano, S. Leanne Dillard, Jana Kraft, and Simone F. Reis. 2017. Winter supplementation of ground whole flaxseed impacts milk fatty acid composition on organic dairy farms in the northeastern United States. Journal of Animal Science, 95(4): 142–143; https://doi.org/10.2527/asasann.2017.288.
  • Calderwood, L. and H. Darby. 2017. Effect of drive row cover crops on hop (Humulus lupulus L.) yard arthropod pests and their natural enemies in Vermont, USA. Journal of Environmental Entomology, 46(2):183–190; https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvw069.
  • Roche, E., Mallory, E., & Darby, H. 2017. Evaluating Split Nitrogen Applications and In-Season Tests for Organic Winter Bread Wheat. Organic Farming, 3(1), 3-15. doi:10.12924/of2017.03010003.
  • A. N. Hafla, K. J. Soder, André F. Brito, Richard Kersbergen, Fay Benson, Heather Darby, Melissa Rubano, and Simone F. Reis. 2016. Case Study: Feeding strategy and pasture quality relative to nutrient requirements of dairy cows in the northeastern United States. The Professional Animal Scientist 32 (2016):523–530; http://dx.doi.org/10.15232/pas.2015-01500.
  • Calderwood, L., S. Lewins, and H. Darby. 2015. Survey of Northeastern hop arthropod pests and their natural enemies. Journal of Integrated Pest Management. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jipm/pmv017.

Areas of Expertise and/or Research

Soil quality and nutrient management; water quality; participatory research; grain production; organic farming; forages; hops; hemp; oilseed crops; milkweed; biofuel production

Education

  • PhD, Crops and Soils Oregon State University
  • MS, Agronomy University of Wisconsin-Madison

Contact

Email:

heather.darby@uvm.edu

Phone:
  • 802-524-6501
Website(s):
  1. UVM Extension/Crop Soil