Agriculture Outreach and Programming
LCCD exists to assist local farmers in management practices that preserve and protect our natural resources so that our farms can be productive for generations to come.
We are here to help!
LCCD is non-reporting,non-regulatory and is not a government entity. Our assistance is confidential and is meant to help farmers acquire resources and information to best care for our working landscape. The brochure below goes over some of our central services of RAP compliance and Nutrient Management Plans:
In addition to Nutrient Management Planning and RAP assistance, LCCD also provides the following services to farmers:
- Soil and manure sampling, and assistance in applying these data
- Water quality training
- Assistance in organic certification
- Farm viability consultation
- Pre-side dress soil nitrate test sampling
- Map making
- Nutrient management plan updates and upkeep
- Land treatment planning
- Consulting in receiving state and federal funds for your best practices or new projects on farm
- Your idea here! We would love your input concerning services we can provide Lamoille County Farmers. If you have any requests for workshops, farm assistance or consulting please contact us at [email protected]
Agricultural Outreach Initiative
In 2013, LCCD joined in a state-wide initiative to reach out to new and small farms to introduce them to conservation partners and programs such as the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service, Farm Service Agency, UVM Agricultural Extension Program, among others. With initial support from the Vermont State Legislature, VT NRCDs assisted “small” farmers to learn about Soil Health and Nutrient Management Planning. Through this initiative, LCCD helped create Conservation in Vermont: Best Management Practices for Farm and Forest Owners that showcases a number of cost saving and resources practices that landowners can participate in through district and partner programs. Printed copies are available at the Morrisville USDA Service Center. Binning this spring we will be offering a no‐till workshop series. This will entail gathering community members and producers to partake in learning about no‐till practices through a series of both demonstrations and informational sessions.
LCCD is also working to address the recommendations set forth by the Lamoille County Tactical Basin
plan. The Tactical Basin Plan has assed the agricultural needs of the surrounding watershed and
has made recommendations based off of those results. Some of the goals have been to increase
outreach and farmer participation that results in more landowner willingness, increase rates of
repayment for services, building strong partnerships and increasing trust within the farming community, and increasing no‐till in areas with continuous corn and annual flooding. Overall the Tactical Basin plan aims to protect and restore Vermont’s surface waters.
Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)
CREP is a cost share program of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that provides annual rental payments to farmers who convert highly erodible cropland or other environmentally sensitive acreage to vegetative cover such as native grasses or trees. The overall goal of CREP is to reduce soil erosion, protect the ability to produce food and fiber, reduce sedimentation in streams and lakes, improve water quality, establish wildlife habitat and enhance forest and wetland resources.
Since 2005, the LCCD has worked in partnership with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA), and Lamoille County producers to coordinate the ordering and planting of over 5,000 stems on over 20 acres of land in the Lamoille and Winooski Watersheds. United States Department of Agriculture Learn more about CREP at www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/crp/
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Your advocate
LCCD Conservation Outreach Coordinator Emma Sandman is available to work with producers to assist them in understanding the varied federal and state programs available to them. We want to continue our connections with Lamoille County farmers, so please drop a line with any service requests, or just to tell us about yourself and your farm!
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 859-753-7629