You are right! The 2012 Agriculture Census is the most recent version of the census that happens every five years. The Census of Agriculture accounts for all U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them. The Census looks at land use and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures. The census is important because it provides the only source of uniform, comprehensive and impartial agricultural data for every county in the nation. Through the Census, producers can show the nation the value and importance of agriculture, and they can help influence the decisions that will shape the future of American agriculture for years to come.

Here are some highlights from Vermont's 2012 Census Stats:

7338 farms...the highest number in recent history (at least since 1982)
1,251,713 acres of farmland...highest since 1997
The average acres per farm was 171...the lowest in recent history
63% of farms were between 10 and 499 acres.
There were 39 farms (0.5%) that were 2000 acres or more.
The total value of farm products sold was $776,105,000...for an average of $105,765 per farm.
$504,844,000 of farm product sales were in cow's milk (65%).
Maple syrup sales accounted for $32,419,000.
35% of farms had product sales valued at $2,500 or less.
82% of farms are owned by a family or individual...that number rises to 90% if you include partnerships.
The average farmer in Vermont is 57.3 years old...the oldest since at least 1982
There were 1075 dairy farms...of which 40% had herd sizes between 1 and 49 cows, 28% were between 50 and 99 cows, 25% had between 100 and 499 cows, and 7% had herds of 500 or more cows.
337,694 acres were used to grow hay and haylage crops.
80,231 acres were used to grow corn silage.
11,059 acres were used to grow corn grain.
4478 acres were used to grow soybeans.
4,171 acres were used to grow vegetables and potatoes.
2,360 acres were used as orchards for tree fruit.
Organic agriculture made up 7.5% of farms and 8% of farm sales in Vermont. The average organic farmer in Vermont is 51.7 years old.

For more Vermont Agriculture Statistics, visit the Vermont 2012 Ag Census results: HERE

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If you would like to Ask ELSIE? a question, please email her by clicking HERE.

FARM NEWS & EVENTS

SAVE THE DATE!

What:Grazing Workshop with South African grazing expert, Ian Mitchell-Innes

When: Monday, June 16th

Where: Mountain Meadows Farm, Sudbury, VT

We are excited to announce that Ian Mitchell-Innes will be here for a full-day grazing workshop at Mountain Meadows Farm in Sudbury. Ian Mitchell-Innes is an internationally recognized rancher and educator from South Africa. In this day-long workshop, Ian will focus on how to get the best animal performance from managed grazing. We will look at the relationship between the soil, plants and animals and how managing the 'whole' equates to profitability.

Mountain Meadows Farm is an organic beef farm owned by Dr. Amiel Cooper and managed by Brian Kemp. The farm raises 350 cow-calf pairs on approximately 900 acres of pasture land. The farm manages almost 3,000 total acres on which numerous conservation practices have been implemented to protect water quality and improve soil health. Recently the farm was recognized for its practices as an Environmental Stewardship Award Program

winner.

Come join us for a classroom workshop followed by a pasture walk. Lunch included. Registration info coming soon!

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CROP INSURANCE DEADLINES

The cropping season is here...and so are your Crop Insurance deadlines. Here are a few key dates coming up:

May 10th: Final planting date for barley and spring seeded forages
May 31st: Final planting date for spring wheat
June 10th: Final planting date for corn and soybeans
June 30th: Final planting date for sweet corn
August 31st: Final planting date for fall seeded forages

For a full list of Key Crop Insurance Dates, click HERE

Funding for the Champlain Valley Crop, Soil & Pasture Team and the programs and resources we offer is provided by the following organizations:

UVM Extension
Lake Champlain Basin Program
Great Lakes Fishery Commission
USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service
VT Agency of Natural Resources
VT Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets
USDA-Risk Management Agency
USDA-National Institute of Food & Agriculture
NE-SARE Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture. University of Vermont Extension, Burlington, Vermont.

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University of Vermont Extension, and U.S. Department of Agriculture, cooperating, offer education and employment to everyone without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or familial status.

If you would no longer like to receive this newsletter, feel free to Unsubscribe by clicking the SafeUnsubscribe™ button at the bottom of this newsletter.
Although, we hope you won't!

News and Events

For Vermont Farmers in the Lake Champlain Watershed

Jeff's Intro

Yes, Spring is busy this year on your farm and in our shop as well.
In this newsletter read about what our Extension Team is doing to help you with Cover Crops, Pasture Grazing, Corn Planting, No-Till Planting, GIS mapping, Farmer Coalition support and Technical Assistance for EQIP farmers.

I had the pleasure to recap how much our team has been reaching out to farmers throughout Vermont in a report I gave to Lake Champlain Basin Program Technical Committee last week. The partners we have with the Lake Champlain Basin Program, the NRCS and Conservation Districts, The Vermont Agencies of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Federal SARE and National Institute of Food and Agriculture programs all support our efforts to help you.

Over the past three years the Agronomy Outreach Staff have made such a valuable contribution to helping farmers in this state that they deserve a nod of gratitude. You may have seen some of them as they helped:

142 farms develop and implement nutrient management plans for 36,545 acres
276 farms to use no-till planters and conservation tillage on 23,628 acres
143 farms implement winter cover crops on 13,352 acres
140 farms improve their planned rotational grazing on 15,171 acres
51 farms improve manure use on 12,909 acres
18 farms install 38,251 feet of livestock fencing along streams

This is not a complete list, but highlights what we have done to bring Extension to farmers throughout the basin. In addition to the Middlebury Agronomy team of Rico Balzano, Kirsten Workman, and Cheryl Cesario we also now have field research assistants Dan Infurna, Michelle Smith, Lindsey Ruhl and Kristin Williams on board to help with projects.
Other very important players on our team include:
Jeff Sanders and Amanda Gervais in St. Albans with Heather Darby
Kim Hagen in Colchester with Sustainable Agriculture Center
Jennifer Alexander in Poultney with PMNRCD conservation District

Man, What a Crew.

Our Motto "Yeah We Can Do That"

Jeff Carter

UVM Extension Agronomy Specialist

http://www.uvm.edu/extension/cvcrops

https://www.facebook.com/ChamplainCropSoilPasture

COVER CROP CORNER

Cover Crop Survey for ALL Vermont Farmers

There is still time to take our survey of Vermont farmers to learn more about how and why cover crops are or are not utilized in our state. This survey is targeted at all farmers, regardless of whether or not you have used cover crops in your operation at any time.

THERE'S STILL TIME TO TAKE THE SURVEY...CLICK HERE

Spring Management for Cover Crops...Termination & Harvest

by Kirsten Workman

April Showers bring May flowers or is it April Showers Bring May SHOWERS?? With the cold weather and rain this spring, our cover crop plantings are far less mature than they were this time last year. That said, a few warm days and those winter rye plants will be jumping up really quickly. And before they get away from you, make sure you have a plan. You have several options, but a good plan will set you up for success. Remember...those cover crops are an investment. Terminating your cover crop is not just about getting rid of it before it becomes a management problem, but about getting the most value you can from the investment you made last fall. A young, green cover crop can provide you with a hefty nitrogen credit that will be available to your main crop this season. You will also reap the benefits of organic matter this year and beyond. Like any crop, management is key.

Tillage. This is probably the most common method of terminating cover crops here in Vermont. Depending on your soil type, the growth stage of your cover crop, and soil moisture...you have several options here. If you want to incorporate manure at the same time, try injecting your manure right into your cover crop and getting double duty - manure incorporation and some tillage. You will need to go back over it with some secondary tillage, but the cover crop will give the manure spreader something to stay up on. Field cultivators with a spike tooth harrow (or even better a 'perfecta'-type implement) could do a good job of tearing it up and breaking up the clods. If you use your disc harrows, pick them up a bit...drive fast! You'll want to make sure and 'flip' the roots up and expose them to the air, break up the clods a bit, and not bring up to much moisture from lower in your soil profile. If you have a lot of biomass (especially if it is tall and getting mature), you may have to pull out the plows. Although not ideal from a compaction standpoint, it is an effective method for killing the cover crop. You'll get the best results if you don't let the cover crop get too mature. If you wait too long it can be difficult to terminate and you may loose some of your nitrogen credit as the Carbon:Nitrogen ratio changes.
Rolling/Crimping/Mowing. Any of these methods require that your cover crop has reached early reproductive stage and is only effective with certain cover crops like winter cereal grains and hairy vetch. This is a great option for organic producers looking to reduce tillage. A properly rolled rye or vetch cover crop can be no-till planted into with the appropriate equipment. Mowing can have the same effect. However, a mowed cover crop may clog up planters. Mowing can also be used ahead of tillage if your cover crop has 'gotten away from you.' Rolling a cover crop requires a special implement that not only pushes the cover crop down, but uses a series of chevron blades to crimp the stems. This method (as well as mowing alone) must take place when the cover crop has reached reproductive (flowering) stage but has not set seed. A cover crop rolled/crimped too young could just stand back up, while a cover crop rolled/crimped too late could set seed and become a weed in your cash crop.
Harvest for forage. Depending on what you planted, that cover crop might provide more than winter and spring cover...it might also provide you with valuable forage at a time when supplies are short. If you want to harvest your winter rye, you can get some good quality feed if you time it right. Whether you graze it or chop it, you can get ample dry matter and crude protein levels around 16% . Read more about double cropping with winter cereals HERE.
Herbicide. Depending on what you planted, you have several options when it comes to burning down your cover crop. If you are utilizing no-till practices for planting your cash crop, this is the way to go. Haven't tried no-till yet, but have a nice smooth field with a lush green cover crop? This might be the year to give it a try. Pay attention to the details when spraying. First and foremost...read the label. Be sure the herbicide you choose does not have a planting restriction for your cash crop. For example, formulations that include chlorimuron, chloransulam or imazethapyr chemistry have 9 or 10 month restrictions for corn. While atrazine has a 10 month restriction for soybeans. Choose a day with good weather. If you are using an herbicide that works through translocation (like glyphosate) do it on a sunny day when night time temperatures will stay above 40 degrees. You also need to apply it on green, actively growing material or it is not effective. So if you mow or harvest your cover crop first, let it start regrowing before spraying with glyphosate. Be sure to know your water quality you will be mixing with your herbicides. Hard water can make herbicides less effective, but measures can be taken to mitigate these situations.

RESOURCES:

GRAZING GREENER

Spring Pastures...Be Nice to Them

by Cheryl Cesario

With cooler than average temperatures this spring, grass growth is slow to get started. This is not welcome news for those of you who are either very low on feed, or are completely out and having to buy it in. Everyone is counting the days until animals can go back out on pasture. Spring is a critical management time for pasture health, shaping productivity for the rest of the season. What you do now will either reward or haunt you later this summer.

While it can be tempting to turn animals out as soon as the pasture turns a bit green, grazing too early in the spring can lead to overgrazing damage and reduce pasture productivity up to 40%! Those little bites of new green growth they will get early on, will only serve to weaken plants and reduce potential yields.

Pasture is probably the most undervalued and undermanaged crop on the farm. Yes, that's right - pasture is a crop! Looking at it that way, kind of changes things, doesn't it? Just like any other crop, you want to max imize its production.

While typical pre-grazing heights range from 8-12 inches, in early spring initial grazing often occurs when plants are half that height. This is done to try and keep up with the rapid growth to come. This year seems to be at least a couple of weeks behind schedule, due to cold days and nights which has limited plant growth. It may be tempting, but it is not beneficial to turn cows into pastures that are greening up but haven't really started to grow. However, things will probably change very quickly with some nice warm sunny days. At that point, with careful management, grazing at shorter heights can be done well without setting plants back. When turning animals into shorter than average spring pastures, it is critical that animals are kept in paddocks for short durations and moved frequently in order to prevent overgrazing damage.

Because growth is so rapid early on, grazing the first few paddocks at a shorter height can result in paddocks later down the line in the rotation being grazed at just the right height. It may be necessary to re-calculate paddock sizes depending on the amount of dry matter actually available in the pasture and factoring in how much the animals are consuming in the barn as they transition off their winter feed ration.

Contact Cheryl today if you would like her to create a grazing plan for your farm for 2014!

...And mark your calendars for the June 16th Grazing Workshop being hosted at Mountain Meadows Farm.

Check out the Farm News and Events section for details!

SOILS & TILLAGE

2014 Corn Planting Season Off to a Slow Start

by Rico Balzano

The 2014 corn planting season is off to a slow start (if it has started at all). The primary reason is the cold spring weather that has resulted in wet soil conditions and cool soil temperatures. Even if soil moisture is acceptable, planting corn in soil less than 50 degrees F may increase risk of poor germination, poor seedling development, or chilling injury. Chilling injury occurs in the 24 to 36 hours after planting when the seed absorbs water from the soil and begins the germination process. If the cells tissues of the kernel are too cold as this process happens, they become less elastic and may rupture. The result is swollen kernels that fail to germinate or arrested growth immediately following germination. Obviously, some hybrids are more tolerant of cold soils than others, so a little homework may be worth it this spring.

No-till soils tend to warm up slower, so an extra 5-7 days are typically required to reach the minimum acceptable temperature of 50 degrees F. Again, selecting the right hybrid can pay dividends. Good seedling vigor, cold soil tolerance, and 5 to 10 days less relative maturity (RM) are qualities that will help ensure success for no-till corn. And don't forget patience! Waiting until the soil is a little warmer and a little drier may be the best advice for no-till and conventional-till alik e.

This is the type of year that no-till skeptics point to as the reason why you can't no-till poorly drained clay soils. But others may say this year is the reason why tile drainage is essential for no-till. Many other areas of the country successfully no-till fine textured (clay) soils, as long as they are well drained (naturally or artificially). Research has shown that yields of no-till corn grown on well-drained soils in a crop rotation are comparable yields to conventional tillage.

Tile drainage allows the soil to dry faster in the spring, allowing earlier fieldwork. However, wet soil is more susceptible to compaction, and water does not move through compacted soil very well, limiting the effectiveness of the tile system. Getting the most out of a tile system may mean waiting to work the soil until non-tiled fields are being worked, thereby not compacting the soil unnecessarily. The soil health benefits are self-explanatory, if the system is managed correctly.

There is still plenty of time to get corn planted so let's hope for warmer, drier weather and not rush it too much.

FIELD NOTES

Spring Preparations

by Daniel Infurna

As warmer weather is on the way, the No-Till Drills are back in action. Already between the two drills they have done quite a bit of traveling so far. Ranging from Danby to Shelburne, in just a few weeks the drills have put a variety of seed into the ground. Some of the seed mixes planted on different farms have been alfalfa, timothy, and orchard grass. As well as other combos like oats and brome, and red clover and forage chicory. As the season moves along so does the acreage planted increase throughout the Champlain Valley with the two No-Till Drills. Keep your eye out for them passing through!

GIS as a Useful Tracking Tool
by Michelle Smith

Some of you may be wondering what GIS is or how it can be useful. GIS or geographic information system is a software platform that can be used to display geographically referenced data of all kinds. Using GIS software you can interpret data, reveal trends, and make complicated data

An example of how the CV Crops Team uses GIS to track the impact of their work with farmers.

easier to understand. GIS data is more than just a dot on a map though. You can show quantities, densities, distribution, track changes, show where something is, and locate nearby features. You can store information about a feature in a GIS layer, run calculations to manipulate the data, and even plan traffic flow!

GIS can be a great tracking tool. With 9 staff working with farms all over the state, keeping track of which farms have been assisted can be a daunting task. Using GIS you can see where staff have been concentrating their efforts, and identify potentially underserved areas. As shown here, data can be displayed in a variety of ways depending on what you intend to highlight. The possibilities in the application of GIS technology are virtually endless!

CONSERVATION PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

High Level of Interest for Agronomic Assistance from NRCS

by Mary Jacobson, USDA-NRCS

Early in the year an agreement was made between NRCS and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) to better leverage funds available in the state for the implementation of agronomic practices by encouraging all Vermont producers to work with NRCS for financial assistance with conservation practices such as annual cover crop plantings, reduced tillage, and development and implementation of nutrient management plans. Historically, this type of work had largely been paid for by the VAAFM Farm Agronomic Practices (FAP) program. In 2014 these types of applications will be handled through the NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Sign-up for NRCS agronomic assistance was offered in rounds three and four of the annual EQIP contracting cycle, with the interest far exceeding everyone's expectations.

As NRCS applications for agronomic practices move through the EQIP contracting process, a lot of work is required by technical specialists working with the applicant to determine what practices are needed where. Site visits are now being performed on individual fields and NRCS Conservation Planners and partners, including UVM Extension and Local Conservation District staff, are busy assessing resource concerns that are present across each farm and analyzing how to best address them. In some cases, erosion on a field may be too severe for cover crops to be effective, and as such other conservation practices will be planned to adequately address the identified erosion.

Preliminary results of EQIP round three and four show over three hundred applications that include agronomic practices. Ranking of applications is currently being worked on by NRCS and selections will be made on May 16th and June 20th, respectively. Funding towards these 2014 agronomic practice contracts alone is estimated at around $4,000,000. The majority of these funds are expected to be obligated into selected EQIP financial assistance contracts by the beginning of September.

Conservationists are very excited about the wide adoption of agronomic practices by farmers in Vermont and the positive effects that will result for soil and water quality. The NRCS EQIP program operates on a continuous sign-up and applications are accepted at any time.

To find your local NRCS office, please visit us on the web at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/vt/contact/local/.

CHAMPLAIN VALLEY FARMER COALITION

Vermont Farmers working together for a clean Lake Champlain

& thriving agriculture in Vermont

Despite a beautiful sunny day (finally!), our Board of Directors and a few members-at-large held a well-attended and productive May meeting at the Middlebury Extension office.

In addition to our normal business, the CVFC was joined by Jane Clifford, Executive Director & Lobbyist for Green Mountain Dairy Farmers for a policy recap from the Legislative session in Montpelier. She updated the group on the many policy changes and bills that affected agriculture this session. In addition, she encouraged our members to continue to have personal conversations with their local legislators about issues that are important to you as farmers. She emphasized that they always appreciate hearing from farmers directly.

The Directors continue to pursue their primary mission of educating farmers, the public, and the legislature about what farmers are doing to protect water quality. We continue to work with ECHO staff and media professionals to come up with a solid plan for our outreach efforts. We will be pursuing funding sources for this endeavor in the immediate future. We are also looking for opportunities to document (on film) farmers implementing practices to protect water quality. Are you doing something innovative on your farm??? Call Kirsten Workman and let her know when and where, so we can capture it to share with others.

If you are interested in becoming a member, please give us a call or just apply! You can find our membership application HERE. It is a valuable way to stay informed, be proactive, and add

your voice to the discussion.

Our next meeting is tentatively scheduled for June 11th from 10:00 to 12:00 at the UVM Extension office in Middlebury. It may change to the 'rainy day' that week, to maximize attendance.

For more information about this farmer organization visit our website at:

www.champlainvalleyfarmercoaltion.com

If you know someone else who might be interested in receiving
this jeff

newsletter, please share it and encourage them to join our mailing list. Meanwhile, please call if you have an interest in helping us move forward with selecting projects that you feel are important to you. We are hearing more about how soil health is so critical to your farm profitability and will protect the lake water quality, we just need to be sure any moves toward reduced tillage and more soil cover are based on good field research data.

Jeff Carter,
Extension Agronomist
UVM Extension- Champlain Valley Crop, Soil & Pasture Team