Yes, indeed.  The annual Vermont Farm Show will be held on January the 27th-29th (Tues-Thurs), at the Champlain Valley Expo, in Essex Junction, VT. All community members are welcome and there is something for everyone! Children, and children at heart, always enjoy the equipment and animals on display, the public can come learn about innovative agriculture practices happening in their community, and 'foodies' will enjoy the Wednesday 'Buy Local Market'. There will be opportunities to have friendly and engaging conversation with a variety of representatives in the agricultural community - from seed, machinery and product vendors, trade organizations, Extension agents, state and national technical advisers, and financial organizations.

 

Growers, artists and home-chefs can submit products for the annual product competition. Many types of products will be on display including maple syrup and maple products, vegetables, apples, field crops, Christmas trees and wreaths, honey, eggs, home goods, and fiber arts. The UVM Middlebury Extension office is your local drop-off site for product entries. Please drop off entries by noon on Monday January 26th. Just be sure to fill out your tag with appropriate information and follow product entry rules. (For other drop off locations click HERE or call (802) 461-8774 or 454-7328).  

 

For more information about the Farm Show and the product competition entry rules, visit the website: http://www.vtfarmshow.com or call (802) 461-8774.  

 

Feel free to contact the UVM Extension Middlebury office, (802) 338-4969 or (800) 956-1125, e-mail: champlain.crops@uvm.edu or stop by: 23 Pond Lane Suite 300, Middlebury, VT.

 

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.

 

Living and Breathing Soil  

by Kristin Williams   

 

When you think of the word soil, what is the first thing that comes to mind? I'm guessing  you didn't think of soil organisms. While soil organisms don't generally make up a substantial share of soil by weight, they are very abundant. In fact, one cup of soil may hold as many individual bacteria as there are people on Earth! While we tend to focus on pests, most soil organisms are actually needed and beneficial. In fact, you are already using them on your farm.

 

Management techniques that lead to healthy plants are mediated by soil biota.

Why should farmers and other agriculturists care about soil organisms?

By utilizing beneficial biota you may:

 

1)    Reduce input costs and increase utilization because biota are critical drivers of

• Carbon cycling and retention - decomposition is the source of diversity in soils
• Nutrient cycling and transformation of elements like nitrogen and phosphorus

2)    Increase crop yields, quality and long-term profitability through

• Transformation of physical soil properties such as water-air dynamics, porosity and aggregation
• Increased disease suppression with competition or control of pest species
• Increased plant health through above processes, and stimulation of plant root growth

3)     Improve long-term sustainability of your farm through

• Increased water filtration of pollutants
• Reduced soil losses & increased soil formation
• Increased diversity & ecosystem stability

How can we encourage healthy soil biology in agriculture?   

Places of high biological activity in soil are mainly near plant roots, in leaf litter, and in earthworm burrows.  To encourage biota you can  

 

Supply organic matter - which provides both food and habitat for soil biota.            

Practices that can increase organic matter include:

• maximizing plant residues
• applying compost & manure
• planting cover crops
• reducing tillage

Protect the soil habitat. Soil organisms need space to live, and they need a balance of air & water. Soil organisms also need intact root structures.  Practices that can preserve and improve soil habitat include:

• minimizing compaction
• reducing tillage
• improving drainage (in wet soils) or supplying moisture or cover (in dry soils)
• minimizing/managing pesticides & inorganic fertilizer use (IPM & NMP)
• managing pH (low pH is particularly limiting)

Increase diversity of food and habitat. A diverse array of foods generally leads to a more complex and stable food web.  Practices that increase diversity of food sources, encourage beneficial biota, and interrupt pest cycles include:

• Planting cover crops
• Maximizing crop residues

 

Developing soil biology is a feedback process on your farm. When conditions are more favorable to soil biota they will begin to sustain and enhance their own habitat. Management can be tailored to focus upon the farm or field specific soil condition(s) that are most limiting to soil biology. To begin however, we can simply consider soil in a different context. Think small and use your imagination.

 

 

 

 

6:00 pm     CVFC Annual Membership Meeting

6:30 pm     Social Hour: Join us for heavy h'orderves and a cash bar

7:00 pm     CVFC Year in Review  

                  Eric Clifford, Clifford Farm and CVFC President 

7:15 pm     Water Quality Sampling and Your Farm

                  Sam Burr, Last Resort Farm

                  Ethan Swift, VT Agency of Natural Resources

                  Matt Whitten, Addison County Riverwatch Collaborative

7:45 pm     FARMER PANEL: What did farmers try in 2014...and other fun stuff  

                  Richard Hall, Fairmont Farm

                  Tony Pouliot, Pouliot Farm

                  Ben Gleason, Gleason Grains

                  Mark Fasching, Jericho Settlers Farm

8:30 pm    Travel Home or stick around for some more social time

 

RSVP Today!!  

                   

 CROP INSURANCE SPOTLIGHT

Now is the time to review your crop insurance policies.  Do you have enough coverage, the right coverage, any coverage??  If you are not sure, or if you have questions about your crop insurance policy, now is the time to contact your agent.  If you don't have an agent yet, you can contact your local FSA office for a list of agents in your area.  For most spring-seeded crops, the enrollment deadline is March 15th

After another season of soil sampling I can't help but learn more about the land and the farmers that work it. I cover a lot of ground throughout the season, sampling in three different counties up and down the Champlain valley. I get to experience the beautiful views Vermont has to offer from locations that not everyone gets the opportunity of visiting. Doing this I encounter several different soil types and every time I do I learn a little something about the soil, or how the land is looked after. But every time I do a visit to collect some soil samples I always leave learning something about the farmer. Usually it's how much the farmer cares about what the soil can do for them. Whether it's a passionate conversation about soil nutrients or just curiosity of how the sampling process works, every time I'm there interest is given. I think that says something special about those who farm. Knowing the farmer takes a genuine interest is one of the most pleasant things about the job.


by Nate Severy

Prior to the passage of the Clean Air Act 1970, our atmosphere was receiving a substantial amount of Sulfur Dioxide from factories and power plants. When Sulfur Dioxide was deposited via rain it acidified our fields, forests, and lakes (bad for our environment), but it also provided farmers with lots of "free" Sulfur. However, Sulfur emissions have been cut by nearly half since 1990, and more than that since 1970. With less atmospheric Sulfur, and many farmers importing less grain due to increased forage quality and high grain prices, if we are 

 

Sulfur is one of six macronutrients, nutrients that plants require in large quantities compared to other nutrients (although micronutrients are just as important to plant health). These are Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Magnesium, Calcium, and Sulfur. Sulfur is neede

U.S. sulfur deposition, shown in orange in the 1985 map, has been drastically reduced due in part to acid rain cleanup. Hay growers should now tissue test for sulfur, soil fertility experts say. Maps: National Atmospheric Deposition Program (from www.hayandforage.com, 2011)

d for plants to build proteins, it assists in chlorophyll production and is thus important in photosynthesis, it promotes nodulation in legumes, and it has many other important roles. Sulfate in our soil is negatively charged like Nitrate, so in sandy soils it can be easily leached below the root zone. Also like Nitrogen, it is primarily found in soil organic matter, and its plant availability is largely determined by microbial decomposition of organic matter. Therefore, like Nitrogen, a standard soil test will not give you an accurate picture of plant available Sulfur.

 

So the big question is, how can we tell if our soil and plants are deficient in Sulfur and what can we do about it? The first is visual observation. Unlike Nitrogen, Sulfur is immobile in plants, so while a plant like corn that is Nitrogen deficient will have older lower leaves that are yellow, plants that are sulfur deficient will have complete yellowing. If you observe this early in the growing season and have good soil organic matter levels, the problem might just be cold soils that inhibit microbial activity. This is one reason why agronomists recommend starter fertilizer when planting early in the season.

 

The most definitive way to find sulfur deficiency is through plant tissue analysis. When a plant is still in the vegetative stage of growth, a plant analysis below .20%S may indicate that additions of Sulfur will benefit plant growth. Legume crops like alfalfa and clover should probably maintain Sulfur levels at or above .25% due to its importance in nodulation and protein synthesis.

 

If your crops need additional sulfur, broadcast apply 15-30 pounds per acre of actual Sulfur. Common sources of Sulfur are Sul-Po-Mag, Gypsum, Ammonium sulfate, and animal manure. Your decision on what form to apply should be based upon the whole nutrient profile of that soil. For example, if your soil test shows that your soil is very high magnesium but low in calcium, gypsum may be a good option. Or if you field has low organic matter and has not received manure in several years, consider applying manure there that year.

 

If you are unsure if your field needs Sulfur you can apply fertilizer on a strip down the field, or in a small square in a location that is an accurate representation of your field and take a forage sample after several weeks.