Vermont Farmers Reflect on their Pasts, Look to their Futures

By Maureen Schake

Maureen Schake is a Program Planner in UVM Continuing Education. In this post she reports on a recent UVM event that featured a panel of Vermont farmers.

Farmer Panel

On August 8, the UVM community gathered for a panel discussion with three Vermont farmers:  Laura Williams, Farm Director for the UVM Farmer Training Program; Amanda Andrews of Tamarack Hollow Farm; and Nancy Hayden of The Farm Between. Susie Walsh Daloz, Program Director of the UVM Farmer Training Program, moderated the discussion and the panelists answered questions from audience members about their experiences as farmers.

The panelists all entered farming through different paths: Laura studied agroecology in California and tried farming on her own in rural Vermont, but she felt socially isolated so she turned to farm education. Nancy got into farming because she loves food, and after 22 years as a Professor of Engineering at UVM, she recently retired so she could spend more time on the farm. Amanda, inspired by disappearing farmland and environmental problems in her home state of New Jersey, quit her job in New York City, and after 3 months of farming, pulled the graduate school applications she’d submitted before she started farming, because she realized she had found her path.

The panelists described the challenges and joys they have experienced as farmers, and questions from the audience ranged from issues of the affordability of organic food products to climate change. In terms of affordability, several of the panelists pointed out that consumers ultimately have to make a choice between mass-produced food products that are much cheaper to produce, or locally grown products that have higher price points due to the economics of running a farm. Educating consumers at farmers markets is sometimes part of the process, but such conversations can be sensitive and time consuming at a time when the farmer needs to be making sales. As far as dealing with climate change and the increasingly erratic weather patterns, the farmers pointed out that diversity seems to be the key to farm crop management. Greenhouses are another tool being used to combat weather variations, to protect crops from frost and heavy rain.

The farmers agreed that there is a strong peer support network in Vermont, and sharing information is a critical element to successful farming. UVM Extension serves as a powerful resource within this network to share scientific research and information with the farming community. Changing weather patterns, such as the heavy rain this summer coming from the South, can bring new pests and diseases to the region, and UVM Extension provides resources for farmers to be prepared to deal with these new challenges before they strike.

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The farmer panel was held in conjunction with Growing Fields, a vibrant photo and historical exhibit about farming in Vermont currently on display at the UVM Bailey/Howe Library. The next event in this series will be a free Heirloom Tomato Tasting hosted by the UVM Farmer Training Program students on Thursday, August 22, 12:30pm-1:30pm, outside the Bailey/Howe Library. The event will feature local music and a book raffle by Chelsea Green. Please join us!

Posted in: Economic, Environmental, Health, Social.