VABF Projects - Virginia Association for Biological Farming

SOUTHERN PIEDMONT CLIMATE-SMART PROJECT

PROJECT SCOPE

We We are partnering with Southern Piedmont organic and conventional diverse vegetable farmers through an enhanced incentives program.

Farmers will be asked to add cover crops to their vegetable rotation. We will monitor greenhouse gas emissions, soil health benefits, economic impacts, and social barriers to the adoption of using cover crops versus not using cover crops on their fields. This information will provide farmers with the data needed to capitalize on carbon market programs and understand how they can better steward their lands and communities while providing recommendations to the USDA for ways to economically and socially support farmers’ transitions to climate-smart agriculture.

Through partnerships with Southern Piedmont farmers markets, we will expand markets for climate-smart commodities in the Southeast. We have designed a marketing campaign that investigates the best strategies for educating consumers about the value-added benefits of purchasing climate-smart commodities. The information gained from this work will help farmers get the value of their work and provide the USDA with recommendations on ways to support climate-smart markets through consumer education.

Learn More Here!

The Transition to Organic Partnership Program

The Transition to Organic Partnership Program (TOPP) is investing up to $100 million over five years in cooperative agreements with non-profit organizations who will partner with others to provide technical assistance and wrap-around support for transitioning and existing organic farmers. AMS is building partnership networks in six regions across the United States with trusted organizations serving direct farmer training, education, and outreach activities.

The partner organizations will:

Connect transitioning farmers with mentors for at least one year after certification.
Build paid mentoring networks to share practical insights and advice.
Provide community building opportunities to include:
- Train-the-mentor support
- Technical assistance
- Workshops and field days covering topics including organic production practices, certification, conservation planning, business development (including navigating the supply chain), regulations, and marketing
Help producers overcome technical, cultural, and financial shifts during and following certification.
Engage educational and training institutions (including crop advisors and extension agents) on organic workforce training and education and future human capital planning.

Action Alert! from the Farm & Ranch Freedom Alliance:farmandranchfreedom.org/fight-animal-id-action-alert/ Mandatory electronic Animal ID is expensive, intrusive, and unreliable. The plan benefits two groups: the large meatpacking corporations, and the technology companies that produce electronic tags, readers, and software.We urge you to take immediate action and voice your opposition to electronic animal ID mandates! Senator Rounds has introduced a vital one-sentence bill: “The Secretary of Agriculture shall not implement any rule or regulation requiring the mandatory use of electronic identification ear tags on cattle or bison.”Call both of your U.S. Senators and urge them to sign on to Senator Rounds’ bill! Sample script: “Hi, my name is ___ and I live in [state]. I am calling to ask my Senator to sign on to S.4282 to stop electronic cattle mandates.I am concerned about this issue because [I am a rancher who relies on traditional metal tags; I am a small farmer in an isolated area without good access to tagging equipment; I am a consumer who wants to support local farmers, not international meatpackers … whatever it is, in a sentence or two, let them know why you are calling about this]" ... See MoreSee Less

Looking for vegetable growers in the piedmont region of Virginia!Cover cropping in the off-season is a powerful tool for vegetable farmers to help build soil health, cycle carbon and nutrients and successfully maintain a no-till growing system, and advances in simple farm technology can allow farmers to experiment with new ways to capitalize using cover crops. Covers can be planted using a no-till drill in fall, roller-crimpers are used to terminate the cover crop in spring, and plastic mulch can be laid right on the mat of carbon that was rolled-crimped and planted into, achieving multiple benefits for the soil microbiome and spring cash crops alike.We are working directly with the Rodale Institute and partners at Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA), Georgia Organics (GO) and several university research teams to quantify the benefit of cover cropping on commercial vegetable fields. From soil health metrics like aggregate stability and soil respiration to potential reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, our research and technical assistance teams will work directly with participating farmers to support the implementation of cover cropping and ensure that farmers are successful not just within the bounds of this project, but to build on their experience and expand the use of cover cropping across all of their farmed acreage.If you are a commercial vegetable farmer in the piedmont region of Virginia and are interested in participating in this project with the Rodale Institute, please contact Brent Wills, Program Manager—VABF, at programs@vabf.org or 540.947.0337. ... See MoreSee Less

SOUTHERN PIEDMONT CLIMATE-SMART PROJECT

PROJECT SCOPE

Learn More Here!

The Transition to Organic Partnership Program

Learn More Here!

How to Transition Your Farm, Ranch or Business to Organic

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