BURLINGTON — A new partnership between the University of Vermont and the U.S. Department of Agriculture aims to help the state’s small farms by researching innovative food systems and cleaner methods of agriculture.
The USDA Agricultural Research Service will base a food systems research station at UVM, where USDA staff will collaborate on projects with students and faculty.
The program is being funded with a $3 million federal appropriation that Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., as vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is hoping to be able to increase to $5 million per year.
“We had some great conversations this morning with farmers and they’re saying ‘We want to know. We want to be able to make improvements,’” USDA Undersecretary of Farm Production and Conservation Bill Northey said at an event announcing the federal funding Monday at the ECHO Center.
“That’s what this project will help discover, is actually how will this make a difference,” he added.
Newly installed UVM President Suresh Garimella said the studies will create “tangible” information by USDA Agricultural Research Service staff and UVM faculty working across multiple sectors and disciplines. He said faculty are excited and committed to the project.
“What this agreement allows is for ARS experts to actually be on campus and collaborate with our faculty, our students, and together do great work,” said Garimella.
“It places UVM at the forefront of conservation science,” he said.
A clean water project, funded with an additional $2 million, will have the U.S. Geological Survey monitoring the Dead Creek Watershed and the Headwaters of Little Otter Creek, both in Addison County, for phosphorus, nitrogen and sediment entering streams and ultimately Lake Champlain.
Vermont Agency of Agriculture Secretary Anson Tebbets said the project may create a model to share with other areas of the country.
U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said the extra funding will provide tools for farmers to produce higher quality crops while mitigating negative effects of climate change.
“If we’re going to revitalize rural America,” Welch said, “we have to revitalize local, sustainable agriculture.”
