17th Annual Vermont Organics Recycling Summit

For Healthier Soil, Healthier Food… Compost!

May 1-5, 2023

Thursday May 4th

10:00-11:30 AM: NRCS programs that support organics management and on-farm composting

The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provides technical and financial assistance to agricultural producers and landowners who are interested in implementing voluntary conservation on their farms and forests. Tom Akin, an NRCS Agronomist in the Colchester NRCS office, gave a short presentation on some of the composting projects recently completed with NRCS assistance and some of the opportunities available to Vermont’s farmers interested in composting.

Presenter:

Tom Akin, NRCS

00:00 Welcome to VORS 2023 from Natasha Duarte
02:33 Tom Akin, NRCS
44:20 Q&A

Download the NRCS programs slide deck (pdf)

Resources shared:

To receive updates from Vermont NRCS, sign up for GOV Delivery emails
Getting started with NRCS
VT NRCS Payment Rates
VT NRCS Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) Projects
Electronic Field Office Technical Guide (eFOTG)
- Section 4 has conservation practice technical information
- Section 2 has state-wide VT soils information
Wood Chips for the Land, (Soil Conservation Service Leaflet 323)
Wood Chips in Vegetable Production (pdf)
Wood Chips Vegetable Soil Management in Honeoye soils (pdf)

1:00-2:30 PM: Managing challenging organic waste streams in VT and beyond

Recently, there have been many concerns raised over contaminants in compost. Physical and chemical inputs have industry professionals and citizens alike concerned about what we may be putting on our soils. Across the nation, policy is following those concerns. Whether it's PFAS, biosolids, microplastics, or trash, the spotlight is on preventing or reducing, and managing all of it. This session provided a conversation with industry experts who discussed and answered questions on possibilities for best management for some of these more challenging organic waste streams. Questions considered:

What do we collectively do with problematic organic wastes?
Where can they be reasonably used?
What's happening upstream to try to make these organic residuals safer? What are the opportunities and limitations?

Panelists:

Andrew Carpenter, Northern Tilth, LLC
Josh Kelly, ANR DEC
Eamon Twohig, ANR DEC
Josh Tyler, CSWD
Facilitator: Natasha Duarte, CAV

00:00 VORS introduction from Natasha Duarte
2:41 Introduction to the topic, Natasha Duarte, CAV
7:09 Introduction of panelists
10:28 Opening remarks from Andrew Carpenter, Northern Tilth, LLC
16:33 Opening remarks from Josh Kelly, ANR DEC
20:50 Opening remarks from Eamon Twohig, ANR DEC
26:42 Opening remarks from Dan Goossen, CSWD
31:36 Discussion
1:16:16 Closing comments from panelists

Resources referenced:

VT State Law that will ban PFAS in food packaging
- As of July 1, 2023 "(a) A manufacturer, supplier, or distributor shall not manufacture, sell, offer for sale, distribute for sale, or distribute for use in this State a food package to which PFAS have been intentionally added and are present in any amount."
GreenScreen certified products
CAV’s Compost Conversation PFAS and how these "forever chemicals" impact the composting industry (25 August 2022)
US Center for Disease Control (CDC). National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals.
- Blood serum levels referenced during this session:

3:30-5:00 PM: From erosion control to managing challenging pollutants: compost-based products excel at stormwater management

The concept of using wood waste products to filter and clean water has been around for decades, and how these products are used has changed over time. This workshop explored the evolution of the approaches used within stormwater management, including the use of newer filtration applications being developed to address difficult-to-control pollutants. We covered the fundamentals of how composted materials are being used to improve water quality and provided some case studies of these approaches on construction sites and established sites.

Presenter: