Tuesday May 2nd

10:00-11:30 AM: On-Farm Community-Oriented Food Scrap & Agricultural Organic Residuals Management

CAV's on-farm composting project offers participating farms and communities a cost-effective solution for diverting food and organic waste to composting, significantly benefiting farmers and community members. These benefits include diverting food scraps from landfills, producing compost for on-farm use, helping to spark more interest in healthy soils, reducing the use of fertilizers, and - in some cases -  reducing food insecurity. Additionally, it helps create a more "waste-aware" culture through local management, diversion, and composting of food scraps & other organic materials, increasing the adoption of creative food recovery to benefit communities & build resiliency. Listen in to hear from some of our partner farmers and learn how to get involved!

Panelists:

• Athena Lee Bradley, independent consultant

• Cat Buxton, Grow More, Waste Less

• Natasha Duarte, Composting Association of Vermont

• Liz Freierman, Highwater Farm

• Dan Kilrain, Work Song Farm

• Ben Tipton, Firefly Farm

• 00:00 Welcome to VORS 2023 from Natasha Duarte

• 01:53 Introduction to the project, Natasha Duarte

• 05:28 Partner Farmers share their stories

• 29:14 On-farm Composting Toolkit

• 31:26 Q&A

Download the On-farm Community-Oriented Food Scrap Composting slide deck (pdf)

Resources shared:

• CAV’s On-farm Composting Toolkit

• Vermont’s Partnering Farms with Communities -  a regulatory and start-up guide for on-farm food scrap composting

• Vermont Farm to Plate Network

  • Food Cycle Coalition Community of Practice

  • Food Cycle Coalition website

• Example of an online compost recipe calculator (there are many freely available)

• Cornell’s compost recipe downloadable spreadsheets

• ILSR’s national community composter coalition

• USDA Rural Development Solid Waste Management Grant Program (VT link)

• USDA Rural Development Rural Energy for America Program for agricultural producers and small businesses (VT link)

1:00-2:30 PM: Agricultural Food Residuals Management: Insights on On-Farm Composting from VAAFM

There are challenges - and solutions - when importing food residuals onto farms for composting. Listen to the recording of this session to hear from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets (VAAFM) about what they've seen and potential strategies to mitigate concerns. They provided information on the water quality standards required to comply with the Require Agricultural Practices Rules and a status update on rulemaking endeavors about on-farm composting. There was plenty of time for Q&A following the presentation.

Panelists:

• Steve Cash, VAAFM

• Stephanie Smith, VAAFM

• Zach Szczukowski, VAAFM

• 00:00 VORS introduction from Natasha Duarte

• 04:15 Zach Szczukowski, VAAFM

• 30:34 Q&A

Download the Agricultural Food Residuals Management slide deck (pdf)

Resources referenced:

• Required Agricultural Practices (RAPs) webpage

• Required Agricultural Practices (pdf)

• 6 V.S.A. § 5133. Food residuals; rulemaking

• Act 41 as enacted

• VAAFM Fertilizer, Plant Amendment, Plant Biostimulant, and Soil Amendment Program

  • Plant Amendments, Plant Biostimulants, and Soil Amendments

  • 6 V.S.A. Chapter 28 Fertilizer And Lime

• VAAFM Farm Definitions and Determinations

3:00-4:30 PM Maximizing the value of compost - extracts, products, and more

Compost for Good's Jenn Perry presented a summary of their work supporting farmers interested in improving soil health, reducing the need for expensive chemical inputs, offering a community service, and increasing on-farm income. She focused on microscopy as a soil health tool, the implications of biologically rich soil, and opportunities to enrich soil health through extracts and teas.

Presenter:

• Jenn Perry, Compost for Good

• 00:00 VORS introduction from Natasha Duarte

• 01:11 Jenn Perry, Compost for Good

• 55:24 Q&A

• 59:27 Microscopy video

Download the Maximizing the value of compost slide deck (pdf)

Resources shared:

• John and Katie Culpepper’s webinar, An affordable, buildable, easy to operate, commercial rotating drum composter for schools, organizations, and small communities, was referenced

• Here are the compost microscopy videos that were shared

Special thanks to:

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