The Franklin County Natural Resources Conservation District has been working with a team of advisors from UVM Extension, USDA-NRCS, Vermont Healthy Soils Coalition, Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets, American Farmland Trust, and others, to create a soil health training course for technical assistance providers. The overarching goal of the training is to better prepare technical assistance providers for the assistance they will be providing to farmers, forest owners, and other land stewards in their roles with Natural Resources Conservation Districts, state and federal agencies, watershed groups, non profit organizations, and other related groups. This course was created to be directly applicable to the landscapes and land stewards in VT and the Lake Champlain Basin in NY.
This training is for anyone who works with land stewards (including farmers, foresters, residential lands, etc.) to provide technical assistance related to land and soil management. It is aimed at providers in Vermont and the Lake Champlain Basin portion of New York. The goals are for providers to develop their understandings of the current science around soil health, management practices that support soil health (historic, current, and cutting-edge), and site-specific considerations when working with land stewards.
WHAT WILL I LEARN?
What is soil health, and how do we know if soils are healthy? How do we manage for soil health in our contexts? this will include: Principles of Soil Health and Ecosystem Services, Soil Structure and Chemistry, the Living Soil, Soil Health Assessment Toolbox, Organic Matter and Composts, Cover Crops and Diversifying Cropping Systems, Minimizing Tillage, Livestock Integration and Agroforestry, Managing for Water and Soil Structure, Integrated Pest Management, Soil Health Management Planning, Soil Health Economics and Funding
WHEN AND WHERE?
One Fall 2023 Workshop on Tuesday, November 14, 2023: 9 am-2pm at the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps (VYCC) Farm at 1949 East Main Street, Richmond, VT 05477
12 Winter 2023-2024 Webinars: Online on Tuesdays from 2-4 pm: 12/5, 12/12, 12/19, 1/9, 1/16, 1/23, 1/30, 2/6, 2/13, 2/20, 2/27, 3/5
Four 2024 Field Season Workshops – TBD
QUESTIONS?
Please contact us at [email protected]
Submit Your Event to the CVFC Calendar
CVFC members and the general public are welcome to submit events to our calendar. Members may submit any event they are hosting, while the general public may submit events related to water quality, soil health, and climate smart farming.