PUTNEY — My family owns a small, diversified farm that sells meat, hay, sap, and forest products.
Last month, I participated in Rural Vermont's Small Farm Action Day at the Statehouse and had the privilege to share our concerns about Act 64, the new water-quality law, and the draft Required Agricultural Practices.
The focus of that event, “Water Quality: Let's Get it Right,” was important because small farms like ours - run by farmers who already hold our environmental impact in highest regard - could be unfairly regulated under this new legislation.
Along with 25 other farmers, we delivered a message to lawmakers that supporting small-scale, regenerative agriculture is the answer to Vermont's water-quality problems.
On March 30, Rural Vermont will partner with the Vermont Young Farmers Coalition to host the second of three Small Farm Action Days. Our attention and our conversations with lawmakers will be focused on “On-farm Slaughter: Preserving a Vermont Tradition.”
This topic is of particular interest to me because our farm provides our community with high-quality meats. Our chickens and turkeys are processed on our farm, where we carry on a Vermont farm tradition and provide a safe, delicious product.
We can also slaughter larger animals, like our pigs, at the farm, but this law is due to expire on July 1.
Given that we still have a shortage of state-approved slaughterhouse facilities and that these often require scheduling processing dates a year ahead (in most cases before the animal is even born!), preserving the on-farm slaughter law is critical to the viability of many small farms.
I hope you'll join Rural Vermont and small farmers from all over the state. You can find more information about Small Farm Action Days and pre-register at ruralvermont.org or 802-223-7222.