Vermont Farm Show to Highlight
Agriculture’s Best Products and Farms
ESSEX JUNCTION, Vt. -- The annual Vermont Farm Show returns to the Champlain Valley Exposition on Jan. 28-30, 2020. The annual statewide gathering celebrates Vermont’s agriculture, farms, products and organizations, and features a three-day trade show with exhibits of new equipment, farm supplies, food producers and agriculture education opportunities.
The event is free and open to the public, according to Jackie Folsom, manager of the Vermont Farm Show. “This is a great time to meet with vendors, preview products and machinery and network with Vermont’s farming community. Plus it is a great place for families to learn about agriculture and job-seekers to make connections,” she added.
The Vermont Farm Show’s hours are:
Association meetings play a big part of the Vermont Farm Show. This year’s participating associations include the VT/NH Christmas Tree, Vermont Beekeepers, the Future Farmers of America, and the VT Beef Producers.
Handspun fibers, jellies, silage, pies, and many other agricultural products will be judged and on display as part of the annual product competitions. For a full list of product competitions and entry rules, visit http://www.vtfarmshow.com/2020-product-contests.html.There will also be some great animals on display, including, a Morgan horse, sheep, and birds.
This year, Consumer Night will be held Wednesday, Jan. 29 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Vermont Farm Show. Food enthusiasts will enjoy the Buy Local Market, which will showcase foods and products from Vermont farms.
The “Capital Cook-off,” an Iron Chef-type competition featuring the Vermont House of Representatives, Senate, and Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, is back again this year. Teams will have 90 minutes to create a dish using Vermont products bought at the adjacent Buy Local Market. Visitors to the event will have time to taste and purchase Vermont products from the exhibitors while waiting for the Cook-off winners to be announced.
The Vermont Farm Show is again partnering with the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf. "Over the years that we have asked for food donations, visitors to the Farm Show have provided several tons of food and lots of cash to assist the folks in Chittenden County," Folsom noted. "It's a great partnership and one of the highlights of the show."
For more information, including a list of scheduled 2020 exhibitors and association meetings, visit www.vtfarmshow.com.
Agriculture’s Best Products and Farms
ESSEX JUNCTION, Vt. -- The annual Vermont Farm Show returns to the Champlain Valley Exposition on Jan. 28-30, 2020. The annual statewide gathering celebrates Vermont’s agriculture, farms, products and organizations, and features a three-day trade show with exhibits of new equipment, farm supplies, food producers and agriculture education opportunities.
The event is free and open to the public, according to Jackie Folsom, manager of the Vermont Farm Show. “This is a great time to meet with vendors, preview products and machinery and network with Vermont’s farming community. Plus it is a great place for families to learn about agriculture and job-seekers to make connections,” she added.
The Vermont Farm Show’s hours are:
- Tuesday, Jan. 28 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Wednesday, Jan. 29 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
- Consumer Night, Jan. 29 from 4 to 7 p.m.
- Thursday, Jan. 30 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Association meetings play a big part of the Vermont Farm Show. This year’s participating associations include the VT/NH Christmas Tree, Vermont Beekeepers, the Future Farmers of America, and the VT Beef Producers.
Handspun fibers, jellies, silage, pies, and many other agricultural products will be judged and on display as part of the annual product competitions. For a full list of product competitions and entry rules, visit http://www.vtfarmshow.com/2020-product-contests.html.There will also be some great animals on display, including, a Morgan horse, sheep, and birds.
This year, Consumer Night will be held Wednesday, Jan. 29 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Vermont Farm Show. Food enthusiasts will enjoy the Buy Local Market, which will showcase foods and products from Vermont farms.
The “Capital Cook-off,” an Iron Chef-type competition featuring the Vermont House of Representatives, Senate, and Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, is back again this year. Teams will have 90 minutes to create a dish using Vermont products bought at the adjacent Buy Local Market. Visitors to the event will have time to taste and purchase Vermont products from the exhibitors while waiting for the Cook-off winners to be announced.
The Vermont Farm Show is again partnering with the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf. "Over the years that we have asked for food donations, visitors to the Farm Show have provided several tons of food and lots of cash to assist the folks in Chittenden County," Folsom noted. "It's a great partnership and one of the highlights of the show."
For more information, including a list of scheduled 2020 exhibitors and association meetings, visit www.vtfarmshow.com.
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January 2019 / Experts predict another challenging year for dairy farmers
ESSEX, Vt. (AP) — The country’s dairy farmers are in for another challenging year with milk farm prices only expected to improve slightly, following four straight years of low prices, experts said Thursday.
One plus is that the new farm bill includes an improved insurance program that farmers pay for to help them when the gap between milk prices and feed prices reach a certain level. But the program was delayed by the 35-day partial government shutdown. While the shutdown is now over, the Farm Services Agency still has to write the rules for the margin program.
“The good news is that farmers have insurance. The bad news is that farmers even have to use insurance to make their milk check whole,” said Doug DiMento, a spokesman for Agri-Mark, Inc., a dairy cooperative in the Northeast.
“Farmers want to receive a milk check that’s going to cover their costs without insurance,” DiMento said after speaking at the dairy meeting at the Vermont Farm Show.
Milk prices paid to farmers are expected to be better this year but not by much, University of Wisconsin dairy economist Mark Stephenson said. He predicts an increase of about a $1 per hundredweight, or hundred pounds of milk.
“A lot of farms have not been covering the cost of production for the last four years and this is probably going to be another year when they’re going to have a difficult time,” he said. “Most of the farms are out of working capital. And they’re having to borrow against that equity to continue milking.”
Other issues, too, are challenging the dairy industry, such as unresolved trade issues that are harming exports and boosting surpluses, and consumer demand in some segments, said Alan Bjerga, a spokesman for the National Milk Producers Federation.
“You can see that a dramatic rebound is not seen in any of the forecasts which means that producers are going to continue to try to find the best markets and prices they can and manage their risk as effectively as they can and we think that the new farm bill will be very helpful in that,” he said.
Farmers in the margin protection program are projected to be paid in the first half of the year, and industry experts expect those payments to be retroactive.
Dairy farmer Walter Bothfeld of Cabot, Vermont, said the program helps but it’s almost too little too late, he said.
“We can use them anytime,” he said of the payments. “Because the grain bill’s not delayed, it comes every month. And they like to be paid.”
ESSEX, Vt. (AP) — The country’s dairy farmers are in for another challenging year with milk farm prices only expected to improve slightly, following four straight years of low prices, experts said Thursday.
One plus is that the new farm bill includes an improved insurance program that farmers pay for to help them when the gap between milk prices and feed prices reach a certain level. But the program was delayed by the 35-day partial government shutdown. While the shutdown is now over, the Farm Services Agency still has to write the rules for the margin program.
“The good news is that farmers have insurance. The bad news is that farmers even have to use insurance to make their milk check whole,” said Doug DiMento, a spokesman for Agri-Mark, Inc., a dairy cooperative in the Northeast.
“Farmers want to receive a milk check that’s going to cover their costs without insurance,” DiMento said after speaking at the dairy meeting at the Vermont Farm Show.
Milk prices paid to farmers are expected to be better this year but not by much, University of Wisconsin dairy economist Mark Stephenson said. He predicts an increase of about a $1 per hundredweight, or hundred pounds of milk.
“A lot of farms have not been covering the cost of production for the last four years and this is probably going to be another year when they’re going to have a difficult time,” he said. “Most of the farms are out of working capital. And they’re having to borrow against that equity to continue milking.”
Other issues, too, are challenging the dairy industry, such as unresolved trade issues that are harming exports and boosting surpluses, and consumer demand in some segments, said Alan Bjerga, a spokesman for the National Milk Producers Federation.
“You can see that a dramatic rebound is not seen in any of the forecasts which means that producers are going to continue to try to find the best markets and prices they can and manage their risk as effectively as they can and we think that the new farm bill will be very helpful in that,” he said.
Farmers in the margin protection program are projected to be paid in the first half of the year, and industry experts expect those payments to be retroactive.
Dairy farmer Walter Bothfeld of Cabot, Vermont, said the program helps but it’s almost too little too late, he said.
“We can use them anytime,” he said of the payments. “Because the grain bill’s not delayed, it comes every month. And they like to be paid.”
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