The Vermont Farm Viability Enhancement Program offers business planning and technical assistance services to Vermont farmers as part of a statewide effort to improve the economic viability of Vermont agriculture. The program is funded by the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board in collaboration with the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, with funding assistance provided by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
Farmers enrolled in the Program work with a farm business planner provided through cooperating organizations, listed below, or directly with an individual consultant. Our staff works with enrolled farmers to identify a good match for the farm. The consultants provide technical assistance tailored to the farmer’s needs to fulfill specific business goals. Farmers and planning consultants meet and work together for approximately one year to produce a written business plan. In the second year farmers are provided with additional technical assistance and help updating their plans.
The business planning process involves the farmer in an assessment of the farm operation’s strengths and weaknesses and in an exploration of possible management changes that could increase profitability. Examples include consultations on keeping better production or financial records, financial benchmark analysis, meetings with crop or animal health specialists, new farm enterprise analysis, estate and farm transfer planning, labor management, and value-added processing.
Farmers who have completed business plans with the program are eligible for grants towards capital expenses or additional technical support needed in implementing the business plan, when funding is available.
Cooperating Service Provider Organizations
University of Vermont Farm Viability
Intervale Center's Success on Farms Program
NOFA-VT Business Planning & Technical Assistance
Working Landscapes, Inc.
To read more about the program, download a brochure.
To apply, please complete the application. Download the application.
Applications are accepted at any time, and enrollment decisions are made following several application deadlines throughout the year. Applications must be postmarked by the following deadlines in order to be considered at the next upcoming round.
2009-2010 Application Deadlines
August 31, 2009
November 30, 2009
February 28, 2010
May 30, 2010
Enrollment Fee
There is a $75 fee to enroll in the VT Farm Viability Enhancement Program. Aside from this enrollment fee, business planning and technical assistance will be provided free of charge if your farm is chosen to participate. Please submit a check with your application. We will return your check if we are not able to enroll you in the program.
Questions about the Farm Viability Program may be directed to:
Ela Chapin, Program Director
Vermont Farm Viability Enhancement Program
828-2117 or by email: ela@vhcb.org
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ANNOUNCEMENT:
GRANT OPPORTUNITY FOR COMMERCIAL & CUSTOM SLAUGHTER AND PROCESSING OF MEAT AND POULTRY, AND GRAIN PROCESSING PROJECTS.
$60,000 in funding now available on a competitive basis to implement business plan projects.
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: FEBRUARY 11, 2010
Thanks to funding from a private foundation, the Vermont Farm Viability Enhancement Program is able to provide grants to assist meat, poultry and grain processing businesses in Vermont with the implementation of their business plans. Our goal is to support agricultural businesses, encourage business planning activities, and enhance the processing infrastructure of the Vermont food system.
To be eligible, the business must:
Be primarily involved in the processing of meat, poultry or grain products;
Be providing services to more than one farm business;
Have a business plan that meets our Program’s business plan guidelines and that supports the implementation project for which funding is requested; and
Be located (preferably headquartered) in Vermont.
A strong preference will be given towards businesses that are based in Vermont, and have a proven track record. In addition, a preference will be made towards businesses that produce products primarily made with ingredients/products which are produced in Vermont or adjacent local areas, and businesses working to improve their ability to source local ingredients and/or products.
Please see the application for more information, or contact Ela Chapin at 828-2117 or ela@vhcb.org.
Farm Financials Workbooks
These workbooks incorporate a variety of important financial templates and spreadsheets in one Excel workbook, linked together so that many pieces of information automatically fill in. They have been created primarily for the use of farm business planning educators and consultants and the farmers they are working with, but we have chosen to make this document free and accessible to all farmers and the general public.
Dairy/Livestock Financial Workbook
(download Excel file "financialsdairylivestock.xls")
Vegetable or Diversified Financial Workbook
(download Excel file "financialsvegetableordiversified.xls")
The Farm Financials Workbooks were created by Ela Chapin and Ethan Parke at the VT Housing and Conservation Board, with assistance and contributions from UVM Extension and the Vermont Farm Viability Program’s network of service providers. Special thanks go to Alan Curler, Dennis Kauppila, Tony Kitsos, Steve Paddock, Glenn Rogers, and Rosalie Wilson, who provided helpful feedback and great suggestions along the way.
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Profiles of Participating Farmers
Brown Farm, Randolph
Champlain Orchards, Shoreham
Crawford Farm, Whiting
Woodcock Farm, Weston
Read about participating farmers profiled in VHCB annual reports:
(Adobe Acrobat files)
2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007
Annual Program Reports to the Vermont General Assembly
2009 Annual Report
2008 Annual Report
2007 Annual Report
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Program News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 29, 2009
Contact: Ela Chapin, Viability Program Director: 828 2117
Anthony Brault 744-2271 Brault’s Market, Troy
Photos available upon request to: pboyd@vhcb.org
Vermont Farm Viability Program Awards
$40,000 to Meat Processing Facilities
Montpelier -- The Vermont Farm Viability Program announced today $40,000 in grant awards to meat processing facilities in Troy, Randolph, Barre and Enosburg. The grants are the first round of a new funding opportunity for “agriculture-related businesses,” established to develop and invest in agricultural infrastructure and to improve the viability of agriculture-related businesses. Two subsequent rounds of grant funding will be announced later this year and in 2010. Eleven processors with combined requests of $183,600 applied for $40,000 of available funding. The grant funds are supplied by a private foundation.
Four operators ranging from small custom processors to larger commercial processors will use grant funding to expand facilities and increase efficiency, resulting in greater availability of meat processing services for farmers and others raising livestock. The grant recipients are: Brault’s Market in Troy, The Royal Butcher in Randolph, Vermont Smoke and Cure in South Barre, and the Enosburg Meat Market. Three of the four offer retail sales on site.
“The importance of these funds to meat processing facilities in the state cannot be underestimated. We have seen a tremendous increase in demand in people looking to buy local. I call it a renaissance of the past—knowing where and how your food is grown is again becoming an important aspect to consumers when buying food,” said Secretary of Agriculture Roger Allbee. “These grants will give meat processors in Vermont the ability to expand and improve their facilities to help meet the increased demand for Vermont products. With improved processing facilities, farmers have the potential to increase what they produce and it opens new market options to them.”
Brault’s Market, providing custom and commercial meat processing and a retail market in Troy, will construct an addition, increasing their processing area and retail space. The Royal Butcher, a meat processor, butcher shop, retail store and bottle redemption center in Randolph, will expand and improve their processing area. Vermont Smoke and Cure, a smokehouse and processing facility in South Barre distributing ham, bacon and sausage throughout New England and beyond, will purchase processing equipment to increase their production capacity. The Enosburg Meat Market, a retail meat market and custom cutting shop, will construct an addition, adding processing and cooler space while creating separate processing areas for game and farm animals.
Upcoming Implementation Grant rounds are announced to farmers that have completed business plans with the Viability Program and to agriculture-related businesses. Farmers and ag-related businesses can find out more and apply by visiting www.vhcb.org/viability.html or by calling Program Director Ela Chapin at 828-2117.
Workers at Brault's Market in Troy
Two Studies Examine Market Potential
for Ground Beef and Farmstead Cheese
In 2005 the Farm Viability Program received a grant from the Argosy Foundation to conduct studies aimed at assessing and improving the markets for innovative, value-added, and diversified agricultural products. Two studies were commissioned—one on a Vermont ground beef product, the other on Vermont farmstead cheese. Each study found significant market potential for farmers interested in these enterprises, as well as challenges. Next steps include collaborative efforts with the Agency of Agriculture and other interested parties to enhance production and distribution opportunities. To read either study, click on the links below.
(Adobe Acrobat files for download with free Acrobat Reader software)
Vermont Ground Beef Marketing Study
Vermont Farmstead Cheese Study
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