For Immediate Release
September 2nd, 2026
Contact: Liz Gleason, VHCB Viability Program Director (802) 828-2117; Liz@vhcb.org
VHCB’s Vermont Farm & Forest Viability Program Awards over $1 million to 54 Farm & Forest Businesses to Improve Water Quality & Long-Term Viability
The Vermont Farm & Forest Viability Program, a program of the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB), announces its 2026 grant awards to working lands entrepreneurs, totaling $943,745.00 to support businesses improvements and improve water quality.
This year, 21 farm businesses were awarded $814,623.00 to invest in on-farm capital improvements that enhance water quality. Additionally, 33 farm and forest businesses were awarded $255,793.00 to complete projects that support business development and viability.
The Vermont Farm & Forest Viability Program’s Water Quality Grants are funded by the State of Vermont through Vermont’s Capital Construction and State Bonding Act. Since 2017, the program has awarded more than $6 million in Water Quality Grants. In 2026, awards were made to 21 farms across Vermont. Grants were awarded to both organic and conventional farms, and include cow dairies, cattle farms, and creameries.
These projects will improve manure management and soil health, reduce runoff, minimize feed imports into Vermont, and ultimately support the long-term success of farm enterprises. These goals are exemplified by a 2025 award made to Snug Valley Farm in Hardwick, owned and operated by the Notterman family. VHCB co-funded a BMP grant to construct a bedded pack cattle barn, which will help the farm to reduce bedding a waste storage needs while capturing potential runoff, in addition to keeping cows off of saturated and frozen soils, reducing compaction.
The Vermont Farm & Forest Viability Program’s Implementation Grants help recent program clients implement aspects of their business plan and improve long-term viability. The program provides farm, food, and forest businesses with business coaching, transition planning, and technical assistance through a network of service provider organizations, including the Center for an Agricultural Economy, the Intervale Center, Land for Good, the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA-VT), and UVM Extension Services. This year, $255,793.00 were awarded to 21 businesses throughout the state – our largest award pool yet. Grantees represent a variety of working lands businesses in Vermont including livestock, dairy, and diversified produce farms, food processors, and forest products businesses.
In 2025, one of the many impressive Implementation Grant projects was completed by Kevin Bednar and Nichole Bambacigno, owners of Lincoln Peak Vineyard in New Haven. In April 2024, amid major life changes — including the expectation of their second child — the couple relocated from New Jersey and got to work as the new owners of the vineyard, as well as enrolled in the Farm & Forest Viability Program.
In 2025, Lincoln Peak received an Implementation Grant of $7,470.32 to fund winery washdown stations, harvest lugs, hose upgrades, and other essential equipment to support their growing operation.
2026 Water Quality Grant Awards — $814,623.00 to 21 farms
Sweet Rowen Farmstead: $50,000 for a nutrient storage expansion
Intervale Center, Inc.: $12,885 for cover cropping equipment
Taft’s Milk & Maple Farm: $41,310 for precision manure injection & floatation tires
Sweet Haven Dairy: $50,000 for stormwater and manure management improvements
Gray Farms: $50,000 for concrete lined manure storage, concrete compost mortality pad, cleanwater roof diversion, heavy use area & heavy use access road
Rooney Farm: $50,000 for a barnyard and bedded pack project
Chamberlin’s Farm: $7,535 for straw mulching equipment
Kennland Farms: $45,809 for a no-till planter & precision RTK planter
Bittersweet Farm of Vermont: $46,705 for a feed bunk and water diversion
The Lazy Dog Farm: $34,100 for a heavy use area to allow outdoor access for organic heifers
Poultney Mettowee Natural Resources Conservation District: $5,200 for a no-till seed drill
Monument Farms Dairy: $50,000 for a no-till grain drill
Granite Grains LLC: $15,395 for conservation tillage in organic crop production
Westminster Farms, Inc: $50,000 for a silage bunker wall
Plouffe Family Farm: $30,000 for the purchase of a new manure pump
Hodge Family Farm: $50,000 for manure and wastewater handling
Gervais Family Farm No. 2, LLC: $39,745 for dragline equipment
Chimney Point Farm: $48,263 for a narrow transport no-till drill
LF Hurtubise & Sons Inc.: $48,263 for the purchase of a 2025 John Deere 1775NT planter (12-row, 30-inch spacing) for no-till planting operations
UVM Extension Champlain Valley Crops, Soil, and Pasture Team: $41,150 for a no-till corn planter and attachments
Conant’s Riverside Farms, LLC: $48,263 for a no-till 12-row precision corn planter
2026 Implementation Grant Awards — $255,793.00 to 33 farms
Triple K Farm LLC: $8,000 for a livestock handling system
Rocky Hill Farm: $8,000 for a barn project
Between the Trees Farm: $8,000 for a pig large winter housing unit
Khelcom Farm: $8,000 for a climate resilience infrastructure project
Beck Pond Sugarworks LLC: $8,000 for upgrading a vacuum pump
Cream and Sugar Spread: $8,000 for a new vacuum pump
Tamarack Hollow Farm, LLC: $8,000 for mitigating risk and increasing efficiencies in radicchio harvest
The Farm Upstream: $8,000 for production efficiency tools
Skyline Holsteins: $8,000 for a barnyard roof
Republic of Vermont: $6,997 for inventory system and physical workspace improvements
Quill Hill Farm: $7,700 for a wastewater design
Sheldon Farm Inc.: $8,000 for cattle headlocks
Silver Spring Farm: $8,000 for a workshop roof repair
Nomad Farm, LLC: $8,000 to develop a PYO raspberry operation
Keck Wine Enterprises, LLC dba Stella14 Wines: $7,290 for vineyard pruning efficiency
Pure Gold Sugaring, LLC: $6,690 for strategic expansion of value-added maple production, private label, and wholesale markets
Jake’s Family Maple LLC dba Jake’s Maple: $7,821 for a marketing strategy to increase UK sales
Snug Valley Farm LLC: $8,000 for increasing sales of grass-fed beef and non-GMO fed pork
Silver Lake Syrups, LLC: $8,000 for expansion of mobile maple creemee catering capacity
Pollen and Nectar: $8,000 for peony field establishment
Slippery Slope Goats LLC: $8,000 for a mobile handling unit
Busy B Goat Farm: $8,000 for expanding a milk parlor
Earthbound Forest Services: $8,000 for fortifying critical investment for horse logging operation
Savage Gardens LLC: $8,000 for a covered chicken manure composting project
Flying Dog Farm: $8,000 for improving infrastructure for on-farm events
The Goat Project: $8,000 for pasture improvements
NALA Family Farm: $7,791 for a calf pen project
Cloud Brook LLC: $8,000 for an efficient small ruminant feeding system in winter housing
Dumont Farm and Cattle Company LLC: $8,000 for grazing collars
Green Mountain Blue Cheese: $7,999 for improvements to food safety, quality, marketing, efficiency
The Simmering Bone: $8,000 to relocate & scale
Lake Hill Farm, LLC: $8,000 for cattle handling equipment
Valley Clayplain Forest Farm: $3,505 for streamlined systems for post-harvest produce
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The Vermont Farm & Forest Viability Program is a program of the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB) that provides business planning, technical assistance, and ownership transition planning to farm, food, and forest products businesses. For more information about the Viability Program, please visit //www.vhcb.org/viability.
Colleen Casimira (she/her)
Communications Director | Vermont Housing & Conservation Board
