Inside, you'll find:

• News and Updates
• Upcoming Events
• Research Spotlight: How NWCS Research Inspired Soil Health Practices in Turkey
• Weather Data
• Outcroppings Blog
• Photos

News and Updates

On October 28, Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica, causing devastating historic damage and leaving many communities ruined. Each year, Vermont hosts more than 400 Jamaican farmworkers. Now they need our help. Please click the button below and consider donating to any of the fundraisers listed in the blog.

In response to ongoing and worsening drought conditions across the state, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (VAAFM) is launching a 2025 Agriculture Drought Impact Survey to understand its effects on Vermont farms. Click the button below to take the survey. If you would like a paper copy or need assistance with the survey, please contact the VAAFM drought response team at AGR.Drought@vermont.gov or 802-828-2430. The survey will be open until December 15, 2025. Thank you for your participation!

Read the most updated information about grants and programs that can help support your farm. This webpage provides an overview, and the link below takes you to more details to help you apply for funding.

It’s time to start preparing your 2026 Nutrient Management Plan (NMP)! UVM Extension will offer a six-week NMP course this January and February. Specific dates and locations to be announced soon.

Before you can take the course, you must complete these basic NMP requirements:

• A current manure analysis,
• A current soil analysis (no older than three years) for each field on the farm, and
• A completed Land Treatment Plan (field maps, RUSLE2 values, etc.).

If you want to take the upcoming NMP course, now is the time to begin completing these requirements. If you are interested in updating your NMP or taking the 2026 course or need assistance completing the course requirements, please reach out to UVM Extension Program Manager Susan Brouillette at 802-656-7611 or 802-524-6501 or Susan.Brouillette@uvm.edu. 

Upcoming Events

Research Spotlight

When Knowledge Crosses Borders: How UVM Extension Research Inspired Soil Health Practices in Turkey

"If these sunflowers grow, I'll shave my mustache," a farmer joked when Dr. Metin Tuna asked him to try direct seeding sunflowers.

Dr. Tuna is a plant geneticist, breeding professor, and researcher at Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University in Tekirdağ, Turkey. In 2015, Dr. Tuna met UVM Extension research specialist Lindsey Ruhl while she was in Turkey on a Fulbright fellowship. Together, they researched cover crops in vineyards and have kept in touch ever since, often sharing new research and respective milestones. Inspired by these discussions, Dr. Tuna pioneered a groundbreaking, multi-year soil health experiment at Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University this year that examines the impact of no-till, cover cropping, and rotation on soil physical, chemical, and biological properties.

Cross-cultural research is vital to agricultural innovation, and this kind of partnership lies at the heart of UVM Extension’s mission, and, as this story shows, the impact of that work can reach far beyond Vermont’s borders.

Want to find out whether the farmer shaved his mustache? Whether the sunflowers grew? Learn more about the impacts of Dr. Tuna's work in Turkey at the link below!

Weather Data

This map from the U.S. Drought Monitor is a great resource for assessing drought conditions. As of November 4, 2025, the monitor classified 40.71% of Vermont in extreme drought. If you need support with drought management strategies, please reach out to your local UVM Extension agronomist. Find our latest information on drought strategies here.

Heather Darby, (802) 782-6054 or Heather.Darby@uvm.edu

Shawn Lucas, (802) 656-7546 or Shawn.Lucas@uvm.edu

This is the 2025 season outlook of Growing Degree Days (GDDs) in Alburgh, Vermont, the location of our program's research farm. As of October 11, this area has accumulated 2,434 GDDs in line with the 15-year average. Now that we are at the end of the growing season, the cumulative GDDs have plateaued because temperatures are decreasing and crop development is slowing.

This graph was created by the Climate Smart Farming Growing Degree Day Calculator. 

© Cornell University, 2016. Credits: Tool Developed by Art DeGaetano, Rick Moore, Brian Belcher & Ben Eck.

Outcroppings Blog

Photos

Earlier this month, the NWCS team harvested flint corn at Borderview Research Farm in Alburgh, Vermont as part of the USDA-funded project Renewing Our Relationships with Northern Flint Corn. We are collaborating with several institutions in the Midwest to evaluate and characterize historic lines of northern flint corn.  Today, flint corn is often ground and used in tortillas, tamales, cornmeal, grits, and other products. During the harvest pictured below, we were evaluating flint corn for incidence of damage from pests, diseases, poor pollination, uneven tip fill, and overall yield of marketable ears.

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture. University of Vermont Extension, Burlington, Vermont. University of Vermont Extension, and U.S. Department of Agriculture, cooperating, offer education and employment to everyone without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or familial status.