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.

The Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (vhcb.org) invests in permanently affordable housing, farmland conservation, forest and natural area protection, historic preservation, and community revitalization across Vermont. Since its creation, VHCB has helped create and preserve affordable homes and conserve working lands, natural areas, and historic properties in partnership with local communities, nonprofit organizations, and public agencies.