Women in Agriculture (WAgN)

Hey everyone! Imagine my surprise when I was flipping through the Sunday NY Times Magazine and there was an article on women farmers in the northeast. Check it out at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/magazine/13food-t-001.html?_r=1&ref=magazine&oref=slogin Hope you can find a minute to check it out -- or just print it and put it in your 'rainy day' reading pile. Yeah, right!

And, as long as you're logged onto the computer right now -- help us out and complete the Extension marketing survey at www.extensionsurvey.com Thanks!

Summer has been busier than I could have imagined back in April when I was making all those plans for projects that I was going to get completed before September. Now, I'm down to one month left to September- and I'm a long way from turning my "to-do" list into a "ta-da" list!

But one thing I would like to to share is the link to the new eXtension initiative. I know I've mentioned it before but it is worth repeating. http://www.extension.org is one of the great emerging resources.

Starting this September my colleagues and I will once again be hosting a monthly webinar series on all things related to small business management. The webinars are recorded but live participation allows you to get questions answered. Look for more on this at the Entrepreneurs & Their Communities pages of eXtension.

Check out the attached brochure from NRCS to learn about EQIP eligibility and the application process. The program provides resources that can help you implement important environmental stewardship practices on your farm. Oh, and the flower pictures have nothing to do with anything -- I'm just so in love with my flower garden this year I can't resist.
EQIP Eligibility Guidelines

Cheese was front and center at the Vermont Statehouse on Tuesday evening where the Vermont Agency of Agriculture hosted a reception for a delegation of Spanish cheesemakers and agriculture officials. On hand were the owners of Quesos Ibar. Although I don't speak Spanish and they speak no English I was still treated to a wonderful tasting tour of their products. The language barrier did not stop me from appreciating their wonderful array of cheeses.
Vermont Secretary of Agriculture, Roger Allbee and his counterpart from the Basque Region of Spain signed a MOU initiating an ongoing commitment to continue building the relationship between these two distant geographic regions that share an affinity for small-scale farms and great cheese.

Mateo Kehler of Jasper Hill Farm was on hand to share some of their fine cheese. It was a challenging time to get cheesemakers to attend since the American Cheese Society's Annual Conference and Meeting had just concluded in Chicago a few days before. I'm proud to say that Vermont appears on the judge's list of winners a fair number of times!
And the beverages included a great selection of Vermont hard cider and some great wine from a relatively new source in Berlin, VT. Keep an eye out for Deer Tracks Farm wines.