Business Commons^™

Valuation Of Soil Health Ecosystem Services. Vermont Payment For Ecosystem Services Technical Research Report #5, Benjamin Timothy Dube, Alissa C. White, Taylor H. Ricketts, Heather M. Darby

UVM Extension Faculty Publications

In this report, we present estimates for ecosystem services from soil health using two approaches for four different services. One approach generates estimates based on soil-health practices, and the other approach is based on improvements in soil-health indicators. For soil- health practices, such as adopting best-management practices on annual corn, we utilize a set of off-the shelf empirical models widely used to estimate ecological functions on farm landscapes. For soil-health indicators, we make estimates by linking these tools with soil data and statistical models describing how soil-health parameters influence the interaction of soils with water and their environment. We provide …

Northeastern United States Maple Syrup Production And Economics: A 2019 Survey Of Producers, Mark Cannella, Christopher Lindgren, Mark Isselhardt

UVM Extension Faculty Publications

A survey of northeastern maple syrup producers was completed to explore factors of business scale, economic viability, organic production and the outlook for the maple crop in the coming years. Results from this survey demonstrate the wide range of hobby and commercial scales present within the maple producer community across the Northeastern United States. As the U.S. domestic maple syrup crop continues to grow the influence of different scales and types of business can shape local communities, national trends and future policy. Survey results offer insight into production yields, technology adoption, economics and business performance.

2020 Northeast Maple Business Benchmark, Mark Cannella, Christopher Lindgren

UVM Extension Faculty Publications

The 2020 production season began just as the Covid-19 pandemic was emerging across the United States. Most states quickly enacted “essential industry” provisions that enabled agricultural and forestry operations to remain active assuming their workers were healthy and willing to report to work. Lingering policy and regulatory issues faced maple producers in the coming months as the pandemic disruptions continued. While many businesses faced short term cash flow challenges the overall maple demand rebounded and exceeded expectations for growth by the end of 2020.

The 2020 Northeast Maple Business Benchmark report documents the eight year of financial record analysis for …

Conservation And Farm Viability On Vermont Medium And Large Farms, Mark P. Cannella, Anthony Kitsos

UVM Extension Faculty Publications

In winter 2021 a survey of Medium Farm Operations (MFO) and Large Farm Operations (LFO) was conducted in Vermont. The goal of this survey was to gather information on the economic situation across Vermont’s medium-to-larger farms, explore their adaptation to water quality regulations and to understand the next steps for farms moving forward. The survey was distributed to 143 MFO and LFO farm business owners through postal mail. Sixty-two useable surveys were analyzed resulting in a 44% response rate.

Results show that conservation practice adoption among MFO and LFO farms is high. The largest compliance factor this group of farms …