16th Annual Vermont Organics Recycling Summit (VORS)

2022 Theme: Recipe for Regeneration: Compost

May 2-6, 2022 (as part of International Compost Awareness Week)

Thursday May 5th

10:00-11:30 AM Food, Fiber, and Functioning Ecosystems: Vermont's journey to pay for ecosystem services

What does it mean to pay farmers and other land stewards for ecosystem services like nutrient cycling, climate regulation, and pollination? Which services do we value, whom do we pay for them, and for how long? These are some of the questions Vermont's Soil Health & Payment for Ecosystem Services Working Group has been grappling with since 2019. With recommendations due to the legislature in January 2023, the Working Group will spend the remainder of this year developing a pilot program. This session shared the latest activity from this Working Group and invited questions and suggestions to inform the outcomes!

Presenters:

00:00 VORS introduction, Natasha Duarte
05:12 Maddie Kempner, Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont
25:13 Discussion break
32:03 Maddie Kempner, Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont
51:28 Q&A and discussion

Resources from this session:

1:00-2:30 PM The Ins and Outs of On-Farm Food Residuals Composting

Under Act 41, the Agency of Agriculture regulates certain on-farm compost operations by setting standards for registration, management, and design. This session provided an overview of eligibility requirements and standards of operation, as well as insight into other policies that inform the regulation of these operations, including commercial feed and management of invasive pests.

Presenters:

00:00 Introduction, Natasha Duarte
01:25 On-Farm Composting, Stephanie Smith, Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food & Markets
43:11 Invasive Worms, Emilie Inoue, Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food & Markets

Resources referenced in this session:

VT Act 148 (Universal Recycling Law)
VT Act 41 (An act relating to the regulation of agricultural inputs for farming)
VT Act 709 (An act relating to miscellaneous agricultural subjects)
VT Required Agricultural Practices (RAPs)
CAV’s Invasive Worm info sheet
Recommendations [on preventing spread of invasive worms] for plant sales from the University of Wisconsin

3:30-5:00 PM: Onsite Tour of Lamoille Soil Composting Facility (In-Person Event)

This afternoon we had an onsite tour of our Lamoille Soil Composting Facility, where all of the food scraps collected by the Lamoille Regional Solid Waste Management District (LRSWMD) are processed. Lamoille Soil, built on a long-dormant biosolids composting facility, opened to the public in 2017. In 2021, we processed 25,500 buckets (290 tons) of food scraps, preventing the equivalent of 25 metric carbon ton equivalents of CO2 from entering the atmosphere, and we sold 130 cubic yards of compost back to the community to improve our local soil. This tour covered the end-to-end process at our site, including a discussion of challenges, successes, and lessons learned over our almost 5 years of operations.