Project Overview
Commodities
Practices
- Crop Production: cover crops
- Education and Training: demonstration
- Sustainable Communities: partnerships
Proposal abstract:
The project's objectives are: 1) advance an innovative partnership model to increase farmland viability, for transition and access, 2) improve soil health conditions of a 40+ acre field, and 3) demonstrate sustainable farming and land stewardship practices to inform and inspire farmers to adopt into their own operations.
This will be accomplished through demonstration trials of sustainable farming and land stewardship practices, technical assistance, and outreach support from project collaborators.
In 2023, the Town of Bethlehem purchased a farm property with the initial goal of preventing imminent development. With that goal accomplished, the Town began to explore how it could help address critical issues related to agriculture and community well-being.
The Town appointed an advisory committee, who, over 14 months of information gathering, presentations from experts, and discussion, created a Vision Plan for the farm. Demonstration of sustainable land stewardship, land access opportunities, and educational outreach, are core recommendations of the Plan.
While the Town has awarded multi-year leases to local farmers for the majority of municipal owned farmland, the project site, has been reserved for the activities outlined in this application. This project will transition a highly visible 40+ acre field along the I-87 corridor, from conventional practices, to a demonstration site of sustainable farming practices. This will increase the soil health of the farmland, provide a centrally located site for outreach, and advance an innovative partnership model, that has been evolving over the last 3 years.
Through cover crop trials, soil monitoring, and outreach, the project will generate practical insights into practices for soil health improvements, help to increase on-farm biodiversity, increase water quality, and lay the foundation for perpetual land protection and long-term tenure opportunities.
The project will culminate with a series of educational outreach efforts (on-farm demonstration/field day(s), presentations at professional conferences, and programming for the general public), to reach a wide audience including, but not limited to: local farmers, prospective farmers, technical services providers, other municipalities, and the general public.
As the municipality has steadily moved forward on this strategic initiative over the last 3 years, the proposed project's collaborating partners have continued to provide significant technical guidance, recommendations and encouragement. Funding of the proposed project will advance, at a critical stage, this innovative partnership model, helping to inform and inspire replication in other areas of the Northeast.
Project objectives from proposal:
The project's main objectives are to: 1) advance an innovative partnership model to increase farmland viability, for transition and access, 2) improve soil health conditions of a 40+ acre field, and 3) demonstrate sustainable farming and land stewardship practices to inform and inspire farmers to adopt into their own operations.
Obj 1: For the last three years, an innovative partnership model has been in evolution, initiated by the Town of Bethlehem's Farms & Forests Conservation Program. The project's first objective is to advance this model at a critical phase, which will help to effectively implement related recommendations of the Town's Vision Plan for the farm. This will be the first "boots on the ground" project in partnership that will help solidify this model, and inform future replication in other communities throughout the Northeast.
Obj 2: The second objective is to improve soil health of the farmland. The project team will work collaboratively to create a plan of action addressing issues such as erosion, invasive species in non-cultivated areas, and deficiencies identified through soil testing (i.e. nutrient content, % organic matter, pH, etc.) The plan will call for multiple blocks, with different cover crop mixes/rotations, green manures, application of amendments, planting of windbreaks, etc. The specific of each approach will be will be collaboratively planned and monitored.
Obj 3: The project's third objective is to demonstrate sustainable farming and land stewardship practices to: 1) familiarize farmers with approaches to increase soil health, and 2) inspire them to consider adopting some methods into their own operations. This will be accomplished by implementation of the plan created by the Project Team, followed by outreach activities in the third year of the project, to engage local and prospective farmers, ag service and land conservation professionals, and the general public.