The Green Mountain State is home to more than 700 dairy farming families who care for their cows and enhance our environment. From the Northeast Kingdom down to Windham County, Vermont dairy farms are the lifeblood of many of Vermont’s rural communities – creating jobs, supporting local schools, and creating wholesome dairy products helping to feed families across the region.
Thanks to new technology and evolving science, dairy farmers in Vermont are improving their barns and facilities and are enhancing the ways in which they take care of their cows. Free stall barns give dairy cows the room to rest, relax, socialize and eat and drink as they see fit. Health monitoring systems give farmers even better information on their cows’ health and diets. And in their fields, dairy farmers continue to show they are an important part of the climate solution. Cover cropping and no-till practices are helping farmers reduce nutrient runoff and are improving the soil’s ability to capture carbon.
Vermont is well known for its scenic beauty. Dairy farmers and other agricultural producers make much of Vermont’s outdoor recreation possible by maintaining forests and valleys and opening their land to walking, skiing, snowmobiling, mountain biking and much more.
From the dairy in your maple creemee, to the cheese plate at the local brewery, dairy is at the heart of many of life’s special moments.
Vermont Dairy by the Numbers:
- Directly support 4,000 jobs
- Indirectly support 12,000 additional jobs
- VT is home to 16 methane digesters (most per capita in the US) converting cow manure into clean, renewable energy to power local homes
- Since 2015, 61% increase in cover cropped acres of land reducing run-off into local waterways, sequestering carbon
- No-Till cropping practices reduce carbon emissions
- More than $175,000 in grants money contributed by dairy farmers to VT schools through the Fuel Up to Play 60 program to expand breakfast and lunch programs
