Vegetable and berry growers face market, labor and regulatory pressures, extension expert tells committee
Loading...
Summary
Verne, an extension specialist who works with the Vermont Vegetable and Berry Growers Association, told the committee that while the number of produce farms has doubled in recent census counts, market access, regulatory overlap and labor costs threaten mid‑scale and wholesale growers; he urged coordinated permitting, targeted grants and a statewide marketing effort.
Verne, a UVM extension specialist who works closely with the Vermont Vegetable and Berry Growers Association, told the Agriculture, Food Resiliency & Forestry committee that the produce sector in Vermont has grown in number but faces acute pressures on scale, regulation and market access.
"When I started, there were 400 farms selling vegetables according to census. Now there's 800," Verne said, and he highlighted that a very small number of farms generate the bulk of wholesale output. He cited a census figure of 27 fruit and vegetable farms reporting more than $1,000,000 in sales and stressed that those mid‑scale wholesale farms face the heaviest regulatory, labor and climate risks.
Verne said extension and partner organizations have used federal and state grant programs to support infrastructure—wash‑pack sheds, produce safety improvements and facility upgrades—that can enable farms to scale into wholesale markets. He cited produce safety improvement grants that required growers to work with extension specialists to design funded facilities as an effective model.
To ease on‑farm administrative burdens, Verne recommended regulatory coordination so farms do not face multiple separate compliance visits (produce safety, labor, water quality). He pointed to Vermont’s Community Accreditation for Produce Safety (CAPS) as an example of a program that helps growers access wholesale markets and said UVM extension has built compliance resources and a growers' listserv for peer exchange.
On market development, Verne argued that the state lacks a rejuvenated, coordinated statewide marketing strategy to increase local purchasing and properly reward local producers in mainstream supermarkets. "A fresh look at the messaging," he said, and targeted buyer‑producer convenings could help build the relationships needed to move more Vermont product into regional markets. He added that UVM received a grant from the Agency of Agriculture to host events pairing wholesale buyers and producers.
Committee members asked how legislative action could reduce permitting burdens and support marketing or grant programs; Verne suggested researchers and students at UVM could help evaluate marketing approaches and that agencies might test consolidated farm visits or paperwork reduction. The meeting closed with Verne offering follow‑up and a white paper posted to the committee’s web page.
No formal votes or motions were taken during the discussion.
