By: Jeff Carter, UVM Extension Agronomy Specialist
Added April 1, 2012.
The University of Vermont Extension office in Middlebury welcomed another new staff member as part of the Champlain Valley Crop, Soil & Pasture Team. Kirsten Workman joins the team as an Agronomy Outreach Professional working to provide technical assistance to farmers in the Lake Champlain watershed. This special funding to increase on-farm assistance for local farmers has been provided by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) through the Lake Champlain Basin Strategic Watershed Action Team.
Kirsten comes to Vermont from Washington State, where she worked for Washington State University Extension and Mason Conservation District for 10 years with farmers throughout the Puget Sound and Olympic Peninsula regions. In those ten years she worked as a Conservation Farm Planner, Environmental Education Specialist, started the Mason County Small Farms Program and served as a member and co-chair of WSU's statewide Small Farms Team. During her time in Washington, she facilitated farmer participation in watershed cleanup plans, started the very successful Poultry Processing Equipment Lending Program, revitalized a local farmers market, and advocated for farmers across the region. She also taught classes for farmers on a wide array of topics including pasture management, composting, poultry processing, livestock management practices, whole farm planning and business planning for agricultural entrepreneurs. In addition to her duties with Extension and the CD, she and her husband own and operated a farm and nursery in Shelton, WA.
If you are a farmer who is interested in writing your own Nutrient Management Plan, updating or implementing an existing plan or would just like more information about nutrient management practices, give Kirsten a call. Find out about the many opportunities to learn good nutrient management and qualify at the same time for money from the state! Kristen can be reached by phone or email at: (802) 388-4969 x347 or Kirsten.Workman@uvm.edu.
