farmers working together for a clean lake champlain and thriving agriculture in vermont

  • Brian Kemp, President
  • Marie Audet, Vice President
  • Kirsten Workman, Secretary
  • Jeff Carter, Treasurer

Ernie and Marie Audet, Blue Spruce Farm, Bridport
Ray Brands, Deer Valley Farm, Ferrisburgh

Eric Clifford, Funding Advance, Starksboro
David Conant, Conant Riverside Farms, Richmond

Ben Dykema, Wilcon Farm,  North Ferrisburgh
George Foster, Foster Brothers Farm, Middlebury
Peter James, Monument Farms, Weybridge
Tim and Steve Kayhart, Kayhart Brothers, Addison
Brian Kemp, Mountain Meadows Farm, Sudbury

Rachel Orr, CBD Solutions Inc., Orwell
Lorenzo Whitcomb, No. Williston Cattle Co., Williston
Loren Wood, Woodnotch Farm, Shoreham

​Chase Goodrich, Goodrich Farm Inc, Salisbury


We are a group of farmers in the Lake Champlain Basin who have taken on a leadership role to show that a strong local farm economy and a clean Lake Champlain can work together

We started this non-profit farmer organization in 2013 to have a unified voice to proactively address the concerns about water quality in Lake Champlain. The farmers in the Lake Champlain Watershed  work hard to manage their farms, livestock and crop fields in a responsible way to prevent nutrient loss to our waterways.

We want the people of Vermont to know that we are dedicated to preserving the quality of our environment while maintaining a strong farm economy in our state. 


Coalition members are dairy farmers, field crops farmers (i.e. livestock feed, soybeans, wheat), vegetable farmers, beef producers, and other livestock producers (i.e. goat, sheep, poultry), and both ‘conventional’ and organic producers. Coalition farmers are small, medium and large producers. We acknowledge that while farmers have a diverse array of opinions and beliefs about farming, as an organization our objective is to promote cooperation among farmers for the greater good of farming in the region with a focus on water quality.


The Champlain Valley Farmer Coalition

  • Provides assistance in implementing innovative farming practices like cover cropping, reduced tillage, crop rotation, and grazing management
  • Hosts networking events and farm tours with fellow farmers
  • Educates and promotes outreach to the community about farming and water quality
  • Facilitates dialogue with representatives and agencies who are involved in decisions related to farming and water quality

who we are

our approach

our Current board of directors & officers (2017)

Current Staff Members:

Nate Severy, Program Coordinator

Louise Waterman, Membership/Dairy Coordinator


Support from UVM Extension Members:

Jeff Carter, Kirsten Workman, Nate Severy and Kristin Williams