This week, legislators need to hear from us to protect the Right to Grow Food for homesteaders, including the right to raise livestock and to sell food!

Due to a 2025 Vermont Supreme Court ruling, farms and farming in VT are no longer exempt from municipal zoning, meaning towns can regulate where food can be grown, which animals can be raised, and when machinery can be operated, among other possibilities. We are working with other agricultural organizations and lawmakers to address this, and restore the exemption - but we’re meeting resistance. You may be particularly vulnerable to increased regulatory requirements if:

• You are a farmer or homesteader with livestock on fewer than 4 acres, who sells anything you produce. 

• You are operating near a downtown, village, or "planned growth area" (or Tier 1a or 1b area; learn about this here).

• You make less than $5,000 each year from farm products, or qualify as a farm under the Required Agricultural Practices (RAPs) by filing a Schedule F. 

Now is the time to contact us and the legislature to make sure your voice is heard and that they understand how you could be impacted by these changes.

Read More Here…

Protect Farmland from Municipal Regulations! Due to a 2025 Vermont Supreme Court ruling, farms and farming in VT are no longer exempt from municipal zoning, which means towns can regulate where growing food is allowed, what animals can be raised, or when machinery can be operated, among other possibilities. We are working with other agricultural organizations ( Vermont Farm Bureau, Agri Mark, Cabot, the Vermont Dairy Producers Alliance, NOFA-VT, the Vermont Association of Conservation Districts, the Connecticut River Watershed Farmers Alliance, Farm to Plate, and the Land Access and Opportunity Board) and lawmakers to address this and restore the exemption. Join our coalition for an informational webinar on Thursday, February 26th, from 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm to hear about the ongoing work around this issue, our coalition’s proposal, and to receive your valued feedback.
Read More Here…

Each year, Rural Vermont invites farmer members and ally organizations to learn about and engage in the legislative process, advocacy, and pending policy during the legislative session. This event series offers farmers and the broader agrarian community—homesteaders, gardeners, urban farmers, medicine makers, and food activists—opportunities to speak with lawmakers, voice their real-life concerns, and gain empowerment through learning more about the legislative process. We will be hosting Small Farm Action Day at the Vermont State House in Montpelier on Thursday, February 26th, from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM!

Read More Here…
Register Here…

Listen to this episode of the Vermont Viewpoint podcast (WDEV), recorded on January 22, 2026, as Caroline Sherman Gordon (Rural Vermont’s Legislative Director) joins David Zuckerman on WDEV to discuss the push for a "Right to Grow Food" following a landmark ruling on municipal farming regulations.

Listen Here…
Read More about our Protecting Farming from Municipal Regulations…

We’d love for you to tune in as we explore the people, the places, and the history that define us, both as a culture and an organization.  We’ll enjoy stories from the past, hear lessons for the present, and draw on this shared wisdom to inform the future. We’re working on our 2026 podcast schedule! If you would like to be interviewed, know someone who might, or have an idea or thought for a really great podcast - please be in touch at infor@ruralvermont.org!

Listen Here…

The second year of a legislative biennium always hits the ground running because bills introduced in 2025 need to make it over the finish line in 2026, such as the Farm Security Fund, and new bills introduced only have this session to pass into law. There is heightened tension this year given the historic shortfall in federal funding and the quickly shifting sands of the federal government, civil rights, and democracy. You can find our legislative priorities in our Course of Action for 2026. Check out our new 2026 Bill Monitor (read more about it in the next section) to dive deeper into what’s happening on the issues that matter to you and visit our Advocacy Toolkit to learn more about the State House and how to approach it with your advocacy.  

Read More Here…

As the sun drifts to its furthest south on the horizon and the light grows short and long at once, we look to what has come this past year, and what is coming ahead. For Rural VT, we are thinking of the gifts provided by those who have made this work possible over time, of the work and love and dedication of the farms and communities we are here to support, and we are moving into the new year with a new Course of Action, and an understanding that we must be strong in our commitments, generous with our solidarity, and agile and aware in the moment in order to shift our capacity and focus based on our communities’ emergent needs and goals. We look to our members, our local communities, our allied organizations locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, and we are guided by the constellation of our mission, vision, and the principles and values we embrace.

The new year will see a host of new and ongoing legislative efforts, events on farms and in communities celebrating and listening to people’s voices and ideas. There will be on farm workshops, work brigades, citizen advocacy trainings and opportunities to testify at the statehouse. You will hear from us on issues ranging from healthcare and childcare, to on-farm slaughter and poultry processing, to equitable cannabis regulations, to extreme weather recovery funding for farmers, to municipal regulation of agriculture, farmworker rights, civil rights, human rights, and support for the boycott divestment sanctions movement in solidarity with the Palestinian people’s struggle for self determination and food sovereignty. We will be organizing, educating, and activating locally, nationally, and internationally.

We want to hear from you - on the issues we are and aren’t working on. When we hear from the grassroots community, we know better how to be there for you as Rural Vermont and the values we are committed to. Tell us what you are concerned about, what your ideas for a better future are, what you are working on, what is happening on your farm and in your community, and together we can chart a path forward.

Support Rural Vermont’s Work Here…

Across four decades, Rural Vermont has stood with farmers, amplifying their voices as we advance our shared vision for a just and equitable world rooted in reverence for the earth and dignity for all. Our work has always been fueled by a community who cares deeply and gives wholeheartedly. We need our community's support today so we can continue standing with farmers in 2026 and beyond.

Read the Full Appeal Here…

Join us for a series of three webinar presentations by Vermont Legal Aid staff specifically centered on the needs of the farming community related to healthcare and taxation. Submit your questions in advance or bring them to each webinar to get the most out of this opportunity (questions can be submitted within the RSVP). A presentation from Vermont Legal Aid staff will be followed by an overview of opportunities for how to increase engagement or take action around healthcare. This series is co-hosted by NOFA-VT and Rural Vermont. An RSVP is required to receive the webinar link and information.

Learn More Here…
Recordings Here…

We want to let you know that as of Monday, November 17th, VT Congresswoman Balint has signed on to HR 5341, the Livestock Owned by Communities to Advance Local (LOCAL) Foods Act of 2025, completing our Vermont delegation's commitment to supporting not only our Vermont farmers and agrarian communities, but those across the nation. 

Read More Here…

Stand with farmworkers on Saturday, 11/15. Join the Milk with Dignity pickets of Hannaford Supermarket in Morrisville (10am-12pm), South Burlington (1-3pm), or Middlebury (4-6pm) – or come along for all three!

Read More Here…

Thanks to the generosity of our talented community, and in honor of Rural Vermont's 40th anniversary year, our Agrarian Art Auction is live! Between now and October 19th, the bidding is open on four special pieces that highlight farming in different seasons, styles, and mediums.

The auction is being held entirely online, but you can view the artwork in person at our 40th Anniversary Party at the Old Labor Hall in Barre from 4-7 pm on October 19th (info and RSVP here). The bidding will close at 6:30pm sharp that evening. You need not be present to win, but additional shipping charges will apply (unless picking up in Montpelier). All proceeds benefit Rural Vermont.

Check out the Art Auction Here…

This summer marked the third anniversary of the People’s Agroecology School of Vermont. The school is rooted in Rural Vermont’s 40-year legacy of radical farmer organizing. It follows in the lineage of the agroecological and political education developed by rural peoples’ movements across Latin America. This includes the Latin American Institutes of Agroecology (IALAs) that are spread throughout Central and South America.
Read More Here…

For four decades, Rural Vermont has been proudly amplifying farmer voices, fighting for a farm and food system that cares for farmers, the people they feed, the ecosystems they nurture, and the communities they support. We’re ending this milestone year with an epic 40th celebration on Sunday, October 19th from 4-7pm at the Old Labor Hall in Barre, and you’re invited! There will be a potluck, live band, cash bar, art-making, stories, and lots more. Join us for an evening of joy, reflection, and community — let’s make it the celebration of the year! Help us plan with your RSVP.

Read More Here…
RSVP Here …

The Vermont Supreme Court ruled on May 30, 2025, that farming is not exempt from all municipal regulation. Instead, the court interpreted the “ag exemption” in 24 V.S.A. § 4413(d)(1)(A) [the Municipal Zoning Statute] as a reference only to the policies and standards intended to reduce agricultural water pollution. The court concluded that municipalities may regulate all aspects of farming that do not relate to water quality, thereby setting a new precedent in stark contrast to the previous, statewide understanding that farming is exempt from municipal zoning regulations.  Rural Vermont, NOFA-VT, the Vermont Farm Bureau, the Vermont Association of Conservation Districts, and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets are collaborating to protect the agricultural exemptions. We are collecting signatures in support of changing the law to assert that food producers that the VT Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets determines to be farms and farming are exempt from municipal zoning and the Act 250 permit requirement. We are also gathering stories to demonstrate the importance of the farming exemptions from Municipal Zoning and Act 250 for the working lands community - please share any examples you have. 

Read the Letter and Sign On Here…
Read our Blog on this Ruling Here…

Rural Vermont remains a force because of our Community’s support!

Forty years ago, Rural Vermont was born out of a need to respond locally to the national farm crisis. Vermont farmers found it necessary to organize, educate, and advocate on behalf of their own and their communities’ interests. No one else was doing it, no one else was going to do it, and no one else really could. This was the beginning of what we now know organizationally as Rural Vermont.

As we continue to amplify the most pressing needs of the agricultural community and contribute to the broader movement to preserve our human rights and dignity, we know it is equally important to cultivate joy and connection at every opportunity! Let’s Keep Building Farmer Power with $40+ in honor of 40 years!

Donate here, see our Mid-Year Progress Report here, and read our full appeal for your support here!

The legislative session is slowly wrapping up for 2025 with June 16 being the target date for adjournment at the moment. At the beginning of June, we learned about a recent appeals decision from the Vermont Supreme Court which will have an enormous effect on farms, the agricultural community, food security and food sovereignty in Vermont.  This critical decision overturns long standing precedent by reversing how many, if not all, municipalities had understood these statutes to date - that farms are exempt from municipal zoning as they are exempt from Act 250. This ruling deeply concerns us, and we are organizing and acting to the best of our ability to affect it now-  please be in touch if you want to engage.  Specifically, the VT Supreme court ruled that neither 24 V.S.A. § 4413 (d)(1)(A) which references farms that need to comply with the RAP’s, nor 7 V.S.A. § 869 (f)(2) related to outdoor licensed cannabis cultivators, prevents municipalities from regulating farms. Instead, the court interpreted the law as only precluding municipal regulation of agricultural water quality.

Read More Here…

The Vermont Supreme Court issued a ruling on May 30, 2025, determining that farming and outdoor cannabis cultivation are not exempt from all municipal regulation, but that the reference to the Required Agricultural Practices in 24 V.S.A. § 4413(d)(1)(A) [the Municipal Zoning Statute] refers to the policies and standards intended to reduce agricultural water pollution only. The court concluded that municipalities may regulate all other aspects of farming and cannabis cultivation, thereby setting a new precedent in stark contrast to the general statewide belief that farming is exempt from municipal zoning regulations. 

Read More Here…

As we reflect on 2024, we are proud to share the progress and impact made possible through our partners, members, and supporters. Our 2024 Impact Report highlights Rural Vermont’s achievements, challenges, and milestones that continue to define our work. We invite you to explore the stories, successes, and data that illustrate how, along with you, we are making a lasting difference in our rural agrarian communities.

Read the 2024 Impact Report Here…

The 2025 Legislative Session is currently scheduled to wrap up on May 23rd with little to no committee activity projected for the last week of the session. This update is focused on priority issues and action items - your support matters! Read the 5/8 Legislative Update to see where things stand with Cottage Foods, Right to Farm, Cannabis, and much, much more.

Read More Here…