Vermont
Small farmers hit by extreme weather could get assistance from proposed insurance program
MIDDLESEX, Vt. — Since catastrophic flooding hit Vermont in July and waterlogged crops, some farmers are trying to figure out how to get through the next season.
Water washed away seeds planted in the summer at Bear Roots Farm, which grows about 20 acres (8 hectares) of mostly root vegetables at a high altitude. Farmers and co-owners Jon Wagner and Karin Bellemare are now asking themselves whether they want to take out a loan to plant all those seeds again — especially since it’s currently raining in January in Vermont.
They estimate the extreme rainfall caused them a 50% financial loss of about $180,000. The pair support legislation introduced last month by Vermont U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, as well as senators from Massachusetts. The bill aims to create an insurance program for small produce farms facing losses from increasingly extreme weather in the Northeast and other parts of the country.
“In Vermont we had frost in May that hurt a lot of our farmers, particularly orchards, and then of course we had the devastating floods in July. And those floods really wiped out crops,” Welch said at a press conference Friday at Roots Farm Market.
The flooding affected nearly 28,000 acres of farmland in Vermont, causing over $16 million in losses and damage, Welch’s office said. That came after the May frost that caused $10 million in losses, particularly to apple and grape growers.
“Unfortunately, with all the various insurance programs that are there to back up our farmers we really don’t have an insurance program that will help our small vegetable farmers,” Welch said.
The current crop insurance program is inadequate because farmers have to identify how much of a crop was a particular vegetable and potentially only get the wholesale value but farms like Bear Roots Farm sell their produce retail, he said.
The legislation, called the Withstanding Extreme Agricultural Threats by Harvesting Economic Resilience or WEATHER act, directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture to research the possibility of developing an index-based insurance program in which payouts would be based on agricultural income, according to Welch’s office.
More: Deja vu: Vermont gets flooded one week before Christmas
Grace Oedel, executive director of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont, said the group has been working with hundreds of farmers who have had devastating losses but could not recoup them with the existing programs.
“So there’s been a patchwork effort to help people make it through the season,” she said.
Wagner said that to operate, they had taken out loans with a high interest rate — and when the extreme rains hit, they didn’t have a way to pay them back. They were able to acquire some funding locally and from other sources that didn’t completely bridge the gap but was enough to get them to the current moment, he said. Usually they sell their storage crops through June and July of the following year but now there’s not much left, he said.
A fundraising campaign launched earlier this month by some business and government leaders with hopes to raise $20 million for affected farmers while the need is higher at nearly $45 million, according to the Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food & Markets.
“There’s nobody who’s unaffected, whether you’re a perennial grape or apple grower, a dairy farmer trying to cut forage when it’s raining every other day all summer, or a vegetable farmer that might have been under four feet of water,” said Justin Rich, president of the Vermont Vegetable and Berry Growers Association, and a produce farmer in Huntington. “So it was just kind of whiplash for a lot of growers.
What college towns are best for comedy? Burlington, says this comic
New York comic Geoffrey Asmus talked with the Free Press after his April 30 show and before his May 1-2 performances at the Vermont Comedy Club.
If you’re thinking about planning a day trip in the state of Vermont, why not go somewhere beautiful?
Yankee Magazine picked 12 of the most beautiful places to visit in New England in 2025, and picked two Vermont locations that are more than worth a visit.
“More than anything, look through these photos and then find their equal wherever you may travel in New England: villages, cities, woods, waterways, orchards, farms,” Yankee Magazine said. “Be alert for even the smallest moments of beauty.”
Here are Yankee Magazine’s picks for best Vermont places to visit in New England.
Shelburne Farms in Shelburne, VT
If you’re looking to walk through a paradise of color and warmth, this Yankee Magazine pick might be perfect for you.
What Yankee Magazine said about Shelburne Farms: “In a region of rocky soil and notoriously changeable weather, few things say resilience like gardens whose roots go back decades. Among New England’s horticultural gems are the gardens at Shelburne Farms, sited between Lake Champlain and the property’s 19th-century mansion turned inn. Created by the former lady of the manor, Lila O. Webb, they’ve been extensively restored—much to the delight of visitors to these verdant grounds more than a century onward.”
You can visit Shelburne Farms at 1611 Harbor Rd.
Burt Henry Covered Bridge in North Bennington, VT
Do you want to take your family out to a blast from the past? Then Yankee Magazine’s other Vermont pick for a best place to visit in New England might be for you.
What Yankee Magazine said about Burt Henry Covered Bridge: “Covered bridges weren’t built to star on calendars,” writes New Hampshire author Howard Mansfield in his 2016 book, Sheds. “They weren’t built to be pretty.” Yet the same structures that once were practical solutions to 19th-century problems—including this classic Town lattice truss bridge in North Bennington—are now scenic lures for 21st-century visitors.”
You can visit the Burt Henry Covered Bridge at 475 River Rd.
Rin Velasco is a trending reporter. She can be reached at rvelasco@gannett.com.
Vermont Green FC in USL League Two final: Maximilian Kissel winner
Maximilian Kissel played hero once more to lift Vermont Green FC to the USL League Two championship on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025.
The defending USL League Two champions, Vermont Green men’s team (2-0) returns to Virtue Field for the first time in the 2026 USL season on Friday against the Albany Rush (0-2).
The Vermont Green men’s team will play in front of another sold-out crowd after captivating the entire state during last year’s playoff run.
The Green enter the home opener undefeated after earning road wins against Seacoast United and Boston Bolts. Connor Miller has been an impactful new player for the Green, recording a goal and an assist in Vermont’s 4-1 win over Boston Bolts. The Cornell midfielder is the lone player to record multiple points for Vermont through two games.
For live updates from the Vermont Green men’s team’s home opener, see below. The most recent in-game updates will be displayed at the top:
Series history between Vermont Green and Albany Rush
These clubs will be meeting for the eighth time. Vermont leads the series 7-0. The Green won the team’s only meeting in 2025, 7-0, behind former captain Zach Zengue’s hat trick.
How to watch Vermont Green’s home opener?
If fans cannot make it to Virtue Field to watch from behind the north goal, the match will be streamed here. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
Contact Judith Altneu at JAltneu@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @Judith_Altneu.
ESSEX — Vermont musician Troy Millette has postponed plenty of concerts because of illness, family obligations or bad weather.
Rain, sure. But ravens? Never, at least not until this week.
Millette’s May 30 show, which was set to open the outdoor season on The Old Stage at the Essex Experience, has been pushed back because ravens are nesting in the rafters. State and federal rules restrict what people can do to disturb the nests of birds. Instead of beginning the season at the outdoor stage, Millette will now close it Sept. 25.
“Ironically, my mother is afraid of birds,” Millette told the Burlington Free Press on May 20, the day he learned his concert would be postponed.
He said he’s not scared of birds but is wary. Especially now.
Differences between ravens and crows
Ravens have a brooding reputation, due in part to Edgar Allan Poe and his macabre “nevermore” musings.
“A hummingbird would have never canceled the show,” Millette said.
Like crows, ravens are deep black in color and caw or croak. But there are, literally, big differences.
“You probably know that ravens are larger, the size of a red-tailed hawk,” reads an Audubon magazine article. “Ravens often travel in pairs, while crows are seen in larger groups.”
Millette and his band, the Fire Below, were to perform a night of ’90s country covers. Last year, he had sprinkled a few “ironically amazing” covers of “country gold” from the likes of Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney in sets of his original music. Venue runners liked what they heard and asked for more.
Ryan Clausen, the first drummer for the Fire Below, is music and events director of the Double E venue at the Essex Experience, a restaurant, shopping and entertainment complex owned by Peter Edelmann. Clausen sent a text last week asking Millette if he was afraid of birds.
Millette didn’t think a whole lot about it, but when Clausen reported that one young raven had still not left the nest, prospects for the show grew dimmer.
Country cover songs lose out to birds
Regulations restrict what can be done to remove bird nests.
“A person shall not take or willfully destroy the nests or eggs of wild birds, other than rock pigeons, house sparrows or European starlings, except when necessary to protect buildings and the nests to be removed contain no eggs or chicks and are no longer being used by birds for feeding,” one Vermont statute reads.
Ravens in particular are shielded by the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, said Joshua Morse, a spokesperson for the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department.
“Under this law, it is illegal to kill or move protected species without a permit from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service,” Morse told the Free Press by email.
Clausen noticed the nest well after last year’s summer concerts concluded at The Old Stage. “Once I saw that there were eggs in it,” he said, “there wasn’t much I could do.”
Clausen said state wildlife representatives told him the Essex Experience could either let the birds stay until they flew off — then wait a week to make sure they were gone — or pursue euthanizing the entire nest because of its impact on business.
“That made it a pretty easy call for us. We’re not going to do that,” Clausen said. “It would be so anti-everything that we stand for and what Peter stands for and Vermont stands for. If we can save the ravens, we’re going to do that.”
No one wanted to kill birds, Millette said, just so he and his band could cover “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy.”
Critters chewed through wiring
A May 21 visit to The Old Stage turned up a couple of ravens monitoring the action as well as twigs and several square feet of bird droppings atop the stage. Wires were dangling from the rafters of the barn-like structure.
“The ravens have chewed through a bunch of wiring,” Millette said. “There’s excrement everywhere.”
Ravens are territorial, he noted, so getting near the nest is risky.
He wonders if the big birds have it in for him, maybe because of his familial fear of feathered fauna.
“I feel like it’s a personal attack,” Millette said. “They wouldn’t have built a nest for a Ryan Sweezey show.”
If you go
Upcoming concerts on The Old Stage at the Essex Experience (at 7 p.m. unless noted otherwise) include:
- Friday, June 12, StevieMac: A Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks Experience. $30.
- Saturday, June 20, an evening with Quadra. $20.
- 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 1, the Lara Cwass Band. Free.
- 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 8, The Grift. Free.
- Friday, July 10, Spafford. $25.
- 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 15, the All Night Boogie Band. Free.
- Friday, July 17, the Grippo Funk Band featuring Jennifer Hartswick. $20.
- 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 22, Soul Porpoise featuring Dave Grippo and Geoff Kim with The Project. Free.
- Saturday, July 25, The Samples with Arty LaVigne & Friends. $25.
- 6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 2, Keller Williams’ Grateful Grass with Pappy Biondo of Cabinet. $35.
- Friday, Aug. 14, G. Love & Special Sauce with Dizzyisdead. $35-$135.
- Friday, Sept. 25, Troy Millette & the Fire Below play ‘90s country. $20.
- doubleevt.com
Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@burlingtonfreepress.com.
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