Working Lands Enterprise Initiative Opens Business Enhancement Grant Applications

Oct 28, 2024

The Working Lands Enterprise Initiative (WLEI) is opening applications for the Business Enhancement Grant. This grant is open to Vermont working lands businesses/organizations, which include farms producing food and fiber, as well as forest products businesses. Some food businesses/organizations, as well as agriculture or wood processing and/or distribution businesses can be eligible if they meet certain requirements for local sourcing of raw ingredients or product.

Applicants can apply for grants $10,000 to $50,000 grants. This year, there is no match requirement for this grant.

The application portal is open now through December 12^th, 2024. A recorded applicant webinar is available to assist in the application process here. There will also be weekly virtual drop-in Q&A sessions throughout the application period. Applicants will be notified of award decisions in late February 2024, and projects can begin in April 2025.

Eligible project types are:

Infrastructure development
Market development
Research and development
Workforce training and development

More details about the Business Enhancement Grant, including full eligibility criteria and weekly Q&A information, can be found at: FY25 Working Lands Business Enhancement Grant.

Any food, processing, or distribution applicant must make their Vermont product sourcing clear in the application.

The Working Lands Enterprise Initiative (WLEI) and governing board (WLEB) were created in 2012. WLEB’s vision is that our shared working landscape is the foundation of Vermont’s evolving culture, vibrant economies, healthy ecosystems, and sense of place. WLEB’s mission is to make strategic investments and develop policy recommendations that support a sustainable farm, food, and forest economy in Vermont.

For questions regarding WLEI grant opportunities, please contact:

Clare Salerno | Program Coordinator | Working Lands Enterprise Initiative

clare.salerno@vermont.gov | 802-917-2637

Please follow @vtworkinglands and sign up for the VT Ag Bulletin for updates and application announcements.

Source : vermont.gov

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.