October 16, 2025
Jesse and Stephanie Wilbur are planning for a future when their daughter joins the family farm to kick off the next generation of Lazy Dog Farm, an organic dairy farm in Orwell. But this year’s drought has put the family’s expansion plans on hold. “Instead of growing,” Jesse said, “we’ve had to contract.”
The Wilburs are among the many farmers impacted by Vermont’s historic drought. Even as they navigate the daily stress of farming through a drought, they’re also working to raise awareness about what farmers are facing and how the Farm Security Fund is a necessary support for farm viability.
Jesse worked with NOFA-VT to invite Addison County legislators, congressional staff, and representatives from VAAFM to Lazy Dog Farm last Friday to witness the impacts of Vermont’s historic drought and to help ensure that support is right-sized. Jesse and three of his farmer neighbors—grassfed beef producer Josh Lucas of Lucas Family Farms, Jon Lucas of Lucas Dairy Farm, and Kylie Quesnel Chittenden of Richville Farms—shared their experiences caring for animals and building soil resilience. As Jon said, “We just needed rain, and we can’t make it rain.” They all recounted some of the difficult and costly decisions they’ve faced to get through the drought.
Jesse also led participants on a farm tour. He has been partnering with UVM Extension to explore ways to maximize nutrient absorption. He and Grazing Specialist Carly Bass showed participants how Jesse’s farming practices have bolstered soil health and resilience. In a year with closer-to-average rainfall, these efforts would prevent erosion and compaction and keep the nutrients that the cows need for milk production in the soil. But this year, even these efforts haven’t been enough to overcome the historic drought—and farmers are concerned about next year’s feed, too.
Farmers plan for extreme weather every day, but the events we’re seeing now are sometimes at a scale that’s unmanageable. Jesse’s gathering highlighted the need for the Farm Security Fund. Included in both the Vermont Climate Impact Report and the Resilience Implementation Strategy, the Farm Security Fund is a systemic solution that keeps farmers farming through climate extremes. It’s a way Vermont can step up while the federal government isn’t.
We are grateful that Representative Robin Scheu, Senator Steve Heffernan, Ryan McLaren from Senator Welch’s office, and representatives from VAAFM (Steve Dwinell, Public Health and Ag Resource Management Division Director; Tucker Diego, Food Safety & Consumer Protection Division Director) were able to join us for this tour, and we hope it supports their important work of ensuring Vermont’s resilience.
If you’d like to be involved in the work to advance a Farm Security Fund, contact Jess at [email protected]
