Four Farms Collaborate for a Resilient Future

Avery MacLean, NOFA-VT Local Food Access Coordinator

November 11, 2026

What is possible when four farms pool their Resilience Grant resources? For Cloud Water Farm, Bear Roots Farm, Martin Family Farm, and Mad River Botanicals, the answer is a whole lot of earth-moving and a stronger ability to adapt to a changing climate.

As Resilience Grant awardees, these four farms came together to purchase a used excavator in 2025, creating a shared resource to help them respond to increasingly unpredictable weather. Each farm has experienced the impacts of both drought and excessive rainfall in recent years, making thoughtful water management and land improvements an important part of preparing for the seasons ahead.

a shared excavator purchased by four farms through a collaborative resilience grant is seen at Cloud Water Farm in peak summer

Since purchasing the excavator, the farms have taken turns putting it to work restoring stream berms, building swales, installing frost-free hydrants, and making a range of other improvements to their land and infrastructure. This summer, during a visit to Bear Roots Farm and its retail store, The Roots Farm Market, we got to see firsthand how the excavator was used for an earthworks project that helped farmers Karin Bellemare and Jon Wagner expand the market's physical footprint. The Roots Farm Market provides an outlet for Jon and Karin to sell much of their organically grown produce and perennial starts, alongside products from other Vermont growers, makers, artists, and bakers. Having access to the excavator allowed Karin and Jon to complete this expansion of their growing and marketing infrastructure without having to outsource the work.

The Roots Market, Bear Roots Farm's retail shop, is seen from the parking lot, decorated with hanging baskets of flowers, flats of seedlings out on pallets, and a flag hanging from the corner reading "open"

Collective ownership of the excavator offers benefits beyond the projects themselves. Each farm has greater autonomy over when and how to complete important improvements, while sharing the costs and responsibilities of equipment maintenance and repairs. By investing together, these farms have made a significant piece of equipment more accessible and built a resource they can rely on to support their individual operations for years to come.

The sitework at the Roots Farm Market made possible by the shared excavator included leveling a large section of land behind the old footprint of the store to make room for a retail plant nursery and outdoor customer seating area. — The "before" photo shows the earthwork made possible by the shared excavator at The Roots Farm Market, as they leveled and prepared the ground behind the market to make way for a retail perennial plant shop.

The "after" photo, showing the completed expansion project at The Roots Farm Market with a large outdoor retail area filled with perennial plant starts. Bear Roots Farm & the Roots Farm Market Owner Karin Karin Bellemare is shown chatting with a customer — The "after" photo shows a thriving perennial plant retail shop adjacent to The Roots Farm Market

Applications for NOFA-VT’s Farmer Resilience Grants are currently open through December 15th. Find the online application and scoring rubric on our webpage, and reach out to Avery at [email protected] with any questions.