Why Did This Farm Survive Vermont's Extreme Floods?

0:01 In July 2023, Vermont was hit with a couple days in a row

0:06 of just massive rain and there was flooding all over the state.

0:09 It was devastating.

0:11 Farms were hit with an extraordinary situation.

0:15 The conversation in the subsequent years has been a lot around how

0:19 do we deal with these heavy rains and a lot of water?

0:23 The healthier the soil,

0:24 the more resilient it is to handle extreme weather events.

0:27 Soil's truly at the baseline and the foundation of where

0:31 all life comes from and helping to encourage there

0:34 to be healthy soil feels like a top priority

0:37 and doing that in a way that is cyclical and regenerative.

0:41 (bright music) My name's Corie Pierce and I'm the owner of Bread& Butter Farm.

0:53 We got here in the fall of 2009.

0:55 We always imagined this place to be really multifaceted.

1:00 And honestly, the '23 floods showed us the resilience of just over

1:03 a decade's worth of doing the kind of work that we're doing.

1:09 When you're working to be a land steward on land

1:11 that has been conventionally managed and tilled for decades and decades

1:17 and soil compaction is huge and real and fertility is

1:21 low and all of that, you've gotta start with the soil.

1:24 You've gotta start by building back the soil

1:27 in order to do truly anything with that land.

1:31 Being tuned-in to what impacts soil health is the baseline

1:36 of where we try to learn and to think and make decisions.

1:42 The healthier the soil,

1:43 the more resilient it is to handle extreme weather events,

1:46 especially like heavy rain.

1:48 And so what happened in 2023 with the heavy rain events

1:51 was a real wake up call I think to a lot

1:54 of people because we were able to see where land was

1:58 resilient and was able to withstand the rain and where it wasn't.

2:06 If you're looking at a really healthy soil system,

2:09 you're seeing often dark organic matter.

2:12 You'll see that the soil is covered with plants growing over it.

2:16 You'll see roots moving through it, breaking any compaction that they come to.

2:19 You see little air pockets that are then made because

2:23 of that, that are contributing to spaces where both microbes can crawl and move.

2:28 And also where water will be able to infiltrate as we have

2:32 rain events as opposed to heavily compacted and not very healthy soil.

2:36 It's dry, it's hot.

2:38 There aren't plant roots in there.

2:40 The pore spaces have been collapsed with heavy compaction that might come

2:44 from machinery driving over it or even heavy foot traffic going over it.

2:49 Water will go quickly through the top bit and then it will

2:52 hit a point of compaction very quickly 'cause there aren't those pore spaces.

2:56 And so water's not able to move through many different plants.

2:59 Their tender little roots aren't able to move through.

3:02 And seeds that might be in the soil are unable to spring to life.

3:07 So our goal on all the land that we manage is to build healthy soil everywhere

3:12 and it's gonna look differently whether you're

3:14 in our pastures or whether you're in our gardens.

3:16 But the principles are similar.

3:21 Humans have obviously played a part

3:24 in creating environmental challenges that we face,

3:27 but I also think it's really important for humans to see themselves

3:31 as an integral and important part of the ecosystem and their relationship

3:37 to the land and to the plants and the animals

3:41 and the soil that we can have a really beautiful positive impact.

3:51 Here at the farm, we are trying to reimagine

3:54 what building community around the land can be.

3:58 Where are you guys from?

4:00 I think humans have disconnected a lot from the land

4:03 and also from where our food comes from.

4:05 So when I thought about having a farm that I was part of, I

4:08 really wanted to think about a way to bring the community to the farm too.

4:14 Our philosophy around farming is trying to mimic what we see that's

4:19 actually happening in the micro ecosystems that are all over this land,

4:23 while also making some choices to bring in some other new species,

4:26 whether it's trees or plants or animals.

4:29 So we're raising mixed vegetables and small fruits year round.

4:34 And we're also raising a cattle herd for beef and then

4:38 a small pig herd for educational purposes and also for their pork.

4:43 Not really piglets anymore.

4:45 Yeah.

4:50 (cows mooing)- Grasslands and pasture lands,

4:54 they are inextricably linked to the herbivores, the grazers of that area.

4:59 And we have sadly disconnected a lot of those relationships.

5:03 And so bringing back those animals is really

5:06 that first line of defense for building the soil.

5:11 So we're about to move the cattle

5:13 to the next paddock and they're moving anywhere from one

5:17 to eight times a day based on the cells

5:20 that we make or the little paddocks that we make.

5:23 And we're basically trying to mimic how this herd

5:26 would move if they were a wild herd.

5:28 So as a wild herd, they would be packed up together,

5:32 they'd be coming through and grazing and they'd basically be taking like

5:36 the top bite of grass and then trampling the rest of what's left over.

5:41 And their hooves would dig into the soil kind of pushing down what's left over,

5:46 almost like mulching it as they go.

5:49 So the relationship between the cattle and the grasses

5:52 is enhanced as they're able to work together essentially.

5:56 So the cattle are eating the grass and the grass is

5:59 able to respond to that disturbance and drive their roots deeper.

6:04 And as they poop and pee, the microbes are able to build soil more deeply

6:09 and the whole system is enhanced across the board.

6:13 We've seen tremendous increase in the biodiversity

6:17 and the water holding capacity and the organic matter in our soil in the years

6:20 that we've been grazing these animals in this way.

6:23 So all in all, that symbiosis is able to withstand then in more extreme weather

6:27 conditions like heavy rains because more water is

6:30 able to be absorbed by the sponge-like soil.

6:33 And more plants, more water is held and more plants are

6:37 only gonna be there if there's healthy, rich and deep soil.

6:42 So the farm's been here since 2009 and we've

6:45 gone from an average of three to five

6:47 species per acre in fields we did not seed at all to over 21 species per acre.

6:52 So if you think about biodiversity and relationships,

6:55 that is a dramatic increase.

6:57 All they're doing is living their lives and doing their thing.

6:59 And our job is to get outta the way as much as possible.

7:02 And it's really cool to see what they can

7:03 do when you just let them do what they do.

7:05 (bright music) (cows mooing)- So they're talking 'cause they know,

7:09 they see Brandon setting up the next line

7:11 so they know they're about to get fresh grass.

7:16 The moms are talking to their babies and telling 'em it's time to go.

7:21 (cows mooing) (crickets chirping) Rogue Kolorabi.

7:42 I say these look a little like aliens.

7:46 Fun root.

7:47 I just think they look like they've like levitated up out of the soil.

7:52 So this is what we call the Keyline Garden.

7:55 We've established the beds there.

7:57 This is a bed, that's a bed, here's a bed.

8:01 And the pads are permanently in these spots and we've intentionally planted all

8:06 of these beds section after section along the contour of this hillside here.

8:12 So the Keyline Garden is important in how

8:15 it's oriented on the contour of the land.

8:17 And the best way to think about that is that as heavy

8:20 rain hits the ridge of the land where the Keyline Garden is,

8:23 it will flow down the hillside there and then the natural

8:26 sort of flow will then spread it out along the whole garden.

8:30 These beds are kind of accepting that water and basically

8:33 able to soak up more and more and more as all

8:37 of the soil that you see right here is just so rich

8:41 and full of microbes and full of tons and tons of life.

8:45 The goal too with the soil is that we're disturbing it as little as possible.

8:51 So these lettuces will get harvested.

8:54 We'll leave behind a little root stump there and we just leave that and we

8:58 let the microbes just break that down and incorporate that back into the soil.

9:01 And then we can heavily mulch this with straw or hay

9:05 and then we'll plant the next crop right into that.

9:07 So it's basically just a continuous system.

9:11 If we think about soil like a giant sponge, you know,

9:14 if you have a nice giant sponge, you can soak up a lot more water.

9:20 So in the top six to 12 inches of healthy

9:23 soil with every 1% increase of soil organic matter,

9:26 the soil has the ability to then to hold

9:28 over 20,000 more additional gallons of water per acre.

9:32 And so if we have a big flood event and there's plants growing in that soil,

9:38 whether it's grasslands or whether it's our crops,

9:41 the amount of water that can be absorbed is just,

9:44 we can't even understand what that is.

9:46 It's just so much more than what we can think of.

9:50 If we have a field that has been heavily compacted over and over again,

9:55 there aren't roots holding that in place,

9:57 that is just literally gonna get washed away.

10:01 You're gonna get erosion, you're gonna get those gullies,

10:03 you're gonna get all this beautiful hard-earned top

10:06 soil that we've been working for just washed away.

10:09 So having plants and roots is the best.

10:12 Holding it all in.

10:13 And then when you can't have that, having that covered.

10:15 But we're pretty much like in a race all the time to plant this out.

10:19 So like this bed right here just got cleared out, just got harvested.

10:24 And now we're gonna either plant it again,

10:26 which we're kind of on the cusp of how much time before winter here we

10:30 can get a crop or we'll cover it with hay mulch and that will hold it.

10:35 That'll serve as that like holding it in place for the winter.

10:39 (bright music) We can walk together.

10:48 All right, let's go to the egg garden.

10:50 What's available?

10:53 This is the loofah.

10:56 Oh my gosh.

10:57 So see how it's, that one's squishy.

11:00 Like some of them are still super hard.

11:03 You can harvest them when they're green.

11:05 You just don't know if the sponge inside is gonna be fully developed.

11:08 Yeah.

11:09 What I've learned is that you can peel this back and that's the sponge, right?

11:13 Yeah.

11:13 But you first have to squeeze it all

11:16 out 'cause there's all this like fleshy stuff

11:18 that you want to get out of the sponge and then this will all have dried out.

11:22 And then you can just have this as sponges and you

11:25 don't have to buy petroleum based sponges or loofahs to exfoliate.

11:29 But I feel like the kids are gonna get thrilled about processing this.

11:37 Personally since starting the farm,

11:39 I've moved more and more towards the education side of what we're doing.

11:42 And I think a ton about how kids aren't as much as they were 20,

11:47 30, 40 years ago, just playing outside.

11:50 And just the challenge of competing with technology is really hard.

11:54 So the real challenge is like how do

11:56 you compel someone to step outside their house, to put the phone down,

12:00 to step away from the screen and just be there and just slow down?

12:05 The best kind of learning happens when you're doing

12:09 and when you're doing something that is purposeful and meaningful.

12:13 And I think for so many kids, not everybody,

12:16 but so many kids actually engaging with the land and animals,

12:20 it just feels so ripe for education here.

12:22 And obviously, the land in and of itself is like a giant

12:25 playground if you allow it to be for all ages, right?

12:28 But just continuing to be thoughtful and creative about all the ways to just

12:34 literally be outside and feel comfortable

12:36 and engaged and really just normalize it.

12:44 It's so beautiful.

12:45 All right.

12:45 you guys look up at the canopy.

12:50 (tarp whooshing) (water pattering) (birds chirping) I'm like a big believer,

13:02 especially in a small scale veg operation,

13:04 to do as much by hand as you can 'cause it

13:07 gives you the time to really actually look at your plants.

13:12 'Cause if you don't take that time, you miss a lot.

13:15 (bright music) What we're trying to do here is just being a prominent place

13:23 in our community for people to come in many different ways, as a customer,

13:27 as a kid coming to a program or coming

13:30 for a concert or event or whatever the entry point is,

13:33 being able to see people working

13:35 in agriculture I think is also really important.

13:38 'Cause you can come here and you're literally watching our crew go in and out

13:42 of the greenhouses and heading out to the pastures to move the cattle.

13:46 And it's not that often that you get to do that.

13:50 Her vision for this place was always to be a community farm.

13:52 And when I first heard her say that in the beginning,

13:55 I didn't totally know what that meant.

13:56 It sounded really nice to me 'cause I've always been drawn to community,

13:59 that word and that concept, what I feel and what I sensed from a lot

14:03 of people who step foot on this land and in this place,

14:05 it tends to feel like, oh, there's something happening here.

14:08 There's something a little bit different.

14:10 And that goes back to the power of an intention

14:12 and Corie's seed that was planted for that.

14:16 (bright music)- When I was a kid,

14:20 I always wondered why humans seemed like they needed so much

14:25 extra stuff as compared to every other animal that I saw.

14:32 And our needs as a species are pretty simple, right?

14:35 We need to be nourished, we need to have shelter,

14:38 we need to have love in our lives.

14:41 And how do you get that, where do you get that?

14:43 You literally get that from the land and from how

14:46 the land supports all of us around that.

14:49 And so the work needs to be done to grow the food.

14:53 The work needs to be done to take care of the land.

14:55 The work needs to be done to take care of the kids,

14:58 the elders and everybody in between.

15:02 Land-based work has become so uncommon, which is crazy, right?

15:07 And so how do we make it more common again?

15:10 And at the heart of it all is that community.

15:15 Tending to land and tending to each other and tending

15:18 to kids require a lot of people and a lot of perspectives.

15:22 Just even asking the question, what does it even mean to be a land steward?

15:26 You know, I think we should all think about that.

15:28 'Cause otherwise it's sort of like, oh,

15:30 I'm not a land steward so I don't really think about it.

15:33 I don't care, you know, we can pave this over.

15:36 And you know, it's just like, that's a lot of where that disconnect happens.

15:41 So taking that responsibility and hoping that everybody

15:45 can take some amount of responsibility to the land,

15:47 to the oceans, to the waterways, to the whole thing, feels really important.

15:52 (bright music) (birds chirping) (light upbeat music)♪ The land which

16:09 we stand♪♪ Is the only thing we have♪♪ That can

16:14 withstand the weight of our lives♪♪ So learn to treat

16:22 land like treat your own two hands♪♪ Honor its strength,

16:29 cherish the gifts it holds♪♪ Honor its strength,

16:36 cherish the gifts it holds♪ (audience applauding)- [Artist] Thank you.