Vermont farms are still recovering from flooding as they enter the growing season

By LISA RATHKE
Associated Press

BERLIN, Vt. (AP) — Hundreds of Vermont farms are still recovering from July’s catastrophic flooding and other extreme weather as they head into this year’s growing season. Dog River Farm lost nearly all its produce crops in the summer flooding. The owner says they removed truckloads of river silt and sand from the fields but another round of flooding in December washed away more soils, wiped out the garlic crop and left behind more silt and several giant holes. A grassroots fundraising campaign called Dig Deep Vermont announced Wednesday that it’s giving out its first grants to 32 farms to help with some of those expenses. Vermont’s agriculture secretary says while the grants ranging from $200 to $1800 won’t make farms whole, they hopefully will help pay a bill or two.