Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, where Sustainability Matters began, is rooted in agriculture. Many families have worked their land across generations, while other landowners relocated here from crowded cities, drawn by the region’s peace and natural beauty. Both “from heres” and “come heres” care about the land, but they don’t face the same constraints, or, often, use the same words to express their values.
Supporting farmers
& landowners
Building bridges
When Sustainability Matters began our work here four years ago, we faced a long cultural history of misunderstanding and distrust between conservationists and farmers. We’ve been overcoming that by putting in the work to understand the needs and realities of all landowners, whether, as one of our friends at the USDA puts it, they’re “farming for money” or “farming with money.” Whether they own a 500-acre farm or 5 acres of forest and meadow, we offer all landowners relevant knowledge and concrete resources to improve the health of their land. Together, we’re finding sustainable, impactful solutions.
Many of our programs are held in partnership with state and federal agencies serving both agricultural and non-agricultural landowners, enabling the agencies to publicize valuable programs and share expertise to far larger audiences than their own marketing can normally reach. Examples include some of the initiatives listed below, as well as events like Virginia’s first large-scale public forums on spotted lanternfly (the new invasive insect threatening crops statewide) and webinars on riparian buffer management.
We’ve also conducted programs to foster understanding between farmers and town dwellers in areas where rapid development is overtaking agriculture, such as workshops bringing suburban residents onto local farms, where they learn about farming and the value of sustainably sourced local food.
Below are highlights from a few of our farm-and landowner-focused programs.
Get Paid to Go Green
A familiar refrain from landowners, especially those who earn a living from their land, is “I can’t afford conservation.” Some are aware of state and federal cost-share programs providing up to 100% of the costs of conservation practices like riparian buffer planting, pollinator meadows, and fencing livestock out of streams, but are daunted by the maze of government bureaucracy. Other landowners don’t even know these programs exist. Our Get Paid to Go Green series, held both in-person and via webinars, connects landowners with funders from agencies including the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and Farm Service Agency, Virginia Department of Forestry, Virginia Soil & Water Conservation Districts, and Virginia Cooperative Extension. We ensure the agencies’ information is clear and easily digestible. Crucially, each Get Paid to Go Green program also includes presentations (and farm tours, when in person) from attendees’ peers, discussing honestly their own experiences as cost-share program clients. The peer-to-peer approach pays off: 85% of participants from in-person Get Paid to Go Green sessions have scheduled agency site visits (the first step in entering into conservation funding contracts), while live presentation of the webinar linked above drew over 300 farm households nationwide, representing a total of more than 110,000 acres of land under management.
Grower to Grower
Sustainability Matters’ first ag-focused program, Grower to Grower, began in early 2019 as a peer support group for small commercial produce growers devastated by an extremely rainy, crop-submerging growing season. Commercial growers of all sizes soon joined in, as did produce buyers in search of new suppliers, Extension agents, and farm lenders. Deals were made, and friendships and mentorships established, creating an essential support structure for what can be a very lonely profession. After a pandemic-induced hiatus, Grower to Grower is now back, in partnership with one of the region’s most influential local produce buyers, Harrisonburg’s Friendly City Food Co-op.
This seven part video series follows Shenandoah Valley landowners Ali & Jeff Carithers and the flora and fauna of their Spring House Farms prairie restoration habitat throughout an entire season. Aimed at landowners, the series educates about native meadows, plant and insect identification, and conservation strategies. Viewed over 5,000 times across multiple social media platforms, Native Virginia Now’s informational content and humor have inspired landowners throughout the mid-Atlantic and garnered fans from as meadow-improbable locations as Harlem. We’re working on a how-to sequel, “Native Virginia HOW”.
See the full Native Virginia Now playlist, or check out a couple of our favorite episodes, in which Ali meets an ungrateful pollinator, and she and Jeff offer lifestyle tips for unwinding after a long day of habitat restoration.