Farmland and forests produce the essentials of life, from the food on our tables to clean water and air. In PEC’s nine-county area, approximately 200,000 acres of farmland and 198,000 acres of forests are protected through private, voluntary land conservation.
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Expanding Beef Cattle Profitability in VA’s Northern Piedmont
Currently: • Most weaned and backgrounded calves leave the state for fattening in out-of-state feedlots. • A small percentage of calves are kept as stockers before shipping to out-of-state feedlots. • Most cow-calf operations take …
Loudoun Farm Incubator
The concept of incubators to launch new farm businesses has been developing in the sustainable agriculture community for years. Veteran agriculturalists understand that, much like a successful farm business, a successful farmer incubator requires very …
Defining our Food Labels
When talking about our food, we constantly hear terms like ‘organic’, ‘local’, ‘free-range’, and ‘grass-fed.’ These labels are meant to guide consumers’ food purchasing decisions by offering information on the farming methods used to grow …
Discovering Local Food
In my role as the Buy Fresh Buy Local Coordinator for The Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC), local food is an everyday topic of conversation. From broader discussions on how to encourage larger institutions to purchase …
Buy Fresh Buy Local Work Session
Piedmont Environmental Council has been a Buy Fresh Buy Local (BFBL) chapter coordinator since 2007. Over that time, our three BFBL chapters have grown to include over 600 farms, farmers’ markets, retailers, restaurants, wineries, and …
Planet Earth Diversified
You might think it unlikely that a farmer as grounded as Michael Clark of Planet Earth Diversified would get his inspiration from the spaceship Apollo 13. But if you take a tour of his farm, …
Pannill’s Gate Farm
“Come ‘ere babies, who’s gonna come visit?” Patty Johnson calls out as we climb the fence into the field at Pannill’s Gate farm near Culpeper, Virginia. The cows regard her carefully, presumably weighing their chances …
Fabbioli Cellars
For Doug Fabbioli of Fabbioli Cellars in Leesburg, growing his winery and his vines in a way that is environmentally and economically sustainable is a center point of his business philosophy. “Honestly,” he says, “environmental …
Croftburn Farm
At Croftburn Farm, flocks of sheep and herds of cattle graze in wide green pastures on either side of Route 3, just outside of the Town of Culpeper—so the farm offers local residents both pastoral …
The Piedmont Environmental Council is a partner of the Virginia Soil Health Coalition. We support the 4 core principles of soil health management: Keep Soil Covered; Minimize Soil Disturbance; Maximize Living Roots; and, Energize with Diversity. Join the movement today at 4thesoil.org.