New England legal school to found agricultural center

The Vermont Law School is opening an agricultural center.
The Vermont Law School is opening an agricultural center.
A planned center at the Vermont Law School may act as a resource for farm equipment users.

The school said it will open the Center for Agriculture next spring. The facility is expected to be a resource for a variety of groups, including farmers, agencies, and advocates.

Professor Marc Mihaly, head of VLS's Environmental Law Center, noted the state is a leader in trying to develop efforts toward sustainable agriculture.

"Vermont Law School is the ideal place to initiate this effort," Mihaly said of the Center for Agriculture.

Both legal and policy issues will be topics examined by the center, as will the regulation of food, the Farm Bill, community-based agriculture and energy-efficient production methods.

Along with the center, the VLS recently published a handbook for farmers who are looking for energy self-reliance. More than 4,000 producers across the nation got a copy of the instructional materials.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is forwarding its own efforts to encourage environmentally friendly agricultural production. Along with maintaining conservation spaces, it provides grants for farmers looking to make their operations more energy efficient.