Our mission is to use agritech to strengthen small farms, enabling them to confront the climate crisis.

Our Story

The Agritech Institute draws inspiration, and seed funding, from Strolling of the Heifers in Brattleboro Vermont. Strolling has a twenty-year history of supporting a variety of initiatives to connect people with healthy foods produced by local farmers. The Strolling Board has similarly established the new Institute, incorporating now also the associated mission of enabling the use of innovative agritech tools by local small farm communities, to help achieve the objective of locally produced health foods.

Orly Munzing, founder and long-time executive director of the iconic Stroll, was a key catalyst and remains an ardent advocate for the new Institute. Roger Allbee, Strolling's Chair, and Dan Smith, long-time collaborator with Roger, are the start up team pursuing the daily work needed to launch the new, part think-tank, part small farm accelerator.

Meet the Team

Our three central goals:

 

1. Farm Viability

Empower small farmers to use advanced agricultural technology (agritech) tools to improve their financial viability.

2. Farm Operations

Use agritech tools to improve land use and farm operations, better positioning small farms to fight climate change and adapt to a changing farm landscape.

3. Climate

Embrace small farms as climate change mitigation solutions, achieving measurable carbon sequestration, improved water quality and soil health through sustainable practices.

 
 

Central working elements:

 

1. Academic research

Through research and partnerships, we analyze agritech use.

2. On-farm applied research

Starting with small dairy farms in Vermont, we measure and record the ways in which agritech benefits small farm operation.

3. Measurable Outcomes

We will measure and document improved farm viability and environmental performance.

 

All of this work will be done in collaboration with like-minded organizations in Vermont and beyond. Read about our collaborations here.