Photo by Lou Varricchio
One of the irrigation ponds installed on the Mt. Philo Hops farm in Charlotte.
CHARLOTTE | A group of neighbors abutting what will become the largest commercial hop farming operation in Vermont are continuing their opposition to a planned 59.1 acre commercial hop farm.
Residents near the farm let their opinion be heard at a Selectboard meeting Aug. 28.
The new hops business, Mt. Philo Hops, is located west of the intersection of U.S. Route 7 and East Thompson’s Point Road in Charlotte.
Organic wheat farmer Peter Demick, one of the neighbors involved in the dispute, sees the Mt. Philo Hops undertaking as one wealthy man’s rash move to cash in on the microbrew-beer fad.
New York businessman Peter Briggs (not related to Addison County dairy farmer and past state senate candidate Peter Briggs) purchased the farmland from Clark Hinsdale to start Mt. Philo Hops.
Even as Briggs prepares 35 acres of the 59.1-acre parcel for the spring 2018 planting of the tall-climbing hop vines, neighbors are organized to protest the effort. They say the non-organic farm will use pesticides and herbicides typical of other hop yards in the Northeast.
Demick, a member of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont, grows organic wheat in an adjoining field for the Nitty Gritty Grain Co. of Charlotte. He also works as a master stone mason with Vermont Walkways and Stone Preservation.
“Hop yards are typically sited in remote places away from residential areas because of the heavy spraying and water requirements. Mr. Briggs couldn’t have a picked a less desirable place for growing commercial hops.”
Demick began organizing with surrounding neighbors to stop the agricultural project. Among his concerns are the possible negative effects on wildlife and the fear that toxic runoff from pesticide and fungicide spraying will affect the watershed of nearby Thorpe Brook, as well as the hop farm’s own irrigation catch ponds.
A letter to the Charlotte Selectboard signed by Demick and 28 other individuals living in the farm’s vicinity cites water quality as a top worry. “The hops operation will use pesticides for disease and pest control. Many of the pesticides approved for hops are toxic to aquatic life, according to the EPA labels. It is possible and likely that the irrigation pond water will accumulate and concentrate pesticide residues over time which would end up directly discharging to (nearby) Thorpe Brook when the pond reaches capacity. The Charlotte Town Plan values Thorpe Brook as Significant Wildlife Habitat as designated by both the town and State of Vermont, and supports protection from contamination of this important natural resource.”
While Demick concedes that Briggs’ hops operation fits the agricultural zone in which it is being laid out, he insists that it is not appropriate to be so close to the many residences in the area.
Neighbors have told town officials that the hop yard trellis structures might trigger an Act 250 review. They also asked the state to conduct water quality and soil tests for future use of pesticides.
Linda Samter, another neighbor opposing the project, said she contacted the Vermont Land Trust and Agency of Agriculture about the hop farm, and has asked the planning commission to review the hops farm as it relates to “residential, scenic and water quality resources.”
