By Scott Waterman, VT Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets
In early 2024, inspired by the Vermont Urban & Community Forestry Program’s "Growing Art" contest, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets decided to launch a kids art effort of their own. The "Vermont Agriculture Art Contest" was born, with the goal of reaching Vermont school children from kindergarten to 4th grade. Teachers in classrooms across Vermont were asked to share the opportunity with their students to create artwork depicting scenes of Vermont agriculture.
The outreach was well received, with 300 entries from 18 Vermont schools submitted. Kids from kindergarten to 4th grade created wonderful works of art that show various scenes of Vermont's agricultural world, and how important our farmers, animals, crops, food and farm life is to many of our families and kids who live here.
From those entries, 15 were selected by a panel of judges to be incorporated into the 2025 Vermont Agriculture Kids Calendar! While difficult to choose, the 15 submissions that were selected captured 3 from each grade to represent their class. All of the entries have been uploaded and showcased on our website (see below) to emphasize that ALL of the art the Agency received is wonderfully creative, thoughtful and valued.
To see the calendar and download a file for you to print your own, visit here: https://agriculture.vermont.gov/2025-vermont-agriculture-kids-calendar
With this first edition of the Vermont Agriculture Kids Calendar under their belts, the Agency looks forward to next year. If you would like to be on the mailing list for notifications about this contest, you may call Terry Smith at 802-828-5667 or send an email to AGR.ColoringContest@vermont.gov