Sustainable Farming & Foods

Weekly Events & Opportunities

 

Nebraska Young Farmer Night

August 13th. Hastings. Join Hannah and Will, 2nd Year Beginner Farmers in Hastings, Nebraska, for a Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society sponsored evening of farming! We'll have a potluck meal at the farm, tour around our 1.5 acre farm, and talk about the rewards and struggles of being a beginner farmer and the 2013 growing season thus far. Our farm supplies a 50-family CSA share program, as well as a weekly attendance at our local farmer's market in Hastings, Nebraska at the Highland Park Farmers' Market. We are located in a town of only 25,000, but we aim to prove that even in relatively rural communities, people are dedicated to supporting the growth of local food systems. We welcome anyone that would like to come out! For more details and to rsvp  Learn more about 26th Street Farm

6th Annual Rangeland Management Workshop

Friday, August 16. Broken Bow. For more tour details and to register, please visit: www.NebraskaPF.com or call 308-850-8409

From Recipe to Reality

Friday, August 16. Lincoln. This one-day seminar is the first step in developing a food business.  See http://bit.ly/Vk0mPG for more info.

Cover Crop, Organic Farm Tour 

August 17. Bruno. Interested in adding a cover crop to your crop rotation?  Reducing your cost on inputs?  Learn more about adding cover crops into your cropping system. Find out what cover crops grow in eastern Nebraska.  When to plant them and find out how they are used for weed management, increase soil moisture and fertility and extend livestock feed reducing your need to buy hay.  University of Nebraska (UNL) on-farm research projects: use of a roller crimper and weed flamer to manage weeds and a three year Nutrient Management Study that evaluated his system of green manure/cover crop and animal manure use. Families are welcomed; the meal is free.  Call Wendy @ 402- 584-3837 to reserve your meal.

WEI's 2013 Organic Farm School - "The Future of the Good Food Revolution"

August 12. Minneapolis, MN. Will Allen (CEO and Founder of Growing Power Milwaukee). Learn more at on-site workshops, field days, and urban farming projects. Join the new farm-for-food synergy. Click here for more information.  http://www.w-e-i.org/2013-organic-farm-school?__hstc=220621255.f32ff00f64196b2d145def835d13caa6.1375092686942.1375698938824.1376302862228.3&__hssc=220621255.1.1376302862228

Livestock and Pig Yurt Project Field Day 

August 15. ISU Allee Research and Demonstration Farm. Newell, IA. Researchers have custom-fitted a large round tent, also called a yurt, to farrow sows and their newborn pigs at the ISU Allee Research and Demonstration Farm near Newell in northwest Iowa. The farm is hosting a field day to share first-year results from the yurt project, funded by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, and other work that explores livestock production for niche markets.Click here for more information. http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/07-22-2013/livestock-field-day-features-niche-markets-and-yurt?__hstc=220621255.f32ff00f64196b2d145def835d13caa6.1375092686942.1375698938824.1376302862228.3&__hssc=220621255.1.1376302862228

International Quinoa Research Symposium 2013

August 12-14. Pullman, Washington and online. The USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, in partnership with Washington State University, has announced the upcoming International Quinoa Research Symposium. Researchers from around the world will be hosted by Washington State University. The symposium will include hands-on demonstrations at area field trials, current research, and will coincide with the United Nations, International Year of the Quinoa (IYQ). eOrganic will be on site at the symposium, airing selected presentations from the program online live as they happen. Register for the live broadcast and find out more information about the presentations http://www.extension.org/pages/68467

America's Grasslands: The Future of Grasslands in a Changing Landscape

August 12-14. Manhattan, Kansas. National Wildlife Federation and Kansas State University are sponsoring a conference that will bring together researchers, natural resource professionals, farmers and ranchers, policy experts, and conservationists to discuss the conservation of North America's grasslands and the opportunities and outlook for these vital ecosystems in a changing landscape. The conference begins with a day of optional field trips to Kansas grasslands. http://grownative.org/events/2nd-americas-grasslands-conference/

Why and What You Need to Know About the Food Safety Modernization Act

August 13. Online. American Farmland Trust invites you to join them for a discussion about two rules that have recently been released by the Food and Drug Administration: the Produce Rule, which governs farm practices, and the Preventative Control Rule, which addresses how food is handled once it leaves the farm. Learn how these rules may affect your farm, your business, your food purchasing decisions or the region's farm economy and environment—and how you can take action to be sure your voice is heard. https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/308684314

Food Hub Benchmarking Study Webinar

August 15. The National Good Food Network Food Hub Collaboration, including Farm Credit Council, Farm Credit East, Morse Marketing Connections, and the Wallace Center have performed the first-ever food hub benchmarking study, looking at key financial metrics to understand the health of food hubs across the US. This webinar presents the results and interpretations of this study.  https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/354071410

Aquaponics: Paradigm Shift with Airlift Pumps Part 2

August 12th. 10am HST. In an attempt to promote and improve the economics, safety and security of our aquaponic systems we started developing efficient airlift-pumping technology that will replace both water pumps and air pumps that were dedicated only to air stones. In the “Aquaponics: New Paradigm Shift with Airlift” webinars hosts by the eXtension community, we wish to present a variety of airlift pumping systems that can be used for aquaponics, backyard and commercial farming. During our presentation on August 12, 2013 we will go through the various airlift pump systems that were developed by Glenn Martinez of Olomana Garden and we’ll concentrate then on the “How To” of one particular system. Tetsuzan Benny Ron,PhD, is from the University of Hawai’i. The May 30 Introduction to Aquaponics: Paradigm Shift with Airlift recording is available online,http://www.extension.org/68223.  https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/freshwater

Management of Tree Squirrels

August 16th. 11am. This webinar will review the biology, damage and its identification, and control methods for handling conflicts with gray, fox, flying, and red squirrels. Learn about habitat modification, exclusion, repellents, frightening devices, shooting, and trapping. Stephen Vantassel is the project coordinator of Wildlife Damage Management for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln School of Natural Resources. https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/wildlifedmg

High Plains Advanced Cropping School - Sugarbeets 

Thursday, August 15th. Friday, August 16th. The school is an in-depth, field-oriented, hands-on workshop designed to teach the management of sugarbeet production, including the diagnosis of production problems in the western Great Plains and regions of the Rocky Mountains. Special emphasis will be placed on stress-related problems that can cause yield reduction. Both days' sessions begin and end at the Hampton Inn in Scottsbluff. Participants will be transported by bus to field sessions at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center. Register on-line at: http://go.unl.edu/croppingschool

Nebraska Grazing Conference

August 13 – 14. Kearney. See grassland.unl.edu for more information.

Legal and Financial Clinic

Wednesday, August 14. Mead. Call the Farm Hotline at 800-464-0258 to sign up.

Landowner Habitat Tour

Thursday, August 15. O'Neill. Landowner Habitat Tour: Upgrading & Managing CRP for Grassland Birds, Pollinator Habitat & Plant ID Tour.  For more tour details and to register, please visit: www.NebraskaPF.com or call 308-850-8408

Opportunities

Edible Omaha Opportunity

NSAS is offering farmers and business an opportunity to collaborate and show their support for local foods and sustainable agriculture. 

The Sustainable Agriculture Page will begin appearing this Fall in the Edible Omaha's Fall issue.  Edible Omaha's distribution is over 100,000 magazines per issue.  The Sustainable Agriculture Page will be highlighted on the back page cover of issues beginning this Fall through the Fall of 2014.  NSAS will be coordinating the farmers & businesses and their ads for the page. To be able to do this page there will need to be 40 farmers & businesses commit to a full year of advertising. Farms, individuals, businesses and organizations are invited to participate

Ad size: 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch 

Rates:

NSAS Members, $65/issue for a total of $260 of advertising in Edible Omaha for the year

Non-NSAS Members, $75/issue for a total of $300 of advertising in Edible Omaha for the year

Farmers & Businesses interested in this project should contact jessica.jones@unl.edu by August 15th.

Young Suffolk Breeding Ewes

My barn was destroyed in Tuesdays storm and I need to disperse most of my flock.  I have 5 ewes between 1 and 4 years old that are very nice and usually produce twins or triplets. I need to get them sold soon as I cannot get the barn taken down and replaced until they are gone.  I am offering them for $75 each to avoid taking them to the sale barn.  Myrna Brown 402-426-5349 or 402-620-8999.

Refrigerated Trailer

I need to purchase a small refrigerated trailer. Any suggestions on where to get one? Something small enough a small pickup/SUV could pull it without a problem.  jkyoachim@gmail.com

Upcoming

Flame Weeding - Workshop 

August 21. University of Nebraksa. Concord. Propane fueled Flame Weeding is an acceptable method of weed (pest) control in organic farming, which is also gaining interest among conventional producers due to increase in weed resistance and costs of GMO crop seeds.   We will present results from the 6-years of research conducted by the Teams of Dr. Stevan Knezevic (Weed Science) and Dr. George Gogos (Mechanical Engineering). This work is also documented in about 20 scientific publications, 100 abstracts presented at many Regional, National and International meetings, and a patent for flaming equipment. Click here to download more information. http://mosesorganic.org/attachments/events/8.21flameweeding.pdf