Weekly Events & Opportunities in Sustainable Farming & Foods

Tweet Chat - Managing Drought

September 24th. 3pm Central. Join the Extension Disaster Education Network for a one-hour tweet chat, a chance to share resources that can help people and communities respond to an ongoing drought or reduce vulnerability to a future drought. Co-hosts are New Mexico State University Extension, the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and the National Integrated Drought Information System. The chat starts at 3 p.m. Central, 2 p.m. Mountain time. Presenters, Virginia White, H. Marissa Stone, Jerri Caldwell Hammonds, Abby Hostetler, Sonja Koukel, Tom Dean. Event Location, http://twubs.com/drought

Fall 2013 Grassland Seminar Series

Monday, September 23rd. 3:00 pm-4:00 pm. Ben Mullarkey, Nebraska Audubon, will speak on “Tallgrass Prairie: Community, Connection, Conservation.” Additional Public Info: Free and open to the public. http://grassland.unl.edu/upcoming-seminars

NaturePalooza

Tuesday, September 24th. 3:00 pm-8:00 pm. The School of Natural Resources is sponsoring activities and games that will help visitors better understand Nebraska's rich natural resources and ways to help protect them through discovery and hands-on activities at stations staffed by the school's faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students. Featured exhibitors and presenters include, Dennis Ferraro with Snakes of Nebraska, Wildlife Encounters, Raptor Recovery, and the String Beans.   Additional Public Info: The event is free and open to the public. Free parking will be available in the lots surrounding Hardin Hall

Greener Nebraska Towns

Presentations, Demonstrations & Tours. Wednesday, September 25th. 8:30 am-4:00 pm. An all-day conference in Chadron aims to help communities improve their planted landscapes. This Greener Nebraska Towns and ReTree Nebraska event includes presentations, demonstrations and tours. The conference will take place at Chadron State College, Kenwood School and other sites throughout Chadron.

SNR Research Seminar

Wednesday, September 25th. 3:30 pm-4:30 pm. Dr. Don Wilhite, Professor Applied Climate Scientist in the School of Natural Resources will present a seminar entitled "The Applied Climate Science in SNR: Past, Current, and Future." Website: http://snr.unl.edu/aboutus/when/seminarseries.asp?seminarseriesid=22#seminar3

Nebraska Prairies - in Words, Stories and Images

Friday, September 27th. 7:00 pm-8:30 pm. Drawing attention to Nebraska’s complex and beautiful prairie ecosystems will be the focus of prairie ecologist and author Chris Helzer’s presentation in Lincoln, Sept. 27. His presentation, titled “The Complexity and Resilience of Nebraska’s Prairies,” is part of the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum’s Young Memorial Lecture series. Advanced tickets are available online at http://nsaplants.org/classes-tickets/tickets.html or by calling the Arboretum office at 402.472.2971.

Plant Science Symposium 2013 

Transforming Agriculture through the Epigenome. Thursday, September 26th. 8:00 am-4:30 pm. Featured Speakers: David Baulcombe, University of Cambridge. Elizabeth Dennis, CSIRO, Australia. Hailing Jin, University of California-Riverside. Craig Pikaard, Indiana University. Daniel Zilberman, University of California-Berkley. Additional Public Info: Registration opens at 8:00 a.m. Symposium begins at 9:00 a.m. Register: www.unl.edu/psi

Geography General Seminar

Friday, September 27th. 2:00 pm-3:50 pm. Mikal Stewart, PhD Candidate in Geography at UNL will be presenting a seminar entitled "Hunger in Nebraska: Locating the Children and Elderly Most as Risk." Website: http://snr.unl.edu/aboutus/when/seminarseries.asp?seminarseriesid=24#seminar3

Eggplant Seed Saving Webinar

September 23. Join Seed Savers Exchange for this webinar to learn how you can grow and maintain many different varieties of eggplant in your own backyard. http://seedsavers.us1.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=4474a76b0fe1edee871ccdcee&id=d258f7be57

Using Cover Crops in Vegetable Production Systems

September 25. Online. This webinar sponsored by the USDA NRCS East National Technology Support Center will increase knowledge of high residue cover cropping systems in vegetable production. Dr. Danielle Treadwell of University of Florida and Stuart Weiss of the University of the Virgin Islands have been studying the effects of cover crop management practices on vegetable systems. They will discuss the best seasonal opportunities to integrate covers in vegetable systems, criteria for cover crop species selection, and methods to optimize benefits through innovative planting and termination. http://www.conservationwebinars.net/webinars/cover-crops-in-vegetable-production-systems

Beginning Farmer and Rancher Call: Pricing & Marketing for Local Food Markets

September 26. Teleconference. The Kansas Rural Center invites beginning farmers and ranchers searching for information on pricing and selling in local food markets to join a free teleconference call. The call will be moderated by Julie Mettenburg, Executive Director of the Kansas Rural Center. Also joining the call will be producers with experience in fruits and vegetables and value-added products. They will be available to share information, resources and ideas. The call is toll free and can be accessed on a home or cell phone.http://kansasruralcenter.org/beginning-farmer-call/

Cover Crop Use in Commercial Fruits & Veggies

September 27. Lewis, Iowa. The sustainable vegetable production lab, in collaboration with researchers at Iowa State University, USDA-National Laboratory for Agriculture and Environment and USDA-SARE, will offer workshops for commercial growers and those working with commercial growers. Iowa State University educators Ajay Nair, Andy Lenssen, Gail Nonnecke, and Tom Kaspar will cover the topics of cover crop types, planting, management, benefits, and issues associated with cover cropping in fruit and vegetable cropping systems. Registration is free. The workshops are geared toward commercial horticulture field extension specialists, county extension horticulturists, regional food systems working group members, local food organizations, Iowa Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association and Practical Farmers of Iowa board members, and IDALS and NRCS personnel. Fruit and vegetable growers interested in learning about cover crops also are welcome. http://www.iowaagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=857&yr=2013

Prairie Festival

September 27-29. Salina, Kansas. The Land Institute holds its 35th annual Prairie Festival, featuring speakers, research progress reports, plot tours, and social events.  http://www.landinstitute.org/vnews/display.v/ART/2010/01/29/4b6357f88ae4e

Farm to School Webinar #1: Partnering with Cooperative Extension to Support Farm to School

Emily Jackson, with Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project and SE Regional Lead for the National Farm to School Network, will share the results of a three-state project that focused on identifying the roles Cooperative Extension can play in farm to school (http://growing-minds.org/farm-to-school-resources-for-cooperative-extension). ASAP also partners with North Carolina Cooperative Extension to strengthen farm to school in Western North Carolina. Teresa Wiemerslage from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach will share how she is supporting local food procurement, school wellness, and youth engagement in 16 school districts in Northeast Iowa. Wednesday, September 25th at 1 p.m. EST. https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usda/join?id=SJ9CSP&role=attend

Understanding OSHA Requirements for Farm Businesses

September 27th. 9:30am. As a follow-up to the OSHA Compliance webinar held in late August, Farm Credit East, NEDPA, New York Farm Bureau and PRO-Dairy, are again joining together to host a webinar to help farm businesses understand OSHA requirements. Ron Williams, from the U.S. Department of Labor-OSHA based in Syracuse, NY, will present the webinar. Ron will explain what is involved with an OSHA audit and provide information on key areas of concern for OSHA. https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/926319720

Opportunity

Cattle Load to Kearney

I have 5-6 yearlings (~400-500lbs) that I would like to take to Kearney sale barn in October (preferably 10/2 or 10/16). Just checking if there were any larger loads headed that way that had room for mine or smaller loads that we could group together to at least fill my/your stock trailer. I'd be coming from the Hebron, NE area in South Central/East Nebraska. jkyoachim@gmail.com

Position Available

My current helper/apprentice/whatever has rented a small farm and will be leaving me in a couple months to grow veggies organically in Iowa. My long-time back up helper has also gotten the job of her dreams managing a production greenhouse - also in Iowa. I wish both of these wonderful young women every success, but that leaves me with at least one hole to fill. So . . . does anyone know of a young person out there who would be interested in a job in an organic greenhouse environment? 32-40 hours per week, Jan - May, with the possibility of extending employment through the summer field season for the right person. Some flexibility in scheduling; could be combined with college classes.  Must be able to lift 40 lbs and carry it 20 feet, communicate effectively in English, and show evidence of interest in sustainable ag/hort. The ability to work in a hot, humid greenhouse environment for 8 hours at a time is required.  A sense of humor would be a definite plus. This ain't no job for delicate ladies or young dudes who are unaccustomed to sweating or physical work. Competitive wages, depending on experience. Position can be (and has been) used as an academic internship. Under the right circumstances, this position could be (and has been) split into two 20 hour positions. Opportunities to gain experience on neighboring organic/sustainable farms could also be available. I will do whatever I can to provide training in the ares of interest to the employee/apprentice. Seven of the last eight persons to hold this position have gone on to f/t jobs in their areas of interest/expertise. If you know someone that might be interested, please have them email me at gene@heartlandorganics.net and I will send them a job description.  

Organic Farm Opportunity

Belgrade, NE. Auction of approximately 20 acres on September 28th.  It would be a great property for someone who would like to have a property that has been chemical free and already includes a 2400SF organic garden – plus a lot of other nice features.  They’re having open house times on Saturday, 9/21 and Monday, 9/23 from 1pm to 6pm both days. The link to the information is here:https://www.proxibid.com/asp/Catalog.asp?aid=70876 (it’s the 2nd property listed on the page)

Heritage Breed Roosters

We have 5 Buckeye cockerels available, 4mo old. $10 ea or $30 for all 5. http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/buckeye.html Contact Crystal at darbysprings@gmail.com

National Conference for Women in Sustainable Agriculture Scholarship Opportunity

SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) of Nebraska has committed to help up to 20 female  environmental or sustainable agriculture educators from Nebraska attend the 4th National Conference for Women in Sustainable Agriculture to be held Nov 6-8th in Des Moines.  http://wfan.org/cultivating-our-food-farms-and-future-2/

The applicant need not be a formal teacher - field personnel, community sustainability facilitators, grad student TAs. -  we'll consider a range of vocations and avocations from committed women. Please see the scholarships link on the website.  These 20 scholarships will be for $250 ( $125 will be deducted from registration costs up front and the remainder will be rebated after attendance and evaluation forms are received.) This conference has not previously been held west of Pennsylvania; do NOT miss this local chance to enjoy, 42 breakouts, the company of like-minded, dedicated women, arts events, fantastic field trips, locally grown food, and inspiring national keynote speakers. Contact Gary at gary.lesoing@unl.edu to see how you qualify

Upcoming

Watershed Nitrogen Reduction Planning Tool Webinar

September 30. Online. By using a spreadsheet tool, watershed planners at the state or local level can evaluate expected nitrogen (N) reductions to rivers when different combinations of cropland BMPs and BMP adoption rates are considered. Minnesota state planning authorities have been using a University of Minnesota-developed tool (NBMP) to compare costs of different BMP adoption scenarios and identify the most cost-effective options for achieving N load reduction goals. An overview of this tool and its scientific foundation will be described during the webinar.  http://www.anymeeting.com/SWCS