Weekly Events & Opportunities in Sustainable Farming & Foods

On-Farm Food Safety and Conservation Webinar

May 14. Online. This webinar is part of the Organic series of webinars presented by USDA NRCS East and West National Technology Support Centers in partnership with Oregon Tilth. The presenter is Jo Ann Baumgartner, Director of Wild Farm Alliance. This webinar will cover how pathogens get on the farm, the prevalence in animals, and environmental factors that influence pathogen reduction. A multi-barrier approach will be discussed where conservation practices and food safety Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) are used to minimize food safety concerns. http://www.conservationwebinars.net/documents/planned-conservation-webinars

Cuckoo for Cucurbit Vine Crop Breeding

May 13. 12pm. This presentation is part of the "How to Breed New Plant Varieties: Imagining and Engineering Crops" series and describes the breeding of cucurbit vine crops. Presented by Dr. Michael Mazourek, Cornell University.  https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/229661944

National Value Added Agriculture Conference

May 13-15. Baltimore, Maryland. Held in conjunction with the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development's What Works Conference Series, the conference theme is "Enhancing Food Security and Rural Viability through Innovative Food System Practices and Opportunities." The event celebrates the 10th anniversary of the MarketMaker program, and it offers a unique opportunity to discuss timely subjects in rural development and food security. http://www.agmrc.org/national-value-added-agriculture-conference/

Humane Trapping: A Balancing Act

May 15. 12pm. Humane Trapping: A Balancing Act will discuss various aspects of humane trapping including: Definitions: Live trap vs cage/box trap, Euthanasia vs humane-killing, Equipment vs technique, Snares vs cable-restraints, Proper use of cage/box traps, Proper use of lethal traps. Stephen M. Vantassel is Program Coordinator of wildlife damage management at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is a Master NWCOA Instructor, Certified Wildlife Control Professional (CWCP), and runs the Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management (ICWDM.org). He founded and operated Wildlife Removal Service, Inc. before coming to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has written dozens of articles and several books on wildlife control and animal welfare topics.  This webinar is open to the public. Everyone is welcome. No registration is required. Just show up at the link below. If you can't make it, the webinar will be recorded with a link to the video posted here when it is available (typically 2 to 3 days after the event).  https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/wildlifedmg

Targeted Grazing Online Workshop: Plant Ecology & Response to Grazing

May 15. Online. This event is part of the "Grazing with a Goal" series of online targeted grazing workshops presented monthly by the Targeted Grazing Committee of the Society for Range Management. This session is presented by Dr. John Hendrickson, ARS, Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory. http://www.rangelands.org/targetedgrazing/index.shtml

Legal and Financial Clinic

Thursday, May 15. Lexington. Call the Farm Hotline at 800-464-0258 to sign up.

Composting for poultry 

May 15th. 7:30pm. Whether large or small in size, poultry flocks can benefit from the use of composting as a tool to create a great soil amendment from a by-product of poultry keeping.  The discussion will cover the topics of composting litter, mortality, and butcher wastes, along with monitoring the process.  Proper compost pile building and pile diagnosis will also be discussed.  https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/poultry

Rangeland Drought Impact Webinar

Thursday, May 15. Learn about the importance of monitoring rangelands during and after drought, using photo points, and submitting drought impacts to the NDMC’s Drought Impact Reporter. Webinars will be recorded and may be viewed after the original broadcast. For more info and to register, see http://bit.ly/1nsgig7

Birdsfoot Trefoil as a Forage on Organic Dairy Farms Webinar

May 15. Join eOrganic for a free webinar on Birdsfoot Trefoil as a forage on organic dairy farms with Dr. Jennifer MacAdam, Utah State University. In this webinar, Dr. MacAdam will describe a multiple-year research project, funded by the USDA Organic Research and Extension Initiative (OREI), that is partnering with established organic dairy producers in the Mountain West to determine the impact of supplementing and/or replacing grass pasture with birdsfoot trefoil (BFT) on milk production and milk quality. Advance registration is required. http://www.extension.org/pages/70506/birdsfoot-trefoil-as-a-forage-on-organic-dairy-farms-webinar-by-eorganic#.U20PM3ahy24

From Recipe to Reality

Friday, May 16. Lincoln. A one-day seminar for all individuals interested in exploring the idea of starting a food manufacturing business. Seehttp://fpc.unl.edu/small_business for more info.

Sarah Wagner: YARD/ZONE

Sunday, May 18th. 2:30 pm-4:30 pm. The opening reception for Yard/Zone, an exhibition of stitched sculptural forms by Sarah Wagner of Detroit, will be Sunday, May 18. The exhibit will run from May 19-September 5, 2014 at the Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery. The artist will speak about her work at 2:30 pm in room 11 of the Home Economics Building and will be present at a reception in her honor following her talk hosed by the Friends of the Textiles Gallery. Sarah Wagner is a sculptor and installation artist whose work concentrates attention on the dynamic relationships between the built and the increasingly unnatural world. The invisible forces at play in our world, such as radiation, and her love of ecology have inspired her to explore exhibition venues as unnatural environments within which to create models for parallel worlds. She is represented by the Patricia Sweetow Gallery in San Francisco. BFA, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga; Resident, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture; MFA, California College of the Arts.  For more information, call (402) 472-2911 or visit http://textilegallery.unl.edu. Additional Public Info: Free and open to the public.

Opportunity

Compost for Community Gardens

My name is Jordan Hasselbalch and I am an AmeriCorps Member working for Community CROPS. Part of my role at CROPS is to source materials for the 11 community gardens that we manage. Last month we had our gardener orientations in preparation for the coming season. I introduced myself to the 270 some odd gardeners as the guy that would make available their requests for wood mulch, pallets, t-posts, city-compost, etc. The gardeners have made it clear to me what they would most like me to deliver, composted manure. I am happy to oblige them but I am going to need the help of some folks around the Lincoln area that have livestock and preferably equipment to help us load. Some of you have helped us in the past in this capacity and we thank you. Not wanting to be presumptuous of overwhelm any one operation I make this ask to all of you good people of the NSAS community. jordan@communitycrops.org

Ostry Organic Family Farm Work Week: 2nd Week in May

Just a reminder that their farm work week has started and will continue thru next week. As of today Mike's recovery has left him not seeing well enough to do his work.

His doctor & family are optimistic that he will see well enough, hopefully in 6 months to a year. Please contact the Ostry's @ 402-543-2110with your offer of help.

They appreciate your support and can tell you what needs to be done when you call about the work week.

Seeking Manure

The Clyde Malone Community Center, located in Lincoln, Nebraska is seeking a donation of livestock manure, preferably older than a year and fed non-GMO.  The Malone Center is an African-American Community Center that provides educational, cultural, and advocacy programs. The center hosts a Day-Care Program for low-income families in the community during the summer, and the children have voiced their desire to get dirty and learn in the garden!  We would like to fill one pick up truck bed full of manure for the garden project. We are willing to load and transport. The closer to Lincoln, the better.  You may reach me by e-mail: danny.martin303@gmail.com or by phone/text: (402)512-0066.  Thanks, Danny Martin

Solar Power for Habitat for Humanity Families

Nebraskans for Solar & Habitat for Humanity of Omaha are crowdfunding on Indiegogo to install solar hot water systems on five new or rehabilitated houses: www.tinyurl.com/Omahasolar. If we reach our goal, five Omaha families will be able to reduce their monthly energy costs by harnessing power from the sun for the next 20 to 25 years! The money they save can be spent on food, healthcare, education, and other needs, benefiting their families and communities for a very long time.

Upcoming

Get the Dirt on Potato Breeding

May 20th. 12pm. This presentation is part of the "How to Breed New Plant Varieties: Imagining and Engineering Crops" series and describes the breeding of potato. Presented by Dr. Walter De Jong, Cornell University. https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/417130497

Silvopasture Development: Trees into Pasture

May 21. Online. Silvopasture is an agroforestry practice that sustainably produces timber, livestock, and forage on the same land. This one-hour webinar (held twice in a single day) will discuss considerations of site quality, species selection, establishment, and subsequent management of trees. http://silvopasture.ning.com/profiles/blogs/silvopasture-development-trees-into-pasture