Weekly Events & Opportunities in Sustainable Farming & Foods!

Nebraska Young Farmer Nights visits 26th Street Farm!

August 12th, Hastings. Join us for a farmer hangout at our farm in Hastings, Nebraska. We will give a tour of our farm, talk about how we have adapted as beginner farmers over our three years of experience, and our lessons in small farm efficiencies. We only ask that you bring a pizza topping from your farm (veg, cheese, etc), beverage or dessert to share and we will be making pizzas in our homemade wood fired oven. Farmers, friend, food lovers--all are invited! Details and to rsvp, https://www.facebook.com/events/671574716248979/

New Earth Farm & Goods Young Farmer Night

August 14th. Papillion. New Earth Farm & Goods is a 5 acre integrated and holistic farm.  New Earth Farm is trying to grow everything edible that can grow in eastern Nebraska, from fecundity to livestock, planting food forests and gardens, foraging whatever is forgeable, sharing the abundance with CSA members, wild and domesticated animals, and willing customers.  New Earth Farm welcomes willing hands and minds who want to participate in and eat from what the sun, water and soil provides. Potluck will be at 6 followed by a farm tour. Details @ https://www.facebook.com/negoods

Managing for Soil Health on an Organic Farm – A Farmer’s Perspective

August 12. This free, one-hour webinar is part of the Soil Health webinar series presented by NRCS East National Technology Support Center. Presenter Klaas Martens, of Penn Yan, New York, uses a diverse crop rotation to farm over 1,400 acres of organic corn, soybeans, small grains, a variety of peas, and cover crops. By adhering to one simple principle - every crop follows a suitable predecessor - Martens has improved soil health and function to cycle nutrients, increase water infiltration and availability, and eliminate both weed and disease pest problems. In this presentation, Martens will focus on the use of plants to change the soil and how soil biology can perform the services that are expected from tillage. He will also cover relay cropping, or starting one crop before the previous crop is harvested, and how this practice allows him to maintain a living root and cover on the soil all year. http://conservationwebinars.net/

Regional Food Hubs: Strengthening Farm to School Procurement

August 12. Presented by the Wallace Center, this webinar will focus on regional food hubs and their ability to bridge the gap between local farms and school systems. The presentation will include a discussion of food hub characteristics and their role in the farm-to-school supply chain; a closer look at how one food hub is successfully connecting small farmers to their local public school system; and an overview of resources to help you locate food hubs in your area and strategies for engaging them with school food service programs. http://www.farmtoschool.org/resources-main/regional-food-hubs-strengthening-farm-to-school-procurement

WILD About Bats!

Join us for a free workshop focusing on these intriguing flying mammals.  Learn and explore first-hand by observing live bats, modeling activities related to bats & bat conservation, & unraveling  mysteries about these fantastic, flying critters. Wednesday, August 13.  10:00am - 3:00pm (lunch provided). TaHaZouka Park, Norfolk. 

 

To register,

lindsay.rogers@nebraska.gov

Organic Certification Basics

August 14. Online. The National Center for Appropriate Technology offers an opportunity for Texas producers to learn the ABC's of organic certification requirements, from organic consultant Leslie McKinnon and Brent Johnson of Johnson's Backyard Garden in Austin, Texas. Space is limited. https://attra.ncat.org/certification_basics

Growing and Funding Equitable Food Hubs

August 14. Online. Healthy Food Access Portal will host an interactive webinar on how you can develop an equitable food hub in your own community. Presenters will highlight how their food hub operations are creating a more equitable and inclusive food system and discuss lessons learned and strategies for success. http://www.healthyfoodaccess.org/news-and-events/events/food-hub-webinar

Legal and Financial Clinic

Thursday, August 14. North Platte. Call the Farm Hotline at 800-464-0258 to sign up.

Landowner Habitat Tour

Thursday, August 14. Southwestern Knox County. Northeast Nebraska Focus on Pheasants Efforts. See NebraskaPF.com or call 308-850-8395

“Go for the Goal” Finance for Farm Women

Friday, August 15 at 11:00 am. This 60 minute webinar will discuss the “nuts and bolts” of setting and achieving business and personal finance objectives. Topics to be covered include: “bucket lists”, values, type of goals, adjusting goals to match cash flow, developing an action plan to achieve goals and goal setting resources. Link: Pre-registration:http://tinyurl.com/p7cuwvy

Livestock Mortality Composting – Beyond the Basics Part 1

Friday, August 15 at 1:30 pm CDT. Livestock mortality composting is a relatively inexpensive, biosecure, and environmentally sound approach to addressing the issue of carcass disposal. This webcast will feature presentations by national experts who participated in Langston University’s Livestock Mortality Composting – Beyond the Basics Conference held earlier this year.  The topics include: pile characteristics for effective composting, management and environmental considerations when siting and managing composting facilities; mortality compost nutrients for on-farm use; and teaching the benefits of mortality composting to producers. https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/lpelc

UNL Extension Organic Farm Tour

Saturday, August 16. Abie. Learn how to increase your soil health by reducing tillage, increasing crop diversity and incorporating cover crops into your cropping system, as well as topics on weed flaming and no-till.  Afterward, a free dinner will be provided by the Fendrich Family.  Please RSVP to Wendy at 402-584-3837, and get more information about the tour or directions.

Opportunity

Cows for Sale

I've decided that there is such a thing as too much diversity, at least when it comes to my cow herd. I have quite the mix of cattle right now and I'd like to at least narrow it down to a few breeds. So I've decided to sell the Scottish Highland and Longhorn cattle. Here are links to the ad's if you are interested:  Scottish Highland, http://lincoln.craigslist.org/grd/4605367179.html .  Longhorns, http://lincoln.craigslist.org/grd/4605366958.html .  I'd make any NSAS member a heck of a deal if they wanted them all. Thanks,  Jon, jkyoachim@gmail.com

Bean Walkers

I am trying to find bean walkers to weed about 100 acres of transitioning soy bean fields. It will be 2 or 3 weeks before I need them because the beans were replanted on about June 24th after 2 hails.The fields are just south of Utica. I can be emailed or called at 402-617-1718,cherylrrichter@gmail.com .  Thanks, Cheryl Richter

2014 Organic Farmer Seed Survey

The purpose of this survey is to better assess certified organic crop producers’ attitudes and perceptions regarding organic seed. The purpose is also to understand producers’ current use of organic seed and any obstacles that restrict organic seed sourcing. Producers should be prepared to offer best estimates on their organic seed usage or have their seed records on hand. The survey also asks which crops and traits should be prioritized through organic plant breeding programs. If you are a certified organic crop producer, please take ten minutes to respond to this survey. Your responses are voluntary and will be held confidential. Your responses will not be identified by individual or farm. All responses will be compiled and analyzed as a group. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QQ73TMW

Seedlings Needed

We recently lost about 150 (total) cabbage and cauliflower seedlings that were planted for fall harvest. User error I am sure. I am asking around to see if anyone has some extra cauliflower, cabbage or even broccoli seedlings they are interested in getting rid of at a fair price. We have broccoli, kale and kohlrabi in already. If you have any other ideas, I would welcome suggestions. We grow in Waverly and Omaha, so anything in either vicinity would be helpful. Alton, altonemitchell@gmail.com

News

Lincoln County Community Supported Agriculture

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) - The concept of community-supported agriculture is gaining momentum in Lincoln County. On Wednesday, Cathy Grauerholz loaded laundry baskets full of produce into a suburban and dropped them off at the West Center Research and Extension Center in North Platte. It was the first of many deliveries she will make every week through mid-October. The North Platte Telegraph reports (http://bit.ly/1o4frQJ ) crops were raised on Grauerholz’s farm about 6 miles south of Hershey. People paid her at the beginning of the season and, in return, she gives them fresh fruits and vegetables on a weekly basis. The food is distributed at sites in North Platte and Wallace. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jul/6/community-supported-agriculture-proving-popular/?page=all#pagebreak

Upcoming

How to Be a Better Boss on the Market Farm: Webinar

August 20. Employees make it possible to get more done, but managing workers and their work takes dedicated time, energy, and processes. Veteran farmer and consultant Chris Blanchard turned his work environment from "The Yelling Farm" into a positive, supportive, and effective workplace. In this free, one-hour online workshop from Countryside Conservancy, Chris shares his principles for being a better boss to get better results from one of your most valuable assets - your employees. http://www.cvcountryside.org/BookingRetrieve.aspx?ID=16349