Weekly Events & Opportunities in Sustainable Farming & Foods

Basics of poultry processing

Tuesday, October 21 at 6:00 pm. Thinking of raising your own chickens or turkeys? Processing is always the biggest issue/problem. Dr. Tony Pescatore from the University of Kentucky will be going over the basics of processing poultry. Dr. Pescatore is a poultry extension professor in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences. He's specialties include poultry production and management but he has many years of experience in a wide variety of poultry-related fields. He is active with the Mobile Poultry Processing Unit currently stationed at Kentucky State University. https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/poultry

GMOs differ from hybrid seeds, how?

Matt Leavitt will explain the differences between GMOs and hybrid seeds. Learn how the procedure differs and make up your own mind about this hot topic. https://attendee.gototraining.com/r/1681866122952073729

Legal and Financial Clinic

Wednesday, October 22. Fairbury. Call the Farm Hotline at 800-464-0258 to sign up.

Webinar: Getting started with vegetable plasticulture

October 22. 6 p.m. Hosted by eXtension, MSU Extension educator Ron Goldy will present information on using plasticulture for vegetable production. Plasticulture involves the use of plastic mulch and drip irrigation for producing vegetables. This technique helps control weeds, is a more efficient use of water and nutrients and will bring crops into production earlier. https://learn.extension.org/events/1754#.VDu8eWddVIx

Nebraska Farm to School Summit

October 22. Aurora. If you are a farmer, grower, rancher, food service professional, teacher, student, or farm to school supporter, you are invited to make connections and build relationships. The agenda will include a lightning round of presentations that will highlight successful farm to school relationships, growing practices, policy development, and processing options. There will also be breakout sessions for the different farm to school stakeholders to hear from school and farmer panelists, and question/answer sessions.http://www.cfra.org/ne-summit-2014

National Small Farm Trade Show and Conference

October 23-25. Mexico, Missouri. The National Small Farm Trade Show & Conference is the largest annual small-farm show in the United States. The exhibition hall features vendors, seminars, three-hour short courses, and talks in the Farmers' Forum, as well as demonstrations, exhibits, association meetings, and more. Ideas and information on income opportunities for the family farm will be presented in seminars and short courses. Both traditional and alternative farming enterprises are covered for full- and part-time farmers, ranchers, gardeners, and landowners. http://www.smallfarmtoday.com/trade-show.html

Legal and Financial Clinic

Friday, October 24. Norfolk. Call the Farm Hotline at 800-464-0258 to sign up.

From Recipe to Reality

Saturday, October 25. Lincoln. For anyone interested in exploring the idea of starting a food manufacturing business. Seebit.ly/Vk0mPG for more info.

Mother Earth News Fair

October 25-26. Topeka, Kansas. Mother Earth News Fairs deliver practical, hands-on training and experience taught by leading experts in renewable energy, organic gardening, sustainable agriculture, green home building, and more. Speakers will include Gary Paul Nabhan, Joel Salatin, and many others. http://www.motherearthnews.com/fair/home.aspx

Opportunity

Vegetable Operations Manager Position near Omaha

Vegetable/small fruit farm and nursery in Papillion has a full-time permanent vegetable operations manager position available. Tasks may include crop selection/scheduling, prep/planting, greenhouse management, construction/maintenance, and sales. Vegetable production experience helpful. The land has been farmed with organic practices for 30 years. Currently selling at local markets and planning to expand. On-farm housing may be negotiable. Also hiring full/part-time general laborer; farm or construction experience helpful. Send resume and cover letter to Lucena@MeristemFarmAndNursery.com or call Tom at 402-306-4500.

Quince

Does anyone know of anyone that is growing quince?! Amy, amy@edibleomaha.com

FarmTable Delivery is hiring

We really need a driver ASAP. Qualifications include: - Experience driving an 18ft vehicle - Experience driving a diesel vehicle - Good driving record - Familiar with driving in Omaha, Des Moines, Lincoln a plus! - Detailed orientated - good time management skills - a people person. Right now, 10-15 hours a week. Will increase as company grows. Will Train! SEND RESUMES with REFERENCES to farmtabledelivery@gmail.com 

Katahdin Breeding Ewes for Sale

We are selling our breeding flock of Katahdin sheep.  We have 6-9 ewes and 11 ewe lambs (born this past spring) available.  They are 100% grass fed, and are originally from Jubilee Farm in Kansas, a registered Katahdin breeder. Thanks, Alex McKiernan. 402.794.4025

OneCert seeking admin assistant

This is a full-time position in our Lincoln office. Contact Sam Welsch for more information. Sam Welsch, President. OneCert, Inc. 402-420-6080

www.onecert.com. sam@onecert.com

Farm for Sale in Western Nebraska

We have operated a pastured poultry (including processing) operation and a direct beef operation.  This would be an excellent opportunity for someone who would like to start a small scale sustainable agricultural business. We are having an auction on October 21st which will have all of our equipment for the pastured poultry operation (including processing equipment) and livestock equipment. The link for the auction is: http://www.helbergnussauction.com/selected_auction.php?Auction_ID=18

(check back often as we are still adding items). We also have our cattle herd for sale.  We will only sell them all to one buyer to keep the herd together.  The herd consists of approximately 40 cows and 3 bulls.  The herd is comprised of Angus and Angus/Lowline cross. If you have any questions, please call or email myself or my husband Dan. Dan's cell phone is 308-631-6849. Email iskathi@openabar2ranch.com 

BarnRaiser at Darby Springs Farm

As you may know, we have been slowly growing our farm, Darby Springs, over the past several years. We have launched a crowdfunding campaign with Barnraiser and are asking you to join us in building a creamery barn to create farmstead ice cream, featuring local flavors, and space to learn and grow as a food community. Click here to skip the rest and get right to it: https://www.barnraiser.us/projects/building-the-barn-at-darby-springs-farm. We already sell pastured meat, milk, and eggs, but want to grow to bring you farmstead ice cream and opportunities to experience all our farm has to offer. To do this the Barn will have: The Loft: event and classroom space; Community Kitchen: a certified kitchen for use by all; Farm Store: featuring our ice cream and homemade baked goods as well as other area farmers & artists; Creamery: where the wonderful desserts are made; Milking parlor. Click here to check out our video, get full project details and support our project if you can, or spread the word to your friends: https://www.barnraiser.us/projects/building-the-barn-at-darby-springs-farm

News

Fort Calhoun couple raises pigs a different way

Ben Godfrey has found his passion: pigs. “It’s a strange thing,” Godfrey said. “I’ve done every conceivable job, anything you can think of, at some point I have tried my hand in it and earned money in a lot of different ways.” But it wasn’t until Godfrey and his wife, Michelle, moved to their Washington County acreage that Ben realized this passion. Ben and Michelle raise pigs on pasture at Paradise in Progress Farms. “I haven’t ever found anything that I felt passionate about this way,” Ben said. “The pigs are amazingly friendly animals, and there’s something I get about them and they get about me.”  Read the rest here!

Upcoming

Non-Timber Forest Products Webinar Series: Art from the Forest

October 29. Nontimber forest products include plants, lichens and mushrooms used for specialized art and craft practices: basketmaking, fiber dyeing, and more. Artisans who gather and use these species have specialized knowledge of their micro-habitats and require certain qualities in the material they use. In this one-hour webinar, Allaire Diamond M.S., Conservation Ecologist with the Vermont Land Trust, will discuss a variety of species used by master artisans and the unique opportunities for landowners to foster these species on their land and build relationships with artisan-gatherers. https://cc.readytalk.com/cc/s/registrations/new?cid=3b9mqeifumu5

Planning and Design of Stream Crossings Webinar

October 29. This webinar is presented by the USDA NRCS East National Technology Support Center. Participation in the webinar will build an understanding of the process and procedures required to successfully plan and design a stream crossing structure to meet the USDA NRCS Practice Standard, Code No. 578 - Stream Crossing. http://www.conservationwebinars.net/webinars/planning-and-design-of-stream-crossings