Weekly Events & Opportunities in Sustainable Farming & Foods!

Mitigating Soil Disturbance in Organic Systems

June 2. Online. In the Understanding Organic Agriculture series, this free, one-hour webinar is presented by USDA NRCS Science and Technology. The presenter will discuss production practices that can offset the negative impacts of tillage in organic systems including the use of cover crops, compost, and other additions of organic matter. In an attempt to quantify the mitigation impact, this webinar will use RUSLE2 as a measure. A case study will be used to illustrate some of the presented principles. http://www.conservationwebinars.net/webinars/mitigating-soil-disturbance-in-organic-systems

Tree Risk Awareness Workshop

June 2,  8:00 am–3:30 pm.  West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte. Contact, Amy Seiler, 308-633-1173, aseiler2@unl.edu. June Tree Care Workshops focus on one of the most immediate concerns facing Nebraska’s communities—knowing when trees pose a risk and minimizing that risk. The Nebraska Forest Service is offering “Tree Risk Awareness” workshops on how to manage tree and safety issues June 2 in North Platte, June 8 in Lincoln and June 9 in Hastings. The cost of the full-day workshops is $55; discounts and exact times and locations are on the Nebraska Forest Service website athttp://nfs.unl.edu/tree-care-workshops or register online at go.unl.edu/dwkw. For additional information, contact Amy Seiler at aseiler2@unl.edu or 308-633-1173.

Enjoy a High Performing Website 

June 2. Online. Make sure your website is user-friendly, since all marketing roads lead to it. In this session you’ll receive the tools you need to wow customers with your Website - It is the hub of all your marketing efforts, ensure you have a high performing site you can roar about. You’ll be introduced to keywords, the foundation of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and their proper placement in your website coding and content. Plus, you’ll receive the 7 fundamental guidelines to creating great web content, and ultimately, ensuring the online sales results you desire. http://www.livestockconservancy.org/index.php/what/internal/marketing-course

Vermicomposting & composting at home

June 4th. Omaha. 6pm. Are you interested in setting up a composting system at your home of composting with worms? Learn how easy composting at home can be and how to design a system that will fit your needs! Start putting your food scraps to work! Free and open to the public. https://www.facebook.com/events/1608087562806258/

Brown-bag on Environmentally Adapted Trees

June 4,  12:00 pm–1:00 pm. UNL's Eas Campus, Keim Hall. A brown-bag presentation on trees suited to Nebraska’s environment will be held June 4 at noon in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Keim Hall room 150.  Heather Byers of Great Plains Nursery in Weston will talk about some “trees for the future” that may be better suited to environmental challenges. The talk will include photos, lists of recommended trees and discussions of both challenges and opportunities to increase sustainability and diversity in planted landscapes. The presentations are also available afterwards at arboretum.unl.edu/brown-bags. This is part of a brown-bag series on “all things green” sponsored by the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum, UNL Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, UNL Garden Friends and Friends of Maxwell Arboretum. Future topics include attracting birds, prairie plants, best evergreens for Nebraska landscapes, etc. Participants are invited to bring lunch or dinner, if desired, and ideas or questions. For more information about the brown-bag series, call the Arboretum at 402-472-2971, email arboretum@unl.edu or visit arboretum.unl.edu/brown-bags for this and future presentations.

Opportunities

For Sale

Complete set up for poultry processing. We've closed our plant and are ready to sell the equipment. Killing Cones (2 sets of 7 and 2 single turkey cones with stands), Ashley Scalder- rotary-Model SS30 , Picker- PickWick, Stainless Steel Eviscerating tables, SS Cooling tanks w/stands (7) and Battery cages (3) capacity of approx. 270 birds.  We were a state and federally inspected facility using this equipment.$2500  Other processing related items also available separately- crates, knives, bowls and more.  John Deere Tractor JD2510   55 hp, 3 pt, gas. Strong tractor, low hours, new tires, new seat, straight metal, great small acreage tractor $6500, 3 pt blade $400, 3 pt bale spike $50  3 pt JD sickle mower 9 ft bar$1400. Jersey Heifer Family Cow Beautiful girl! 13 mos old. This is the last one of our family farm milk herd. She is the one we bred for. She has the New Zealand traits- great on grass, once a day milking capability, gentle natured, likely to have high butter fat content in her milk and bred for A2 traits. Currently open as we do not believe in breeding before 15 mos at the earliest. All 4 quarters are looking good. Healthy girl. We do not remove horns. Not yet halter broke but will take to it quickly. She knows her name is Nutmeg. $1500. Many other items- Freezers, Fridges, shelving, pumps Perforated irrigation line (new), crates, coolers, FRP, Barrels, Chicken Tractors and more. Contact for information and pictures Mark Kvam kvamfamilyfarm@gmail.com or 402-380-7404

Straw

Any one have or know where I can get 20 straw bales? Jennifer, jschellp@windstream.net

Piglets for Sale

We have 5 dirt raised piglets born Easter morning for sale. There are 3 boys and 2 females left. No shots, antibiotics, medications or hormones of any kind have ever been given to them or their parents. We do not spray chemicals or pesticides on our farm, and we have been feeding them as much fresh green grass as they can shovel in. These are very people friendly, as we play with them several times a day. They are  a Duroc mix. Price is $50 per pig. Pickup is near Lyons. Thanks and happy bacon to you all. Serena Bourne, serenasaurus09@yahoo.com

Farmer/Apprentice/Intern Wanted

I am looking for a late May - October veg farm helper/intern/apprentice. Will participate in every aspect of planting, raising, harvesting, marketing and delivering fresh, naturally grown veg, herbs and fruit to Lincoln and Omaha restaurants.  24-32 hrs per week. Hrs somewhat flexible. F/T for the right person. I can also make land available at no cost for the employee to grow and sell his/her own stuff.  Please send one-page resume and contact info togene@heartlandorganics.net. ggg

For Sale by Owner

Tekamah. (40+/- Acre farm with house & buildings). 

We have decided that we must downsize and are going to sell the farm. Please share with anyone you may know who is 

interested.  Northwest of Tekamah, Nebraska. Includes 5 

bedroom/3.5 bath raised ranch with walk-out basement house, Has two kitchens, oversized shower and whirlpool tub in 

master bath, plus walk-in closet. Property has been farmed organically for over 9 years, includes Morton machine shed, 

Butler livestock building and other small buildings. This farm has been ran to be self sufficient for several years. Farm 

does have underground wiring and a battery shed for solar power, solar panels do not go with farm, but all the 

underground wiring and permanent solar infrastructure stays. 

Call Rebecka Fleischman at 402-687-4149 for more information. 

More pictures available upon request. Schedule your tour today.

Looking for Mentorship in Shelton/Grand Island/Kearney Area.

My family and I are returning to Shelton, NE in order to re-establish her family's farm. It is 160 acres but hasn't been used in nearly 30 years. We are going to be establishing a Joel Salatin Polyface Farm type farm. Where we will raise a multi specie critical and threatened heritage breed livestock as determined by the Livestock Conservancy Organization. All livestock will be pastured raised. We are also going to establish seasonal vegetable gardens. Looking for mentorship opportunities in the Shelton/Grand Island/Kearney area that would be willing to help us learn the does and don'ts of pasture based all natural farming. Michael Peña, Michael.A.Pena@uscg.mil

2014 Farm Bill - Conservation Compliance Changes | NRCS

The 2014 Farm Bill re-established the applicability of the Highly Erodible Land Conservation and Wetland Conservation provisions to crop insurance subsidies, but the Farm Bill did not change how these were implemented in conservation programs. USDA is seeking comments on an Interim Final Rule, which would make official this change to conservation compliance provisions. Submit comments on regulations.gov.

Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation (WC) provisions aim to reduce soil loss on erosion-prone lands and to protect wetlands for the multiple benefits they provide. HELC and WC provisions apply to all land that is considered highly erodible or a wetland, and that is owned or farmed by persons voluntarily participating in USDA programs, unless USDA determines an exemption applies. 

Producers, and any affiliated individuals or entities who participate in most programs administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA), the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and the Risk Management Agency (RMA) are required to comply with these provisions. Farmers seeking federal crop insurance premium subsidies for the 2016 reinsurance year must comply by June 1 by filing form AD-1026. The 2016 reinsurance year runs from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016.

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailfull/national/programs/farmbill/?cid=stelprdb1257899

Farm Family Placement Opportunity

'We are a family of four (with two kids), we are looking for any possibility that can lead us to live in the country (no more than one hour and a half driving from the farm to the city of Lincoln). We are specially looking for a farm/ house with a piece of land that is organic oriented .  Please do not hesitate to contact us for any queries (Cell phone; 402-4059195). rllasaca@gmail.com. Thanks. Troy Van Horn".

Whole-Farm Revenue Protection Survey 

The National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) is working with the Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA (RAFI) to better understand experiences with crop insurance and with a new crop insurance product called Whole-Farm Revenue Protection. Whole-Farm Revenue Protection is a pilot crop insurance policy available for the 2015 crop insurance year. The policy provides crop insurance coverage based on a farm’s 5-year revenue history, and it enables a farm to insure more than one crop with one policy. The link to the survey is https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/rafiwfrpsurvey. Questions about this survey can be directed to James Robinson at 919-542-1396 ext. 209 or james@rafiusa.org.

Upcoming

Postharvest Handling Workshop

June 8. Lawrence, Kansas. This evening workshop is part of the Growing Growers monthly workshop series. http://www.growinggrowers.org/workshops.html

Should Crop Insurance Be Part of Your Farm Risk Management Plan?

June 10. Online. Join ASAP, along with the Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI), North Carolina Cooperative Extension, and Farm Service Agency (FSA) for a series of online workshops designed to help you manage risk for your farm. This workshop will be examining the newly created Whole Farm Revenue Protection policy, new organic crop price elections for organically produced crops, and new Non-insured Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) buy-up options. http://asapconnections.org/events/workshops-trainings/

Family Farm Transition Webinar

Tuesday, June 9 at 11:00 am CDT. Planning to transition the family farm from one generation to another generation?  This can be a very difficult process that requires good communication skills, goal setting, financial analysis, tax planning, and retirement planning.  Dr. Shannon Ferrell(link is external), associate professor of agricultural economics, will discuss how to start the process through goal-setting, family communication, and estate planning process. This webinar is open to families starting to considering the farm transition process and professionals (bankers, attorneys, etc) working with farm families through the farm transition process.  Registration is available at https://aleifarmtransitionwebinar.eventbrite.com. 

Visiting Filmmaker: Sandy McLeod (Director, SEEDS OF TIME)

June 12. Lincoln. Seeds of Time. A perfect storm is brewing as agriculture pioneer Cary Fowler races against time to protect the future of our food. Gene banks of the world are crumbling, crop failures are producing starvation inspired rioting, and the accelerating effects of climate change are already affecting farmers globally. But Fowler's journey, and our own, is just beginning. From Rome to Russia and, finally, a remote island under the Arctic Circle, his passionate and personal journey may hold the key to saving the one resource we cannot live without: our seeds. (C) Kino Lorber https://www.facebook.com/events/1391472521182493/

Alternatives to antibiotics in poultry production

Friday, June 12 at 2:00 pm CDT. Poultry producers are frequently looking for treatment options aside from antibiotics. This presentation by Dr. Irene Hanning-Jarquin will provide an overview of herbs, spices and plant extracts as alternatives to antibiotics. Dr. Hanning-Jarquin - https://ag.tennessee.edu/foodscience/Pages/Dr.-Irene-B.-Hanning.aspx - is an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee. https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/poultry

Find the complete listing of weekly events & opportunities on the NSAS Blog!