Weekly Events & Opportunities in Sustainable Farming & Foods!

Farmers Night Out! visits Community CROPS!

September 2. Prairie Pines Farm. Join Community Crops and the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society at the Prairie Pines Training Farm for an evening of lively discussion and delicious food! The event will start at 6:00 with a potluck and time for catching up with old friends! We'll provide the buns, brats (or veggie/vegan substitutes), beverages (no alcohol please!) and fixins....and you'll provide some tasty side dishes! After supper, we'll do a quick farm tour of our small training farm. You'll get to meet several of our program participants and learn about how Community Crops helps empower beginning farmers to start their own successful small scale vegetable and herb businesses! https://www.facebook.com/events/988586821208721/

Ecologically-based pest management on rangeland:  What is the role for dung beetles?

August 31. UNL in Lincoln. Jeff Bradshaw, Dept. of Entomology, Panhandle Research and Extension Center, UNL. All seminars are held at 3:00 in the East Union (see kiosk for room) and are free and open to the public. The seminars will be video recorded and are available by contacting the CGS office, grassland@unl.edu, 402-472-4101.

Meat quality issues with small and backyard poultry flocks

Monday, August 31 at 2:00 pm CDT. With many of the fast-growing strains of meat chickens, meat quality has become an issue. This includes green muscle, woody muscle, and white striping. These conditions appear to be related to wing flapping, a situation that can occur when flocks are scared while free-ranged. https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/poultry

Revisiting Organic Agriculture Webinar Series: Weed Management

September 1. Online. The American Society of Agronomy is offering a monthly webinar series examining several issues associated with organic production and management. Cost for each individual webinar is $25 for members and certified professionals and $40 for non-members. Each webinar will be worth 1.0 CEU in Nutrient Management, Pest Management or Crop Management for CCAs/CPAgs depending on the topic. http://agronomy.peachnewmedia.com/store/seminar/seminar.php?seminar=43905

Webinar: Pollinator Planting in Organic Pastures

September 2. 2 p.m. Hosted by Oregon Tilth and NRCS, learn about pollinator plantings in pasture from Mace Vaghan, Pollinator Program Director at Xerces Society. http://tilth.org/event/pollinator-plantings-in-organic-pastures/

2015 All Bugs Good and Bad Webinar Series: Bees, Wasps and Hornets - They're all Different

Friday, September 4 at 1:00 pm CDT. Is it a wasp, a bee, or a hornet?  Why do I care?  Moderated by David Koon  and Lucy Edwards, Regional Extension Agents, Alabama Cooperative Extension System. http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/fireant

MeadowLark Hearth Annual Seed Festival

September 6-7. Scottsbluff. Meadowlark Hearth is throwing their Annual Seed Fest. A venerable celebration of the sacred seed. A packed Sunday and Monday full of fall harvest fun for seed enthusiastic friends and family. There’ll be seed, camping, dancing, campfires, stars, friends and beautiful W. Nebraskan skies. 

http://meadowlarkhearth.org/

Opportunities

Survey seeks opinions of women livestock farmers

USDA Small Business Innovation Research grant to study the tool- and equipment-related needs of women livestock farmers. To assist Green Heron in designing better tools and equipment, women who raise or care for livestock of any kind are invited to complete a brief survey.   The survey will be open through September, and respondents who complete it will be entered into a drawing for a $100 Green Heron Tools gift certificate. Begun by two small-scale farmers with backgrounds in nursing and public health, Green Heron is the first company in the world to focus on scientifically designing agricultural tools and equipment that work well for women. For more information please visit www.greenherontools.com. Complete the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/greenherontools_women_livestock_farmers.

Pastured Feeder Pigs for Sale

Eleven pastured feeder pigs. 5 male, 6 Female. Unaltered. These pigs are two-three months old and between 40-50 lbs. They have been born and raised on pasture. They are weaned. We supplement the pasture with brewers grains from two local breweries and with expired produce from Whole Foods. Pigs located in Fort Calhoun. bgodfrey@oppd.com.  See more at: http://www.bestfarmbuys.com/classifieds/detail.php?classified_id=190339&category=Hogs#sthash.2Thc4BcL.dpufhttp://www.bestfarmbuys.com/classifieds/detail.php?classified_id=190339&category=Hogs#sthash.2Thc4BcL.dpuf

Soybeans

I'm looking to buy conventional soybeans with out Herbicides pesticides spray. In need of 10 Bushel   Rich, richvernon7@yahoo.com, 402-443-6762

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".

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

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

Integrating Cash Crops, Cover Crops and Livestock

September 8. Bedford, Iowa.  Learn about how the wheat + cover mix + grazing is a soil-builder that has also reduced P and K applications and herbicide use at Paul and Nancy Ackley's farm. Doug Peterson, with the State Soil Health Conservation in Gallatin, Missouri, will be a featured speaker.

Livestock Water Development & Electric Fencing

September 8. Salina, Kansas. Mark Green, NRCS specialist from Missouri, will hold his popular workshop on electric fencing and livestock watering options for all species of livestock. Green will explain electric fence products, the pros and cons of various materials used in electric fence construction, and installation techniques. He will also cover livestock watering topics, water distribution for improved grazing distribution, permanent and portable tanks, above and below ground pipeline, and water sources—wells, streams, springs, and ponds. http://www.kansasfarmersunion.com/event/livestock-water-development-and-electric-fencing/

Use of NRCS Conservation Practice Standards and Specifications

September 9. Online. This webinar is a review of the purpose and structure of NRCS conservation practice standards. Participants will learn to use NRCS conservation practice standards to support the NRCS conservation planning process. The presenter will discuss documenting the specifications of how an NRCS conservation practice standard is locally applied in a conservation plan. This one-and-a-half hour webinar is presented by the USDA NRCS Central National Technology Support Center beginning at 2 pm Eastern. http://www.conservationwebinars.net/webinars/use-of-nrcs-conservation-practice-standards-and-specifications

NOP Organic Crop Standards Webinar

September 9 and 11. Online. IOIA's NOP Organic Crop Standards webinar is a 100-level course designed to prepare participants to verify compliance with the NOP Crop Standards. This webinar training course will focus on topics including the National List of allowed synthetic and prohibited natural inputs for crop production. Participants will also gain skill in understanding and navigating the NOP regulations. This webinar will be given in two sessions, on two dates, each three hours long. Enrollment is limited. http://www.ioia.net/schedule_web.html#sept9

Bird Conservation in the Face of Future Climate Change

Thursday, September 10 at 11:00 am CDT. National Audubon Society scientists recently completed a comprehensive analysis modeling the winter and summer ranges of 588 North American bird species in response to future climate change. Using citizen science data and climate information, these models characterize the relationship between the distribution of each species and climate through the end of the century. Chad Wilsey will talk about the results and the implications for bird conservation in the Eastern US. Continuing Education Credits applied for from Society of American Foresters and The Wildlife Society. http://www.sustainableforestswebinars.net/webinar-access-instructions

Why Local Food Matters

Thursday, September 10 at 10:00 am CDT. Presented by Debra Tropp, Ag Marketing Services, USDA. This webinar will provide an overview of what we know about changing consumer demand, some of the drivers behind these changes in demand, and how USDA Ag Marketing Services Local Food Research and Development Division is trying to help farmers and food marketers take advantage of the recent surge in local food demand through grant assistance, primary data collection, applied research on emerging business models, technical assistance and market facility design. https://msues.adobeconnect.com/_a828402417/srdc/