A. Marketing
Opportunities for New (and not so new) Sustainable Farmers
A general summary of the marketing opportunities that any
young farmer/producer could/should consider as they develop their enterprise.
All of the opportunities – or at least as many as we have time to present. Our goal with this session is A “just the facts, ma’m” approach.
Tyler Magnuson, Cait Caughey; are young & beginning farmers at Botna Burrow in Hancock, Iowa, which is in its third year. They operate a diverse vegetable farm (Certified Naturally Grown) and collaborative CSA (Loess Hills cCSA). They are passionate about healthy food, organic practices, soil health, and family-friendly farm events (like Contra Dancing!). Cait also works as the Education Coordinator at Big Garden in Omaha.www.botnaburrow.com
B. The Native
Spirit, Pollinators & Diversity
It seems like every day now
brings another media report about the enormous environmental challenges facing
our species. Climate change, biodiversity collapse, plant & animal
extinctions, water scarcity, and soil degradation come to mind, among others.
It’s hard to be optimistic some days. But there are several things people can
do in their own yards and landscapes to address these challenges. One of the
best things we can do for insect and animal biodiversity is to plant and
celebrate regionally native plants. This session will highlight several woody
and prairie plant species for attracting and sustaining biodiversity, including
pollinator.
Justin
Evertson; has been involved with the Nebraska Statewide
Arboretum and the Nebraska Forest Service since 1990. Since 2010 he has been
Green Infrastructure Coordinator for the Community Forestry and Sustainable
Landscapes unit of NFS/NSA. Justin
oversees programs that provide funding, technical assistance and educational
outreach for sustainable landscape enhancements in communities across the
state. Justin has authored many
publications with an emphasis on woody plant selections. He earned his
architecture and community and regional planning degrees from UNL (1988/92).
Justin grew up on a farm in Kimball County (far western Nebraska) where he
learned an appreciation for shortgrass prairie and Nebraska’s wide-open spaces.
Justin is passionate about trees, the native landscape, biodiversity and
sustainable landscape development. He lives in Waverly where he plants many
trees and works to enhance landscapes throughout the community.
C. Nebraska Permaculture Design
If you saw last year's
presentation, you may still want to see this one. Gus has improved upon the
same theme with more perspective for the Nebraskan farmstead. Gus makes the
case for using every inch of your Nebraskan land to improve your efficiency,
safety, community, maintenance, management, wildlife, productivity and
enjoyment. Through permaculture practices and ethics, Gus demonstrates easy
ways to get into farming resourcefully with practical design improvements that
allow you to achieve success more easily. Using climate change as an
opportunity, he will also advocate for new ways to diversify the farm so the
proverbial eggs are placed in many baskets. If you could use a different
perspective on land management to improve your farm or to eventually purchase a
farm, please check out Gus's presentation.
Gus
Von Roenn; Gus is an advocate for permaculture and sustainable
practices throughout Nebraska. He works through many organizations like the
Nebraska Farmers Union, the Sierra Club, Nebraskans for Solar, Nebraska
Sustainable Agricultural Society, the Metro Omaha Food Policy Council and Omaha
Permaculture to elevate the discussion of issues surrounding healthy food
accessibility, land stewardship and entrepreneurship in low-income communities.
His academic background is in anthropology, sociology, archaeology and
permaculture while working in landscaping, photography and home remodeling to
pay off school. Currently, Gus is a certified permaculture designer with his
own Permaculture design consulting firm and landscaping crew to install the
designs. He is also the founder of a nonprofit called Omaha Permaculture that
accepts degraded, vacant land for restoration while providing space to incubate
agriculture-related entrepreneurial opportunities. As an advocate for
everything Permaculture and sustainability in Nebraska, he likes to help many
organizations teach their constituents the limitless opportunities that create
abundance in all of our communities for all of us to share.
Lincoln, Neb. — Wildflowers are an important part of any region's identity. Nebraska Wildflower Week celebrates this sense of place through wildflower-related events and activities the first week in June, when many of Nebraska's prairies and gardens are at their prime.