Calendar of Events

May 15, 2008
Goldsboro, North Carolina

This afternoon tour is part of the Seasons of Sustainable Agriculture series at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems. Walk through high tunnel and field research plots at CEFS to see organic production of heirloom tomatoes and ask local NC State researchers about this ongoing project. Learn about grafting, plant nutrition and IPM strategies implemented in field and tunnel tomato production.

May 15, 2008
Vermilion County, Indiana

This series of monthly farm tours has been developed to provide an opportunity for farmers and other rural residents who are investigating ways to diversify their operations to learn from other diversified Hoosier farmers. This series of educational programs is made possible by the financial support of North Central Regional SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education), with the collaborative efforts of Indiana State Department of Agriculture, the Purdue New Ventures Team, and the Purdue Small Farms Team. The May tour focuses on E-Marketing.

May 15, 2008
Ames, Iowa

Participants will receive individual, hands-on instruction to evaluate cash flow and product profitability. They will learn how to use software to help them determine product costs and custom processing rates for maximum profitability in their operations. The workshops are supported in part by the Small Meat Processors Working Group, a member of the Value Chain Partnerships project coordinated by the Leopold Center.

May 16-17, 2008
New York, New York

Project for Public Spaces is offering its well-known course that highlights the four elements of a successful market: the right mix of vendors and products; a strong sense of place; solid economic and operational underpinnings; and a firm commitment to the surrounding community. The course includes workshops and on-site tours of New York City's open-air farmers markets, indoor public markets, flea markets and urban farms.

May 16, 2008
Bedford, Indiana

Purdue Extension presents this workshop that offers an overview of state regulations for food handling as well as updates on the WIC program. They will also be sharing the results of a Farmers’ Market Survey and a Farmers’ Market Pricing Study. Participants will leave the workshop with renewed energy and enthusiasm for operating and collaborating with farmers’ markets.

May 16, 2008
Latrobe, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Women's Ag Network offers an opportunity to tour Jamison farm and learn how John and Sukey Jamison produce 5,000 lambs a year on their 210-acre farm. The Jamisons pasture and process those lambs on the farm in their own butchering facility and sell to some of the finest chefs and restaurants in the world. Paddocks, barns, and the processing plant are included in the tour.

May 16-17, 2008
Columbus, Ohio

This joint conference of Simply Living and the Social Responsibility Initiative of the Ohio State University CFAES will provide an opportunity for Central Ohioans to explore ways to live more sustainably, as well as an opportunity to learn about building more sustainable communities and institutions in the region. A local food and food policy track is offered.

May 19-21, 2008
Shelburne, Vermont

With the elegant Inn at Shelburne Farms as your hub, take a three-day journey into the world of artisanal cheesemaking. From maintaining a dairy herd to highlighting cheese flavors, each step of this course brings to life the art of creating, appreciating and serving Vermont’s finest cheeses. Visit several Vermont cheesemakers, enjoy a cheese-tasting reception, make cheddar with Shelburne Farms' head cheesemaker, stroll the pastures and tour the dairy where their cheese begins.

May 19-20, 2008
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

Sponsored by the National Center for Appropriate Technology, the SPIN Cities & Campuses: Farming Where We Live & Learn workshop will bring together aspiring and practicing farmers with university students to learn SPIN-Farming techniques that are helping to re-establish agriculture at the center of urban and suburban economies and family and civic life. SPIN-Farming is a non-technical, easy to-learn and inexpensive-to-implement farming system that makes it possible to generate significant income from land masses of less than an acre. It is organic-based and provides a step-by-step process for creating a high-income producing backyard, front lawn or neighborhood-based commercial farm. Taught by Wally Satzewich, veteran urban farmer and developer of SPIN-Farming.

May 19, 2008
Goldsboro, North Carolina

Center for Environmental Farming Systems is offering this training as part of its Seasons of Sustainable Agriculture series. This day-long training is an introduction to issues relating to food safety and safe food handling as they can be addressed through Good Agricultural Practices. Topics will be addressed with modules being developed for training of growers and others selling into the local food market.

May 19-20, 2008
Raleigh, North Carolina

This 8th annual event is a conference about worm farming and vermicomposting taught by industry experts. This conference is great for beginners or seasoned worm farm operators.

May 19, 2008
Monroe, Washington

This event at Willie Green's Organic Farm is one in a series of Farm Walks jointly sponsored by Tilth Producers of Washington and WSU Small Farms Team. Jeff Miller will share his innovative ideas for getting a jump on early mixed vegetable production. Participants will tour greenhouses and propagation houses, as well as direct-seeded and transplanted row crops. Willie Green’s sells at year-round farmers markets, and offers a winter CSA share.

May 20, 2008
Mountain Grove, Missouri

Missouri State Fruit Experiment Station presents this day-long field day for strawberry growers, with presentations on Matted-Row Production, Plasticulture, and Biofumigation.

May 21, 2008
Kutztown, Pennsylvania

Join PA-WAgN, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Southeast RC&D, Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture (PASA), and the Rodale Institute for our annual tour of the Rodale institute’s Research facility. We’ll tour the experimental farm and learn about the important role women play in mentoring farmers in sustainable agriculture.

May 22, 2008
International

This year’s theme for the International Day for Biological Diversity (IBD), "Biodiversity and Agriculture," seeks to highlight the importance of sustainable agriculture not only to preserve biodiversity, but also to ensure that we will be able to feed the world, maintain agricultural livelihoods, and enhance human well being into the 21st century and beyond. On May 22, events will take place around the world to emphasize the value of agricultural biodiversity for food security, human nutrition and improved rural livelihoods. These events will highlight the need for actions to halt the loss of agricultural biodiversity and to enhance the contributions that rural landscapes make to human well-being.

May 25, 2008
College Grove, Tennessee

Tour Delvin Certified Organic Farm to see growing methods, and visit with other organic growers. The afternoon event includes a covered dish meal and recipe swap.

May 25, 2008
Concord, Massachusetts

This NOFA Massachusetts Practical Skills Workshop offers a chance to learn about raising broilers from chick to market—brooding, mobile coop construction, electric fencing, feed rations and supplements, veterinary care, marketing, and humane slaughter. Pete Lowy and Jennifer Hashley have also been working with NESFI and state regulators to implement a Mobile Poultry Processing Unit which will be available to view.

May 27, 2008
Sumter, South Carolina

Clemson Sustainable Agriculture Program 2008 Organic Vegetable Production Workshop Series "Organic Vegetable Farming on a Budget" presents Part One: Spring and Early Summer Vegetable Production Techniques. If you are interested in getting started with organic vegetables or in improving your production techniques, this will be an excellent opportunity to learn from the experts at Sumter Cooperative Farm.

May 29, 2008
Stratford, Oklahoma

Susan Bergen will host this field day sponsored by Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Peach Crest Farm. Visitors will see how they irrigate, integrate and implement what the customer is looking for on this acreage: great tasting produce, grown in environmentally friendly constraints, and sold at a reasonable price. Peach trees share forty acres along the highway with a display garden area, as well as the packing sheds and barns. An additional 160 acres grows a variety of vegetable crops: cantaloupes, tomatoes, onions, and more. Twelve certified organic acres produce vegetables and herbs.

May 29, 2008
Shavertown, Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA), the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), Piedmont Biofuels, and the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA) are pleased to announce a full day workshop on farm energy audits and biodiesel production and use. The day will begin with an introduction to biodiesel production presented by Piedmont Biofuels. This field day will also focus on emphasizing farm energy audits as a means for farmers to explore potential energy savings. A tour of The Lands at Hillside Farms and its milk processing facility will demonstrate how farmers can benefit from an energy audit. Information on how to have an energy audit performed on your farm will be provided along with a description of what resources are available to improve energy efficiency in your operation.

May 29, 2008
Athens, Georgia

The UGA Extension faculty from the Department of Food Science & Technology and the Center for Agribusiness & Economic Development (CAED) will address topics concerning the food product entrepreneur. Program highlights include a roundtable discussion with entrepreneurs sharing their experiences and challenges in starting, running, and growing a food business in Georgia.

May 29, 2008
McPherson, Kansas

Vaughn Juhnke, winner of the 2006 Kansas Agroforestry Award will be hosting the 2008 Agroforestry Field Day at his McPherson County farm. Windbreaks, riparian forest buffers and wildlife plantings are a few examples of Agroforestry practices, all which may be found on Juhnke’s 67-acre farm. The Agroforestry Field day will provide landowners and natural resource professionals the opportunity to observe a successful model of land management that optimizes wildlife habitat, recreation, conservation and aesthetics.

May 30, 2008
Northeast Iowa

Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area offers "Growing Your Story: How to Create Authentic Farm Experiences." This is an opportunity to learn how your local neighbors are adding value to their farms by cultivating a new crop of tourists. Find out why travelers are interested in your story and how you can make sustainable tourism a part of your farm. For more information, call 319-234-4567.

May 31, 2008
Lincoln, Nebraska

The one-day "From Recipe to Reality" seminar presented by the Food Processing Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is the first step in developing a food business. It is specifically designed to provide entrepreneurs with an understanding of the key issues they will need to consider when starting a food business. This session of the seminar will be presented in Spanish.

May 31, 2008
East Troy, Wisconsin

Explore the comprehensive ecological methods behind the world-wide biodynamic farming movement.

May 31 - June 1, 2008
Livingston, California

This Heartland event will be hosted by local farmers Cindy Lashbrook and Bill Thompson, California Alliance of Family Farmers and local organizations. This spring event on a diversified organic ranch will provide a u-pick with an array of organic blueberries and cherries, workshops, poetry, local artisans, a farmers' market, music, children's activities, farm tours, wine tasting, overnight camping and Sunday morning breakfast.

June 1-3, 2008
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Join the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences and leaders from throughout Pennsylvania’s agricultural and environmental community for a conference designed to tap the collective wisdom in identifying opportunities for improving the state’s water quality. This two-day conference will bring together the state’s foremost experts to identify opportunities and solutions for better stewardship of the land and waters.

June 2, 2008
Lincoln, Nebraska

The Food Processing Center at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln offers the one-day "From Recipe to Reality" seminar—the first step in developing a food business. It is specifically designed to provide entrepreneurs with an understanding of the key issues they will need to consider when starting a food business.