Apprentices come to the Center for Environmental Farming Systems’ Small Farm Unit (SFU) to learn the basics of running a small farm in eastern North Carolina in a practical, hands-on manner by working with the farm manager, extension personnel and university researchers on a daily basis. Apprentices will participate fully in the production and marketing activities of the SFU as learners and partners, and may observe and participate in education and research/demonstration activities as occasions permit. Apprentices are expected to develop the expertise to take charge of specific enterprises or aspects of the small farm unit.

The SFU is a 30-acre unit of the 2,000-acre Cherry Research Farm in Goldsboro, in Wayne County, eastern North Carolina. The apprenticeship is designed to be a practical, experience-based, hands-on learning adventure. Apprentices work with other learners and are guided by CEFS staff with experience in production, marketing, research and social context. There is Internet access as well as contact with NCSU, NCA&TSU and NCDA&CS resources.

The apprenticeship for 2010 will focus on production and marketing in the context of eastern North Carolina. Currently the SFU is engaged in the following activities, presently used for research and demonstration purposes:

1. organic systems work (utilizing cover crops, animals, soil building and high-value crops);
2. season extension production in high tunnels and greenhouses;
3. organic transplant production;
4. beneficial insect farmscaping;
5. small fruits—blueberries, strawberries, blackberries—and high-value vegetables;
6. pastured meat (goats and poultry);
7. marketing locally through farmers markets; and
8. post-harvest handling and food safety issues.

Apprentices develop skills and are encouraged to mentor each other as well as interns and others learners engaged in CEFS programs. As relevant, field trips to farms, university campuses and farmers markets in other parts of North Carolina are part of the educational experience for CEFS SFU apprentices.

The apprenticeship is designed around an entire growing season, February 1 to September 30. Some weekend and holiday work is required. There is also the possibility of a winter apprenticeship (October 1 to January 31).

Housing and a modest stipend of $100 a week are provided. If there are sufficient funds, there may be a modest bonus allocation of “profits” from farmer market sales to apprentices. All CEFS workshops are free to apprentices, and attendance/participation is highly encouraged.

To Apply:

Submit an email letter of interest to Steve Moore at steve_moore@ncsu.edu, and include the following information:

1. your area of interest in sustainable agriculture,
2. your background, resume, and contact information for three references, and
3. why you would like an apprenticeship at the CEFS Small Farm Unit. Please mention what you hope to get from the experience and what you can offer to the Small Farm Unit team.

After receiving your information, John O’Sullivan or Steve Moore will contact you.

We will begin reviewing applications on January 1, 2010.

For more information on the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, check out their website at: http://www.cefs.ncsu.edu/index.htm

For More Information on Jobs and Internships, Please Visit the beginningfarmers.org Employment/Internship Page

The Poughkeepsie Farm Project (New York State) seeks farm interns for 2010!

Poughkeepsie Farm Project’s Farming for the City program provides interns with hands on experience growing food and providing education and outreach to the community, weekly trainings and field trips, and meaningful employment which makes a real difference in the community. Interns work with PFP staff and members to grow 10 acres of mixed vegetables, operate a CSA, run a farmers market, teach children and teenagers about food and farming, practice and promote seed saving, and lead outreach efforts to increase food access and awareness of food in the City of Poughkeepsie. Interns also have the opportunity to participate in the Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training (CRAFT) program.

In 2010 they offer three full-season internships, either 7 or 8 month positions. There are opportunities to gain a wide range of knowledge and skills through weekly workshops and through exposure to a variety of activities at the PFP. At the same time, interns focus on learning management skills in their area of interest. Farm interns focus on learning skills necessary in managing a farm (such as tractor work, harvest management and CSA management). Compensation includes a weekly stipend, vegetables, and training.

They’re seeking dependable and good-natured interns with an active interest in farming as well as an interest in working towards a just and sustainable food system; good communication skills; the ability to take initiative and a desire to be a part of bringing about positive community change. Interested candidates are requested to apply by February 1, 2010; however, the positions will remain open until filled. For more information, or to receive an application, contact them at info@farmproject.org and visit their website at www.farmproject.org.

For More Information on Jobs and Internships, Please Visit the beginningfarmers.org Employment/Internship Page

The course “Urban Agriculture Types” is the third course in a series of 4 courses developed by Ryerson University ’s G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education and Centre for Studies in Food Security (www.ryerson.ca/foodsecurity) in partnership with ETC-Urban Agriculture (www.etc-urbanagriculture.org) and the international network of Resource centres on Urban Agriculture and Food security ( RUAF ) (www.ruaf.org). This specific course will start discussing various urban agriculture production systems -such as home-gardening, community gardening, school and institutional gardens, small-scale commercial horticulture, livestock or aquatic production, large-scale (peri)urban agriculture enterprises, urban forestry and multi-functional farms – in terms of their resource-use, location, policy and institutional frameworks, functions, technical aspects, development challenges and support needs. Moreover, it will look into urban agriculture input supply, processing and marketing systems. The course will discuss which of these urban agriculture types can best be promoted in a given situation, where in the city, and how this could best be done. It will specifically look into a methodology for farmer-centered learning, research and extension for urban agriculture development.  Examples and case studies from around the world will be used for further illustration and learning.

The course fees amount to Canadian dollars (CAD) $492. This fee applies both for Canadian and international students.

For further information on course content and enrolment, please link to:

http://ce-online.ryerson.ca/ce_2009-2010/calendar/default.aspx?section=course&sub=cert&cert=%7b3A7C2435-B401-45D7-9D0F-D243167E9A26%7d&mode=course&ccode=CVFN+412&subname=Food+Security

or contact:

Reg Noble, PhD
Academic Coordinator
Certificate in Food Security
Continuing Education, Ryerson University

Email: food@ryerson.ca

Growing Together

Community Garden Conference

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Location

Rochester City Hall, Atrium

30 Church St. Rochester, NY 14614

Free parking available at City Hall

Morning Tour

9am – Noon

$15 per person (includes lunch / limited to 50)

Take a ride on the U of R bio-bus for a tour of Freshlink’s hydroponic facility and drive-by tours of

area school and community gardens. Meet in the City Hall parking lot on Fitzhugh St.

How-to Community Garden

12:45 pm – 5:30 pm

$10 per person

Area experts will guide you step-by-step during three break-out sessions: 1) Soil Health

2) A-Z Organic Garden Planning, and 3) Community Garden and Urban Agriculture Development and Policy.

Business, organization and vendor tables available

Cost: $10 each

Reserve a table to advertise your community supported agriculture project, farm, business, organization or product.

· Purchase Soil Test Kits

· Community Garden Permits

· Free Seeds

· Ask the Expert

· Vendor Fair

To download a registration form, go to www.rochesterroots.org

Questions?

Please call Jan McDonald at 585-232-1463

Organizers: The Gandhi Institute and Rochester Roots

Sponsored by: The City of Rochester, The Rochester Area Community Foundation, Lori’s Natural Foods, Abundance Co-op and Phoenix Graphics

All proceeds benefit Rochester Roots

USDA News Release No. 0624.09

Contact: Jonathan Groveman 720-4178

AGRICULTURE SECRETARY VILSACK ANNOUNCES CHEESE PURCHASE OF $60 MILLION TO ASSIST STRUGGLING DAIRY PRODUCERS, AID NATION’S FOOD BANKS

WASHINGTON, Dec.18, 2009 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that approximately $60 million in cheese and cheese products will be purchased by the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) for use in domestic feeding programs through USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. USDA is expediting this cheese purchase to help provide much-needed support for low-income families struggling to put nutritious food on their tables, and to deliver timely assistance to dairy farmers who have been challenged by high feed costs and low dairy prices.

“This purchase will provide food to people in need, while helping dairy producers who are facing economic challenges by increasing demand for dairy products,” said Secretary Vilsack. “The Obama Administration continues to lend assistance in any way we can to support struggling agricultural industries.”

Along with providing market benefits for U.S. dairy producers, commodity purchases such as the $60 million announced today provide much-needed food aid – in the form of high-protein cheese – to food banks across our nation. The purchase continues USDA’s long history of delivering nutritional assistance through domestic and international feeding programs, including 15 domestic nutrition programs that touch the lives of one in every five people in America each day.

This aid comes at a time when demand on the nation’s food banks has reached an all-time high. As Americans across the country work to recover from tough economic times, food banks will continue to see a record demand for nutritious meals. The USDA cheese purchase announced today is part of a broad effort to address that urgent problem by providing ongoing support for those organizations across America struggling to meet demand every day.

The 2010 Agricultural Appropriations Act authorized $60 million for the purchase of cheese and cheese products. This cheese purchase marks the second of two steps announced this week by USDA to utilize a total of $350 million authorized under the Act. Yesterday, Vilsack announced the Dairy Economic Loss Assistance Payment Program, which provides $290 million for one-time payments to eligible dairy producers.

Throughout this year, U.S. dairy farmers have struggled against worsening markets. Milk prices declined substantially through early-to-mid-2009, with the national price for milk averaging $16.80 per hundredweight (cwt.) in the fourth quarter of 2008 and averaging $12.23 per cwt. in the first quarter of 2009, a 27-percent decline. On average, the price U.S. dairy producers received for milk marketed in the summer of 2009 was about half of what it cost them to produce milk.

“USDA is committed to helping dairy producers weather current challenges in the market, and this cheese purchase serves as one more example in a long line of USDA efforts this year to provide support,” said Jim Miller, Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agriculture Services.

USDA has taken a number of steps in 2009 to provide relief to dairy farmers around the country. These steps include:

• Just yesterday, Agriculture Secretary Vilsack today announced the implementation of the new Dairy Economic Loss Assistance Payment (DELAP) program, which will provide $290 million for loss assistance payments to eligible dairy producers.
• USDA spent approximately $1 billion in fiscal year 2009 on purchases of dairy products under the Dairy Price Support Program and payments to producers under the Milk Income Loss Contract.
• USDA reactivated the Dairy Export Incentive Program (DEIP), to help U.S. dairy exporters meet prevailing world prices in addition to encouraging the development of international export markets in areas where U.S. dairy products are not competitive due to subsidized dairy products from other countries.
• USDA increased the amount paid for dairy products through the Dairy Product Price Support Program. USDA estimates that these increases, which were in place from August 2009 through October 2009, increased dairy farmers’ revenue by approximately $243 million.
• In March, USDA transferred approximately 200 million pounds of nonfat dry milk to USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, which not only removed surplus inventory from the market, but also supported low-income families struggling to put nutritious food on their tables.

Interested in Post-Harvest Handling for Vegetable Production Quality and Success? Held in Oconomowoc on Jan. 6 and Viroqua on Jan. 7, get more information and/or register through the WI Dept. of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection’s Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin Workshop Roadshow

Please visit their partners for other workshops and information on how you can be a part of sustainable agriculture: Angelic Organics Learning Center,The Farm Business Development Center at Prairie Crossing Farm and visit us at Michael Fields Agricultural Institute

By DAVID MERCER (AP) – Nov 17, 2009

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Tristesse Jones will probably never drive a tractor or guide a combine through rows of soybeans at harvest time.

There isn’t a farm within miles of where she grew up on Chicago’s west side, but she’s set to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in crop sciences from the University of Illinois’ agriculture school next spring.

“People ask me what is my major, and they say ‘What is that? So you want to grow plants?’” Jones said.

She is one of a growing number of students being drawn to ag schools around the country not by ties to a farm but by science, the job prospects for those who are good at it and, for some, an interest in the environment.

Enrollment in bachelor’s degree programs in agriculture across the country grew by 21.8 percent from 2005 to 2008, from about 58,300 students to nearly 71,000, according to surveys conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And the numbers are likely higher — not all schools respond to the surveys.

National enrollment figures for 2009 aren’t yet available, but numbers from major schools make clear the trend continues: The University of California-Davis has more than 5,490 students enrolled in agricultural majors — a jump of 210 from a year earlier. Purdue University has 2,575 ag students this fall, up 40 from last year. Read more »

Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010 -
Texas Plant & Soil Lab’s Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition Short Course.
www.tpsl.biz Contact norma@tpsl.biz Telephone: 956-383-0739

From an organic/sustainable approach, the course will include:
Soil & Plant Nutrient Assessment Tools,
Adequate major and secondary nutrients,
Foliar fertilizer application,
Micronutrients, Water management, Composts/Teas,
Non-traditional products (microbes and adjuvants).

Course materials will also include the new book, Ask the Plant (Acres, USA).

Thursday, Feb. 4 – 6, 2010 -
SAEA 9th Sustainable Ag Conference for Large and Small Food Production.
www.sustainableagrgv.org Contact b-storz@tamu.edu Telephone: 956-383-102

Both events will take place in Edinburg, Texas

A Place of Their Own

Submitted by Editor on Fri, 11/27/2009 – 11:40am.

Falling Land Prices —
Good News for Young Farmers

Andrew Jenner
Virginia Correspondent

For Full Article, Go to Lancaster Farming

GROVE HILL, Va. — The first order of business at the new Foltz farm was mowing the pasture, overgrown after a few years of neglect. From the sloping field, there is a clear view south to the fading red barn (also needs some work) and the flat bottomland beside the South Fork of the Shenandoah River. The Foltzes — a full-time Page County farming family — will put most of the new 170-acre spread in alfalfa; horse owners buy it by the small square bale as fast as it will grow.

When the farm was listed for sale, the Foltzes, whose main farm lies just north of the new one, were interested but they didn’t expect they’d be able to afford the whole thing.

“We thought we could buy 50 acres,” said Brad Foltz, one of three brothers now farming with their father, Paul.

A couple years ago, he probably would have been right. In 2006, at the height of the real estate bubble, farm land in the Shenandoah Valley routinely sold for more than $10,000 per acre — well beyond affordability for most working farmers. But real estate isn’t moving in 2009 like it was in 2006, and after a few rounds of offers and counter-offers, the Foltzes closed on their new farm in the fall, settling on a price of around $4,300 per acre.

A decrease in land prices is good news for young farmers like Brad Foltz, 28, who’s worked full-time on the farm for the past 10 years, saving money for a place of his own.

VT EarthWorks is a business acceleration program designed specifically for agriculture and natural resource-based businesses that serve regional markets. Program services include land for lease, cooperative marketing, peer-to-peer learning networks, business logo development, interviews with potential consumer markets (e.g., restaurants, institutions, farmers markets, etc.), monthly grange hall meetings, and much more.

The Growers’ Academy is an 8-week learning series offered on Tuesday nights starting January 19, 2010, from 6 – 9 pm, at the VT Roanoke Center in the Roanoke Higher Education Building in Downtown Roanoke.  The learning series is designed to build a peer cohort of producers and to help new and transitioning vegetable and cut-flower businesses succeed.   The Growers’ Academy is offered through VT EarthWorks in partnership with Virginia Cooperative Extension.

Growers’ Academy topics include goal setting, production planning, vegetable production, soils and cover crops, pest and weed management, business plan development, rotational plantings, equipment, marketing, and more. Each weekly session is presented by subject matter experts, including successful producers.  Some key speakers include Mark Schonbeck, Jason Rutledge, Alan Straw, Scott Sink, and many more.

Graduates of the Growers’ Academy will receive a preliminary membership to VT EarthWorks.  Graduates who do not have access to land will be eligible to gain access to land through VT EarthWorks at the Catawba Sustainability Center in Catawba, VA.

Registration for the Academy is $215 per person for the 8-week series.
You can register online at http://www.cpe.vt.edu/reg/grac
Registration is requested by January 12, 2010.

Contact Christy Gabbard, Director of VT Earthworks, at 540-767-6114 or cgunnels@vt.edu, for more information on VT EarthWorks, or to receive a Growers’ Academy flyer and/or registration form.

Support for VT EarthWorks has been generously provided by the Blue Moon Fund.

The University of Kentucky is hosting The American Grassfed Association’s Grazing America Conference in Lexington, February 5^th & 6^th.

Growing Your Grass-fed Business:
Smart Risk Management and High-Quality Marketing
PLUS -
” From Farm Gate to Customer’s Plate”
Butchery and Cooking Sessions with some of America’s Best Butchers and Chefs.

Chefs Michael Leviton from Boston & Jay Denham from Louisville

Meat cutting demonstration by Dr. Gregg Rentfrow

The closing dinner will be created by UK Dining Services, on their way to $500,000 in local food purchases this year.

Y’all come!

For schedule, and to register, visit: http://www.americangrassfed.org/

This is Part IV in BeginingFarmers.org’s series about corporate domination, consolidation, and possible antitrust violations in the agriculture sector.

See Part I HERE; See Part II HERE; See Part III HERE

Transgenic Seed Platforms: Competition Between a Rock and a Hard Place?

By Diana L. Moss

The American Antitrust Institute

Published October 23, 2009

Executive Summary

For the full article and Presentation, visit: http://www.antitrustinstitute.org/Archives/seed.ashx

With the widespread adoption by farmers of corn, cotton, and soybean seed containing transgenic technology, the U.S. seed industry has changed rapidly in the past twenty years. The largest changes include the creation of strongholds of patented technology and the gradual elimination of the numerous regional independent seed companies through consolidation. Resulting increases in concentration in affected markets has been driven largely by the industry’s dominant firm, Monsanto.

A threshold question to consider is whether Monsanto has exercised its market power to foreclose rivals from market access, harming competition and thereby slowing the pace of innovation and adversely affecting prices, quality, and choice for farmers and consumers of seed products. If the answer to this question is yes, remedying the intractable competitive situation that prevails in the transgenic seed industry may require antitrust enforcement, legislative relief, or both. The problem highlights both the importance of competition policy and the security and diversity of a key agricultural sector.

Any antitrust inquiry into the transgenic seed industry should carefully consider the three markets in which Monsanto possesses market power (innovation, genetic traits, and traited seed) and conduct that potentially stifles competition. Such conduct includes licensing restrictions on rivals’ use of Monsanto traits and control of the distribution channel to create adverse incentives for seed companies and farmers to distribute or plant anything but Monsanto products. At the core of this analysis is the tension between patent law and antitrust law. Moreover, antitrust enforcement will require thoughtful approaches to remedy, particularly the goals of promoting competition between transgenic seed platforms versus easing access to Monsanto’s dominant platform.

Check out Philpott’s short article on USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan HERE, which features the video below:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Dec 18, 2009. U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) applauded the Department of Agriculture for their implementation of the new Dairy Economic Loss Assistance Payment (DELAP) program which will provide $290 million for loss assistance payments to eligible dairy producers.

The announcement comes on the heels of a letter Senator Specter sent to the Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on Friday in which he urged the Department to move promptly to enact the program by the year’s end. The funding for the program was made possible by an amendment that Senator Specter supported in the 2010 Agricultural Appropriations Bill which was approved by Congress on October 8th.

Read the full article from the Pittsburgh History Examiner HERE

Also read related articles at Iowa Farmer Today; and AG Weekly Online

This is Part III in BeginingFarmers.org’s series about corporate domination, consolidation, and possible antitrust violations in the agriculture sector.

See Part I HERE; See Part II HERE; See Part IV HERE

Out of Hand: Farmers Face the Consequences of a Consolidated Seed Industry

Concentration in the seed industry leads to less choice, higher prices for U.S. farmers

December 9, 2009

by Kristina Hubbard of the Farmer to Farmer Campaign
See the full 59 page research report at: http://farmertofarmercampaign.com/Out%20of%20Hand.FullReport.pdf

Contacts:

Kristina Hubbard (Farmer to Farmer) – 406-544-8946, kristina.hubbard@gmail.com; Bill Wenzel (Farmer to Farmer) – 608-444-0292, bwenzel2@aol.com; Todd Leake (North Dakota farmer 701-594-4275; Paul Rozwadowski (Wisconsin farmer)715-644-5079

American farmers are feeling the effects of a concentrated seed industry. Seed options are diminishing while prices increase at historic rates.

A new report, Out of hand: Farmers face the consequences of a consolidated seed industry, examines these troubling trends, substantiating the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation into alleged anticompetitive conduct in the seed industry.

“Farmers are facing fewer choices and significantly higher prices in seed,” says Kristina Hubbard, author of the report. “Seed options narrow when a handful of companies dominate the marketplace.”

Discussions on seed industry concentration typically center on the dominant firm, the Monsanto Company, which achieved the No. 1 position by capturing the markets for most major crops through a series of acquisitions and mergers. Monsanto accounts for 60 percent of the corn and soybean seed market through direct seed sales and seed trait licensing agreements with other companies. Monsanto’s biotechnology traits are planted on more than 90 percent of U.S. soybean acreage and more than 80 percent of U.S. corn acreage.

The report outlines events that led to extensive concentration, including weak antitrust law enforcement and Supreme Court decisions that allowed genetically engineered crops and other plant products to be patented. These factors have created unprecedented ownership and control over plant genetic resources in major field crops.

“We are encouraged that the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Justice have launched a joint investigation into anticompetitive practices in agriculture,” says Bill Wenzel, national director of the Farmer to Farmer Campaign on Genetic engineering. “We believe this report will shed light on the severe negative impacts that these practices have had on producers and provide insight on what changes in policy are necessary to protect farmers’ rights and interests.” Read more »