Crop Production and Business Management Courses are available Online from The Center for Learning and Educational Support at the University of Guelph.

Early Bird tuition fee for winter 2012 horticulture, turf and landscape online courses at the University of Guelph ends Friday, December 9, 2011. Register by this date and pay only $495 per course. Courses offered this winter include: Alternative Land Use Practices for Sustainable Landscapes; Business Management Principles; Computer Assisted Design; Cultural Practices for Plants; Commercial Greenhouse Crop Production; Growing Plants; Nursery Production; Introduction to Plant Identification; Landscape Design I; Weed Management in Horticulture; Weed Management in Turf; and Environmental Management of the Golf Course. And a new offering for the winter 2012 semester: Landscape Design II.

Call 519.767.5000, e-mail nfo@coles.uoguelph.ca or visit www.horticulturecertificates.com for course information and registration forms.

Winter semester starts Monday, January 9 and runs 12 weeks until Friday, March 30, 2012. Courses do fill so register now to save money and ensure you have a space in the offering you want! Registrations received after December 9, 2011 are $549 per course.

Also Check out their Horticulture, Turf, and Landscape Certificate Programs

Ger-Nis Culinary & Herb Center in Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY is hiring for a Culinary Class & Special Events Local Food Intern. Full or Part Time Flexible/Nights/Weekends. $10/hour.

Contact: employment@ger-nis.com Website: http://www.ger-nis.com/culinaryherbcenter

Ger-Nis Culinary & Herb Center, located in Park Slope, Brooklyn, is seeking entry level culinary interns to assist in the daily operations and the advancement of our culinary center.  This is a very unique entry level position, and interns will gain experience in all operations of the culinary center.  The culinary interns will report directly to the culinary center manager.  Tasks and duties include helping us manage our events program, culinary classes, and children’s cooking programs, community outreach, guerilla marketing; the whole gamut.  We’re looking for someone who has a passion for food and experience in the food and culinary world.  Applicants should have some experience in a working kitchen; basic skills of cooking and prep are mandatory.  Microsoft Office Suite, Word Press, Adobe Illustrator, CS5, Photoshop, are a plus but not absolutely necessary.  Applicants must be very organized, with a high level of attention to detail.  Applicants should also have a talent for writing and editing if they care to participate in our internship writing program in which they are allowed to submit work for publication.  Applicants must have some weeknights and weekends available as the majority of the work will be at these times.  This is a great opportunity to learn a great deal about business, the organic, fair-trade world and the culinary sector of food.   Please see our website for more information about the culinary center. Read more »

Redline Solutions will host a webinar that will focus on what growers, shippers, and packers need to do achieve Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) compliance in 2012

The Webinar Will be Held On Wednesday, December 14, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. PST

The PTI milestones date for labeling each case of produce with Product (GTIN) and Lot/Batch IDs is coming up at the end of this year. Major retailers are taking action to meet their own year-end milestones of reading and storing the information on in-bound cases. The FDA continues to move forward with implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act and will be rolling out the implementation plans in 2012.

The new regulations means that pressure to meet the new requirements will build throughout 2012. Webinar attendees will learn: The steps needed to comply with the PTI milestones; The tools needed for compliance; How to extend these tools to grower, packer, and cooler partners; How to use PTI information to improve internal operations

Register at: www.redlineforproduce.com. Register now, space is limited.

 About RedLine Solutions: RedLine Solutions provides whole chain traceability solutions for fresh produce growers, packers and shippers. The company offers a complete family of traceability solutions including RedLine Field, RedLine Cooler and RedLine Packing. For more information visit: www.redlineforproduce.com.

Groundwork Somerville (Massachusetts) is accepting applications for a Lead Gardens Educator Job to begin January 2nd 2012 to manage and run Groundwork Somerville’s nature and garden-based elementary after school programming.

One full day orientation before winter vacation will provide the foundation for this new staff member to begin programming on January 2nd.   The Lead Gardens Educator will support our Gardens Coordinator with our additional winter and spring programming including: The Somerville Maple Syrup Project, April Vacation Week Camp, and Gardens Consulting.

GWS will be hiring a new full time Gardens Coordinator to start March 26th.  The Gardens Coordinator will supervise and/or run all “healthy EDUCATION” programming.  It is our hope that this will be a stepped process with the Lead Gardens Educator transitioning into the role of Gardens Coordinator to ease into management of such a multifaceted position in our vibrant community-based environmental non-profit organization.

Both positions are contingent on continued funding. As a core program, Schoolyard Gardens is a primary priority for the organization. For more information or to apply, please visit http://www.groundworksomerville.org/about/job-opening/

Ag Opportunities, December 2012 is now available. Agricultural Information for farmers in Missouri and across the Nation…

• December Webinar – Value Added Agriculture: Rules and Regulations

• Online Learning Community

• MU research goes organic

• Great Plains Growers Conference 2012

• Grants and Assistance

• Aquaculture Extension Seminars Available Online

• MAESTRO Offers Extra Incentives for Trimming Farm Energy Costs

• IN PRINT/ON-LINE/IN THE NEWS

• ON THE CALENDAR

Past Issues

Farm Business Planning Course being offered in New York State (Ithaca), Jan-April 2012

Format: 8 classes, every other Thursday evening, January 5 – April 12, 2012

Dates:  January 5 and 19, February 2 and 16, March 1, 15, and 29, and April 12;  6:00 – 9:00 PM

Cost:  Sliding scale, $80 – $300

Application required:  Visit www.groundswellcenter.org for online application or apply online now For more information: info@groundswellcenter.org

In collaboration with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County and Alternatives Federal Credit Union’s Business CENTS Program, the Groundswell Center for Local Food & Farming in Ithaca will be offering an intensive Farm Business Planning Course this winter. The class will cover all major aspects of the farm business start-up process including assessing your land, infrastructure and equipment needs; legal and regulatory issues; production planning; marketing; financial feasibility, budgets and record keeping; and more.

The course is designed for those who:

• Have at least a year of hands-on experience in farming, OR have completed Groundswell’s New Farmer Training Program, and…
• Expect to get their farm enterprise off the ground within three years, OR are in the early stages of a farm business and need help, and…
• Have a clear idea of the kind of farm enterprise they would like to operate, and…
• Can fully commit to an intensive fourteen-week course with substantial outside research and homework.

The class will run for fourteen weeks, meeting every other Thursday evening from 6-9pm from January 5 through April 12. Instructors are Monika Roth, Agriculture Program Leader and Matt LeRoux, Agriculture Marketing Specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County; and Leslie Ackerman, Director of the Business CENTS Program of Alternatives Federal Credit Union, along with area farmers whose stories illustrate the benefits of business planning and financial management skills.

“This is a rigorous course for the serious farming entrepreneur,” says Joanna Green, Director of the Groundswell Center for Local Food & Farming. “We are really pleased to be working with Monika, Matt and Leslie. They’re skilled teachers with a lot of practical knowledge to offer.” Read more »

New software for sustainable small farm management
Farmonic (farmonic.com) was developed by Kareem Shaya, who is convinced that farms can operate more efficiently, and not with a new tractor or improved seed, but through streamlined operations. Farmonic is a project aimed at making crop and harvest planning easier for small, sustainably-managed farms. While the notion of using software or on-line programs to help farmers with their field schedules is not new, Farmonic intends to simplify and even make enjoyable the creation of crop planning and to-do lists. In fact, says the site’s tour page, “if you say to people, ‘You know what I love about farming? Making spreadsheets’, then you’ll hate Farmonic.”

But what sets Shaya’s work apart more is its attention to sustainably-minded growers.  When asked why he chose this segment of the agricultural population, he noted that big conventional farms already have plenty of software to help them lay out their fields and keep track of spraying and harvesting schedules. In speaking with farmer friends who were trying to manage small, organic farming businesses, he found that “they were doing it on the back of a napkin”.

Also check out COG-Pro.com, an online notebook for keeping records related to organic certification for crops and livestock

Shaya is a freelance web developer by trade, but he also applies these skills to personal projects. As he learned more about the complexities of successions and crop rotation, he decided to take the plunge, working for friends at First Root Farm in Concord, MA. There, he got an idea for the daily tasks that growers undertake and learned along with them even as they got their feet on the ground in their first year of operation.

From this experience, he not only gained the nuts-and-bolts knowledge he would need to create Farmonic, but also the guiding principle that his software “had to be easier than what [growers] are using now”. His final creation, after a half-year of development and a soft-launch in December 2010, is a simple product that trusts the farmer to know their crop and provides a template into which they can place their knowledge without flipping through dozens of sheets and Excel files. From this arise complete field schedules, seed orders, and automatic to-do lists. And in the end, if something goes wrong, the site promises that “we’re hunched over our keyboards just waiting to deliver mind-meltingly helpful service.”

Shaya says that response from users thus far has been very positive and, while he does not want to give away too much information, said that sign-ups have been steady and promising. He also says that he “maybe underestimated the possibilities” of this kind of software and is currently exploring different ways of expanding Farmonic.

Winter is upon us and it’s time to start thinking about your plans for next season. Check out Farmonic, take a tour, and even try it for free. Kareem Shaya can be reached at kareem@farmonic.com.

Time and time again we hear that amongst the biggest hurdles for beginning farmers are designing a business model which creditors will fund, and creating a comprehensive food safety plan for their farm. Each of the online tools presented on this webinar provides help to ddresses one of those hurdles.

Farm Credit Council and the National Good Food Network have teamed up to create a website designed to illustrate the myriad ways that farmers have been successful in the “The Field Guide to the  New American Foodshed.” Many different routes into many different markets are explained, and then illustrated with case studies of actual farms and other businesses using each model. Designed for farmers and those who might provide credit to farmers, this tool helps people to “speak the same language.”

FamilyFarmed.org, with support from the Wallace Center, has developed an on-farm food safety tool. By answering a series of questions about their operations, farmers can have this website generate all of the documentation and forms for a complete food safety plan. This is the first tool of its kind.

Learn about these amazing new tools, their background and get a sense for how they start to change the landscape for a regional food system. Register now: http://bit.ly/sOEG8D

It appears that what some have been calling “the secret farm bill” negotiated between the Senate and House Agricultural Committees is now uncertain to be introduced imminently due to the probability of a Super Committee collapse. According to sources close to the negotiations, the joint Committees have come to a basic agreement on the structure of a new Farm Bill including $23 billion dollars in cuts meant to appease the Super Committee charged with deficit reduction.

But as of today, the joint Ag Committees appear to be holding off on releasing their proposal. Speculation is that the Ag. Committees see no benefit to “showing their hand” in light of recent reports that Super Committee negotiations are on the verge of collapse, two days before the deadline to produce recommendations. Whether they will go ahead and unveil their farm bill proposal seems, at the moment, to be anyone’s guess. According to Chris Clayton of DTN Progressive Farmer “House and Senate Agriculture Committee leaders have decided they are waiting until they know there is a deal by the super committee before the aggies send the farm bill to the super committee members”.  But with an agreement apparently having been secured, it seems quite possible that this will be the package introduced under the standard Farm Bill process next year, even if the Super Committee process fails (which now seems likely) and the Ag Committees, as a result, decide to wait to introduce the bill.

Deep divisions between the 3 House, and 3 Senate Democrats and the 3 House and 3 Senate Republicans who make up the Super Committee appear to be the source of it’s inability to reach consensus on deficit reduction (surprise, surprise). CNN reports that “the bipartisan panel tasked with finding at least $1.2 trillion in budget savings over the next decade — will likely announce Monday that they have failed, according to both Democratic and Republican aides.”

So while we are still in the dark about what the new farm bill might look like, information leaked from numerous sources has suggested that it would entail significant cuts to conservation, and a shifting of direct commodity payments to a “risk management” system that would continue to pay large producers the bulk of farm subsidies, without the stigma of “direct payments” which have become increasingly difficult to defend.

A recent editorial in the DesMoines Register suggested that such a system is in essence yet another increase in the quickly growing “crop insurance” system, and that crop insurance would become even more expensive under current proposals to move direct payments in this direction since it would entail crop insurance programs covering smaller losses, and protect farmers from even “modest downturns” in market price. According to the editorial “This has been criticized even by the American Farm Bureau, which fears that such complete insurance coverage would encourage some farmers to take unnecessary risk and put marginal land into production that should not be cultivated and planted”.

While the breakdown of the Super Committee may throw some of this into flux, it appears that if they indeed fail, there will at least be the possibility of a more public process for developing a farm bill, even if the starting point remains identical to what would have been announced, had the Super Committee process not broken down. Failure by the Super Committee to reach a deal would trigger automatic across-the-board cuts to most federal programs including agriculture through a process called “sequestration”. Sequestration would lower the current $23 billion in proposed cuts from the Ag. budget significantly, with nutrition programs (which make up approximately 65% of the ag. budget) being exempt from cuts under this process. And while many within the agriculture sector are either publicly or privately rooting for the failure of the the Super Committee process because of its secrecy and finality, the worry now is that with a deal already have been struck, even open negotiations will be starting from a point of compromise.

National Farmers Union Press Release; Contact:  Melisa Augusto, 202-314-3191, maugusto@nfudc.org; Tony Jarboe, 202-314-3104 tjarboe@nfudc.org

Agriculture Appropriations Bill a Disappointment for Family Farmers

WASHINGTON (Nov. 17, 2011) – National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson issued the following statement about the passage of H.R. 2112, the “minibus” legislation that includes the agricultural appropriations bill, along with two other appropriations bills and the continuing resolution to keep the federal government running through mid-December: “While NFU appreciates that the Agriculture Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2012 largely maintains overall discretionary funding levels, it is a disappointment for family farmers and ranchers. The bill prevents additional rulemaking for the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration rule that would have addressed the fundamental problem of competition and consolidation in the livestock marketplace. The bill also undercuts the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act by limiting funding for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

“These are two extraordinarily important issues for NFU members. We cannot allow the influence of the consolidated meat processors and Wall Street to trump the interests of family farmers and ranchers. NFU will continue to fight for the restoration of fairness in markets.”

National Farmers Union has been working since 1902 to protect and enhance the economic well-being and quality of life for family farmers, ranchers and rural communities through advocating grassroots-driven policy positions adopted by its membership.

Click here to view PDF of news release

Join Practical Farmers of Iowa online next Tuesday, November 22, 2011 at 7 pm (CST) for their weekly free online farmer learning and training sessions from farmers, and more sessions weekly!

Pasture Seed Mixes for Success: with Karl Dallefeld and Eric Madsen – Attend this Farminar to learn which species of grasses and legumes to choose for your pastures and what seeding rates will establish a good stand.

Karl Dallefeld has 25 years of experience with forages and grazing to offer guidance to beginners establishing pastures. For seven years Karl worked with Midwestern Bio-Ag on soil health and forage quality. Karl greatly enjoys working with farmers to help improve animal performance on pasture, and soil health for happy animals. Eric Madsen, since graduating from college a few years ago, returned to his home county and has started a hay enterprise while assisting his father Vic, and mother Cindy on their family farm, Madsen Stock Farm, near Audubon. They raise certified organic rowcrops, small grains, deep-bedded hogs in hoop buildings, and are moving toward beef cattle production with managed rotational grazing.

FREE “Farminar” from Practical Farmers of Iowa of the 2011 fall series. This web-based seminar is a 90-minute, interactive, online learning opportunity offered by Practical Farmers of Iowa. New farminars are presented live at 7 PM (CST) Tuesdays in November, December, January, and February. More than 39 previously recorded farminars are available in their archive.

Supported by the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA, Grant # 2010-49400-21843

Upcoming Farminars include “marketing grass fed beef”, “enterprise budgeting”, “season extension”, building high tunnels (hoophouses) and more… Read more »

Fresh Edibles Farm Looking For Intern/Apprentice for 2012 in California

Fresh Edibles Farm is a 10 acre CSA farm located in French Camp, California.  The farm produces a diversified variety of vegetables along with brambles, asparagus, and artichokes using organic sustainable practices.  The farm also produces shares of free range chicken eggs.

They are seeking an individual for a 1 year/long term commitment who wants to learn all aspects about how to run a CSA farm starting February 1^st. 2011 with an ultimate goal of offering a management position and or partnership at the end of the commitment.    Job responsibilities would be a five day work week consisting of:

Planting, Weeding,Cultivation, Irrigation, Harvesting, Crop Planning, Deliveries, Share Packing, Animal Care, Any other activities needed to maintain the farm Marketing

Stipend consists of $100.00 weekly including housing provided on the farm, utilities, and CSA weekly share of vegetables and eggs.

Serious applicants only please contact us at: freshedibles@succeed.net

Garden Production Manager Job in California at Belcampo Farms

Multi-species livestock farm in Gazelle, California seeks a full time Garden Production Manager.

Position Description:
The Garden Production Manager is responsible for Belcampo Farms fruit and vegetable production at its farm in Gazelle, California. The position supports two primary goals  1) Commercial production of specific produce inputs for value added products to be made on-site at the farm for sale and use in Belcampo’s retail and restaurant outlets throughout California; 2) production of highly diverse selection of fruits and vegetables from April though October for private farm use. The Garden Production Manager will work closely with the Farm’s and Oakland, CA-based Management’s teams to develop a 5-10 year garden plan well-suited to meet the goals of production for the retail and restaurants while being adapted to the Shasta Valley climate. The position reports dually to the Farm Operations Director and the Personal Chef and works closely with Belcampo Management team in Oakland. Read more »

Steve Riddle, a beginning farmer who has published stories about “Buying the Farm” on this site in the past and has a has a hilarious new e-book publication called  “So We Bought the Farm” describing the trials, tribulations, and realities of starting a farm.

The publication is now available as an e-book from Amazon for $2.99 (You don’t need an eReader or a tablet computer to purchase and read it. If you have a regular computer or a smartphone, you can purchase and read his book on those devices, too). It really is a must read for anyone interested in beginning farming, or who just wants to read some hilarious tales of hi-jinx and humor. Steve is a one of a kind farmer and author, with an incredible gift for storytelling and a great outlook on life.

A few of Steve’s fantastic beginning farmer stories can be found on this site including: “The Best Goat Farming Story Ever”; “The Misadventures of 8-Ball Wentz & the Soggy Bottom Boy”; “Whisper Cussing“; and “Chickens and Eggs” can be found here on Beginningfarmers.org. But I highly recommend his new e-book “So We Bought the Farm” (If you don’t like Amazon, you can also get it from SmashWords) which includes other stories, background on Steve and his family and their adventure starting a farm, and some great illustrations.

I guarantee you will roll on the floor with laughter at some of these. But there is also a lot to learn for beginning farmers from his experience. Steve is totally one of a kind, and his stories are a must read for anyone interested in farming.

I highly recommend this publication, available from Knuckeldown Press, and now being sold on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/So-We-Bought-Farm-ebook/dp/B0068WAFRC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1321558862&sr=1-1

Virginia Beginning Farmer & Rancher Coalition Project is offering a FREE Mentor Information Session on Monday, Dec. 5th, 2012 in South Hill, VA at the R.T. Arnold Library.  The session will be from 10am – 12pm.  It is prior to the Local Food Systems: Preparing for Direct Sales workshop (1:30pm-4:30pm).
This session will focus on established farmers with interest in participating in the Farm Mentor Network.  In the session, we will discuss the background of the project, the Farm Mentor Network, and provide examples of how established farmers can get involved to share their knowledge and skill with the next generation of agriculture producers.

If you would like more information on the session, directions to the venue, or additional assistance, Please contact Kelli Scott at kescott1@vt.edu or (540) 315-5884.
www.vabeginningfarmer.org

Read more »