Category Archives: Organic Veggies

Check out new organic research projects, dairy supply management policy research

The UW Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems is revamping its web site and it has news to share!

  • The 2021 Organic Report is out!
  • Four new organic projects are funded in the coming year!
  • Dairy supply management research – including information specific for graziers – is available as a report, a video, and coming soon – a farmer friendly app!
  • We are looking for cover crop farmers interested in sharing their experiences in a citizen science project!
  • This year’s Great Lakes Apple Crunch is gearing up for October!

All these stories can be found on the front page. The web site is far from finished – this is just a taste of what is soon to come!

Webinar: Citizen science for vegetable breeding

More sustainable and healthy food systems starts with seeds. Through volunteer trials of various cultivars of tomato seed or carrot seed, lettuce or eggplant, researchers can determine the best environments for seeds without the need for fertilizer or toxins…simply using data to create better food/agricultural security.

Join us to learn about SeedLinked, an emerging collaborative data sharing platform that connects people and data to help characterize, breed, source, and harvest the best. Democratizing data driven decision around seed because a more sustainable and healthy food system starts with seed.

Dr Julie Dawson (UW-Horticulture) and Nicolas Enjalbert will present the overall concept and mission of SeedLinked, a social enterprise platform (B corp). SeedLinked is founded upon the core values of collaboration, transparency, decentralization, and open access.It combines the power of citizen science with accessible smartphone technology and data analytics to create a tool anyone can use to breed, source, and harvest the best seeds for a more successful growing season, and a more resilient food future.

Tuesday May 11, 2021 noon-1pm

For more information and to register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/startingblock-innovate-series-seedlinked-and-the-future-of-agriculture-tickets-141374160921

Summer events in-person and on-line

Looking to learn about agriculture, food, and our food system? There are a number of events this summer if you want to get out in the field or join on-line.

July 3rd – The UN Committee on Food Security launched the HLPE Report on “Agroecological and other innovative approaches” in Rome. The recorded webcast of the 3 hour event is available here.
The full report in English will be available by mid-July, while the other language versions will be available in September. The link to the summary and recommendations document (in English) is available here: http://www.fao.org/cfs/cfs-hlpe/en/

July 30th, 2019 10am Establishing Pollinator Habitat on Organic Farms — Karin Jokela, Farm Bill Pollinator Conservation Planner, Minnesota, Xerxes Society and Caleb Langworthy Organic Specialist, Conservation Education, Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service

The National Organic Program regulations require farmers to maintain or improve the natural resources of the operation including wildlife.  This presents an opportunity for conservation agents to work with producers to address the lack of pollinator habitat.  This webinar will address required practices on organic farms, NRCS practices/enhancements that meet those requirements. It will also address evaluation tools, initiatives, site preparation, success stories and resources to successfully work with organic farmers to establish pollinator habitat.

Registration link for summer webinars: Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet, or smartphone at 

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/213746573

August 7-8, 2019 Innovations in the Food System: Shaping the Future of Food – a workshop

On August 7 and 8, the National Academies of Sciences Food Forum will host a workshop that will explore current innovations in the food system. Workshop presenters will discuss the dimensions of food systems and how to utilize innovations to meet the needs of small and large supply chains to support decision-making. The workshop will include discussions on issues related to safety and sustainability, economic and social challenges and opportunities, innovative case examples, and strategies in reducing food waste. Register to attend in-person or via webcast. Register to attend in person or via webcast. For more information, visit the Academies’ website.

  • When: Wednesday, August 7 (8:30 am – 4:30 pm) and Thursday, August 8 (8:30 am – 12:00 pm)
  • Where: The National Academies of Sciences Building, Lecture Room (2101 Constitution Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20418)
  • Watch: This event will be webcast live
  • Learn more and sign up here: bit.ly/foodsystemff

Thursday August 8, 2019, Establishing Pollinator Habitat on Organic Farms with Karin Jokela, Xerces Society; Kaitlyn O’Connor, Prairie Moon Nursery, Blue Fruit Farm Tour

Free Training for NRCS agents, county conservationists, technical service providers.

  • When: 10am to 3pm
  • Where: Wiscoy Community Center, 31783 Bur Oak Lane, Winona, MN and the farm tour at Blue Fruit Farm, 31762 Wiscoy Ridge Road, Winona, MN
  • To register or with questions: mosesorganic.org/nrcs, and questions to Caleb@mosesorganic.org

Thursday August 15, Wisconsin Farmers Union summer conference: American Agriculture, Where Are We Headed? A look at the future of our family farms, food systems, watersheds, and rural towns and why we must address anti-trust in agriculture. Bill Baer, former head of the federal Department of Justice Anti-Trust Division and past Director of the Bureau of Competition at the Federal Trade Commission.

  • Where: Wisconsin Farmers Union Kamp Kenwood, 19161 79th Avenue, Chippewa Falls, WI
  • When: 10 am to 2pm
  • Other details: There will be a pie contest for bakers and Acorn Day Camp for children 7+yrs for $15/child.
  • To register: RSVP to WFU at 715-723-5561 or www.wisconsinfarmersunion.com/events

August 23rd, 2019 10 am, Working with Small Organic Farming Operations,KaYing Vang, Soil Conservationist NRCS and Valerie Dantoin, Instructor in Organic Agriculture, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College

Organic farming systems are diverse in both their production and scale. The 2017 Census of Agriculture shows 45.8% of organic farms in MN, WI and IA are under 100 acres.  A 2017 Oregon Tilth survey of farmers who participated in the EQIP Organic Initiative showed that 79% of respondents farmed less than 100 acres; 86.7% of those respondents said that concern for the environment was a motivation for them to farm organically. This webinar will provide NRCS field staff insight into working with producers on small farms to address natural resource concerns. 

Registration link for summer webinars: Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet, or smartphone at 

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/213746573

Beginning Farmer School January 11-13, 2019

Planning a small business growing and selling fresh vegetables? Join us for the 2019 Wisconsin School for Beginning Market Growers, January 11-13. Registration is now open! A limited number of scholarships are available. Click here for more information or to register or contact John Hendrickson (jhendric@wisc.edu)

 

Iowa County Farm Tour and Gulf Seafood Monday October 9, 2017

Join Iowa County’s Uplands Farmer-led watershed group for a cover crops farm tour and seafood lunch

  • 9am         Fazenda Boa Terra produce farm (Lidia Dungue and John Middleton) 6580 State Rd  23, Spring Green
  • 10:15am   Walk to Michael Dollans’ inter-seeded cover crops, State Rd 23
  • 11:15am    Uplands Cheese dairy farm (Scott and Illana Mericka and Andy and Caitlin Hatch), 5023 State Rd 23 N, Dodgeville

The farm tour will be followed by lunch at Uplands Cheese Farm.

Come discuss cover crop practices for fresh market produce, grain and dairy systems. See no-till drilling irrigation, manure management, and other strategies to conserve soil and nutrients. Then enjoy brats and seafood caught by fishermen in the Gulf – whose challenges with nutrient build-up and biological die-off in the Gulf Dead Zone we seek to help through out conservation practices.

There is no fee, but please RSVP by Thursday, October 5 at http://bit.ly/covercroptourlunch or contacting Margaret Krome, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute (608) 283-1440, mkrome@sbcglobal.net or Gene Schriefer, Iowa County Extension (608) 930-9850.

Co-sponsored by: MFAI, Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship, Iowa County Farm Bureau, Iowa County Land Conservation Department, The McKnight Foundation, MOSES, Organic Valley, Savanna Institute, Southwest Badger RC&D, UW Extension, DATCP, UW-CIAS

 

Field days at West Madison Agricultural Research Station focus on vegetable flavor

This year at West Madison, Horticulture professor Julie Dawson planted trials of several
species of vegetables with a particular focus on flavor, with varieties selected by plant breeders at UW Madison and by seed companies with organic seed offerings for direct-market growers.

They have beets, carrots, onion, lettuce, hot and sweet peppers, melons, winter squash, cabbage, tomato, potato and sweet corn in collaboration with plant breeders at UW Madison and the West Madison demonstration gardens.

Field days are each month from 3-5 pm. Participants will tour a breeding nursery or larger trial each time, and also look at all the crops in the demonstration gardens and do a taste test.

  • Wednesday August 27th: tomatoes, sweet corn, melons, peppers
  • Monday September 22nd: beets, carrots, onions, tomatoes
  • Tuesday October 21st: potatoes, winter squash, carrots

All the field days will be held at the West Madison Agricultural Research Station 8502 Mineral Point Rd, Verona WI 53593, universitydisplaygardens.com.

For more information and to receive information on project results, contact Julie Dawson,
Department of Horticulture, dawson@hort.wisc.edu.

Two new reports : regional food transportation and climate

CIAS and USDA-AMS transportation division just released our report: Networking Across the Supply Chain http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/AgTransportation  We are continuing this work, hoping to host a meeting next spring in Chicago for the logistics and transportation sector. If you are working on freight transportation and values-based food supply chains, I would love to hear your thinking on this.

I’ve also been working with the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters on a report we released last Friday: “Climate Forward: A new roadmap for Wisconsin’s climate and energy fuuture” https://www.wisconsinacademy.org/sites/default/files/ClimateForward2014.pdf  The Academy will continue its work on this area into 2015. We hope to link CIAS faculty, students, staff and our many community partners (that means YOU) to it through our work on perennializing agriculture.

 

Networking Across the Supply Chain – LaCrosse 2/20-21/2013

100 regional food supply chain entrepreneurs are gathering in LaCrosse this week to shape a public R&D agenda for getting local food to market in a way that is economically viable, socially just and environmentally sound.

Visit this link to see the agenda, speaker bios and a list of organizations attending.

http://www.cias.wisloraxc.edu/networking-across-the-supply-chain-transportation-innovations-in-local-and-regional-food-systems/

Can’t join us? A proceedings will be published later this year.

 

Building the Base of Your CSA: Legal Best Practices, Including Member, Volunteer, and Intern Agreements Webinar

Tuesday, December 18th, 2012 from 6:00-7:30pm, Central
Location: Online
Do you have a CSA program or are you planning to start one? Would you like guidance on how legal documents can help you achieve your CSA goals?
Farmers are invited to attend a webinar December 18th at 6pm (Central) to learn about the legal aspects of running a CSA and gain strategies for crafting a CSA member agreement to improve customer satisfaction and retention. This webinar will also discuss how to create meaningful volunteer opportunities with worker share or volunteer agreements, while also identifying potential legal risks. We will discuss setting up a CSA business, hiring interns and apprentices, and overall risk management strategies to build a CSA that can thrive.
CSA farmers, educators, and advocates are invited to attend. The legal principles discussed will be relevant to CSA farmers nationwide, although Wisconsin and Illinois examples will be emphasized for state-specific discussions.
Please register for this webinar at www.farmcommons.org.
For individuals that cannot attend the December 18th event, the webinar is also being offered on December 10th at 6:00pm Central. Please email Rachel@farmcommons.org to sign up for December 10th.
After registering you will receive more information about how to log into the webinar. We are excited to use the University of Illinois’ user-friendly and interactive webinar presentation resources. It will be accessible for those on dial-up. Phone support will be available if you have any trouble accessing the presentation.

Rachel Armstrong
Executive Director- Farm Commons, Inc.
Post-Doctoral Research Associate
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The Equitable Food Initiative

Please share widely with your friends and colleagues!

The Equitable Food Initiative is hiring a Senior Advisor to engage major actors in the food industry to join the EFI.

The Equitable Food Initiative (www.equitablefood.net) is a consortium of major food buyers, growers, farm worker groups and consumer advocates to ensure dignified livelihoods for farm workers; a trained workforce and safer, more sustainable food. The co-chairs of the coalition are Oxfam America and the United Farm Workers of America.

The position will engage major actors in the food industry, other organizations and the public with the goal of strengthening the EFI program as well as providing steering for the design of field-based training, certification and verification.

The position will be based on the West Coast. To apply, see Positions at Oxfam America.

Peter O’Driscoll
Project Director
EquiTABLE Food Initiative
www.equitablefood.net

202-777-2933 (desk)
617-407-8171 (cell)

PODriscoll@OxfamAmerica.org