Category Archives: Upcoming Events

Need legal?

A colleague of many of ours at CIAS – Rachel Armstrong -  finished law school and set up a legal consultancy business, targeted at farmers. Farm Commons blog has some information that may be useful to you as you start or revamp your business.

For all you CSAers, Rachel is conducting a webinar on December 10th about the legal issues in running a CSA farm. The webinar will emphasize structuring volunteer programs in particular- unpaid interns, worker shares, or casual volunteers- while covering business legal issues in general for the CSA farm.

 

Last chance! REGISTER NOW for “Telling the Driftless Story”!

REGISTER HERE!

In order to guarantee enough lunch and snacks for all participants, we need to close online registration by the end of the day today, August 6. Please register now to save yourself a spot at this dynamic regional workshop! A draft agenda is posted below and is also available here.

Telling the Driftless Story: August 12-13, 2012

Sunday August 12

5-7 pm: Cocktail Networking with a cash bar

7-8:30pm: Dinner and Welcome talk

This is a free networking event open to all registered participants in Monday’s workshop. Please email driftlessfoodandfarm@gmail.com if you would like to RSVP. Space is limited.

Monday August 13

7:30-8:30: Breakfast  

8:30-8:45: Introduction

8:45-10:00 Share Your Driftless Story

Work in small groups to share your memories and favorite things about the Driftless region while learning more about your neighbors and their motivations for participating in this workshop. Themes will be developed from the results.

10:00-10:15 BREAK

10:15-11:15 What the Italian Story Tells Us

A look at the agriturismo industry in Italy, its history and traditions, economics and regulation, its connections to place including regional uniqueness and the importance of land, agriculture and topography. Agricultural tourism has grown deep roots in Italy, and there are clear implications for Wisconsin. This session will highlight the Italian model and how it might inform the Driftless Story.

11:15- 12:00 LUNCH at Old Oak Inn

12:00-2:45 TOURS of local food and agriculture businesses

Tour 1- Organics in Action: Diversified Produce, Value-added Sunflower Oil and Grass-fed Beef and Lamb in the Heart of the Driftless (TENTATIVE)

  • 12:20-1:20pm Driftless Organics
  • 1:30-2:30pm Pine Knob Farm

Tour 2: Cheese & Apples! An award-winning Cooperative Creamery and Family-owned Apple Orchard and Farm Market (CONFIRMED)

  • 12:20-1:20pm Mt. Sterling Co-op Creamery
  • 1:30-2:30pm Sunrise Orchards, Inc.

Tour 3: Culinary Innovation: The Driftless’ Newest Community Kitchen & Aquaponic Fish and Produce Farm

  • 12:10-1:00pm Kickapoo Culinary Center (CONFIRMED)
  • 1:20-2:15pm Roth Fresh Farms (TENTATIVE)

2:45-3:15 Connect with theme groups and have groups collaborate to come up with one minute’s story, one image, one sentence (etc.) to summarize their group’s stories/experiences on the tours. Groups report back and present to entire group.

*Full group stories, themes and drawing can be reported on the Driftless blog after the conference in order to allow more time for group work.

3:15-4:15 Next Steps for Creating a New Future for the Driftless

Small group work and facilitated larger group discussion about possible next steps to take in the Driftless Region.

4:15-4:30 Concluding remarks

August 13 workshop speakers

The August 13th workshop “Telling Our Story” is happening soon! If you haven’t registered yet, please do. tiny.cc/driftlessforum

We are finalizing the day’s farm tour hosts, and have confirmed three speakers for the event. Nancy, Rossana and Neil will talk about agriturismo in Italy, and share their thinking on communicating about our farm and culinary richness  in the Driftless. Their bios are posted below. The rest of the day will be devoted to tours and participants crafting regional story themes. We are finalizing arrangements for an informal dinner the night before for those of you who plan to arrive Sunday.

Nancy Christy Heinen is the owner of the consulting firm Meaningful People, Places and Foods, working with companies, universities, organizations and nonprofits to craft well designed, meaningful food and work cultures. Her work has included creation of several social enterprises that merge sustainable agriculture and hiring people who have been disenfranchised from the workforce. Nancy is the former co-owner of the Wilson Street Grill and The Kennedy Manor. She has produced more than a half dozen videos and one related workbook on employing people with disabilities. She is currently working with the Goodman Community Center on a USDA grant to teach kids at risk skills needed to preserve local, sustainable food that is grown for the center and then made available for food pantry recipients in Dane County food pantries as well as Goodman’s own food pantry. She is the co-author of the monthly column Genuine Articles for Madison Magazine. She lives in Madison with her husband Neil and their dog Baguette.

Rossana Strunce is a native of Milan, Italy and moved to Madison, Wisconsin in 1994 with her husband and their two children. She attended the Interpreter School in Milan and the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she earned a Bachelor Degree in Anthropology as well as a TESOL certificate (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). She has worked as an interpreter for Madison Mayor Sue Bauman when she went to Mantova, Italy to sign a sister-city agreement. Since then she has participated in many of the Mantova-Madison visits as an interpreter in both locations, as well as giving several presentations about Italian culture and traditions. More recently, when she is not teaching English as a second language to immigrants, she has been undertaking the new project of promoting the Italian agriturismo in the United States. She just came back from a trip she organized accompanying a group of 8 Americans on a two-week vacation around Northern Italy. Her hobbies are playing tennis and travel with friends Neil Heinen and Nancy Christy to scout new agriturismo sites throughout Italy.

Neil Heinen is the Editorial Director for WISC TV and Madison Magazine. He is also co-author, along with his wife Nancy, of the monthly column Genuine Articles. Heinen has served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Opinion Journalists (formerly the National Conference of Editorial Writers) including serving as president in 2007, and is a past president of the AOJ Foundation. He is a member of the clinical faculty of the Kettering Foundation, and a member of the adjunct faculty of Edgewood College. He is a member of the board of We The People Wisconsin.

Registration for the August 13 “Telling the Driftless Story” Regional Workshop is OPEN!

Register here!

Driftless Food and Farm Project’s Regional Workshop, “Telling Our Story”

Monday, August 13, 2012
8:30 am-4:30 pm

The Old Oak Inn
550 Church St
Soldiers Grove, WI 54655

$10 registration fee

Join us for a day of exploring and developing themes and storylines on food and farming in the Driftless Region. This meeting is a precursor to work branding the region. Professional communicators, artists, farmers, chefs, and others involved in the life of the region will have an opportunity to tour local businesses, hear stories of the region, and consider strategies that leverage desired change.

The first 50 registrants will receive a copy of Amy Trubek’s The Taste of Place: A Cultural Journey into Terroir or Lapham’s Quarterly issue on food.

Please fill out the form here to secure your registration for the conference. The registration fee of $10 is payable by check to the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems. Receipts can be provided upon request. Please mail your check to:

Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems
Attn: Driftless Project Workshop
1535 Observatory Drive
Madison, WI 53706

For more information and registration, click here.

2012 Fruit and Vegetable Field Day

2012 Fruit and Vegetable Field Day

July 23, 2012, 8:30am – 3:00pm
ISU Horticulture Research Station (near Gilbert, IA)

A field day highlighting Iowa State University fruit and vegetable research is planned for July 23 at the ISU Horticulture Research Station near Gilbert. Organizers say the field day will be of interest to commercial producers, small-scale growers, master gardeners and home gardeners.

The field day will feature research-based information on a variety of topics including biochar, apple root stocks and training systems, organic production, and high-tunnel fruit and vegetable production. It is scheduled to run from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., giving vegetable and fruit producers ample information to enhance their skills and diversify gardens and acreages.

During the afternoon session a panel of growers, researchers, agriculture professionals and extension personnel will discuss current and future needs of the fruit and vegetable industry in Iowa. Also showcased will be a student-run vegetable enterprise geared towards developing entrepreneurial and business skills. The Department of Horticulture and Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture will partner with the Iowa Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association to sponsor the event.

“We firmly believe that strong grower-researcher collaboration is needed to address ongoing issues and challenges, and develop new ideas for fruit and vegetable research in Iowa,” said Ajay Nair, extension vegetable specialist.

The $25 field day registration fee includes lunch, refreshment breaks and abstracts of ongoing research projects. Online registration is available at http://www.aep.iastate.edu/hort Early registration for the field day is $25 through midnight, July 16. Late registration or at the gate will be $35. To assist with meal and facility planning, advance registration is greatly appreciated.

Contact: Ajay Nair, Horticulture, (515) 294-7080.

Workshop: Planning for Profit: Marketing and Financial Management for New Farmers

Workshop: Planning for Profit: Marketing and Financial Management for New Farmers

July 23rd, 5:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Winneshiek County Extension & Outreach Office
325 Washington Street, Suite B, Decorah, IA 52101

As with any small business, starting a farm requires thoughtful goal setting and a good grasp on basic financial management and marketing. This workshop will help beginning farmers to:

  • Clarify overall goals for starting a farm
  • Set specific short, medium and long term household income goals for the farm
  • Understand basic accounting concepts and practices
  • Explore strategies for marketing and selling farm products through Community Supported Agriculture, farmers markets, grocery stores, restaurants, and wholesale channels.

Contact : Teresa Wiemerslage
563-794-0599
wiemer@iastate.edu
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/winneshiek/page/events?programID=193264

Register online!

From the EcoApple team at CIAS:

EcoApple Scouting Workshop Series: June 26, 28, 29

Exciting news!

The IPM Institute, CIAS, and Threshold IPM will be putting on a series of hands-on scouting workshops in late June at three orchards around Wisconsin. The workshops are designed to teach participants specific scouting techniques for primary pests, secondary pests, and beneficials and learn how to apply those techniques in making critical orchard management decisions.

Workshop dates and locations (all will be held from 12:30-6pm):

Tuesday, June 26 — LaCrescent, MN (managed full-organic)

Thursday, June 28 — Poynette, WI (managed half-organic/half-conventional)

Friday, June 29 – Gibbsville, WI (near Sheboygan) (managed full-conventional)

The workshops are coming up soon, so please get your registration fee in as soon as you can.
See the full brochure with registration instructions here.

PLEASE NOTE: Attendance will NOT be allowed without pre-registration! No drop-ins!

Webinar: Grass-Based Beef: The Business Case

National Good Food Network Webinar

Grass-Based Beef:
The Business Case

Thursday, June 21
3:30 – 4:45pm ET

Free! Register Now

The Wallace Center has been conducting research into supply chain and policy constraints in the grass-fed beef industry, particularly related to production. It is clear that the domestic production of pastured beef is significantly lower than the domestic demand.

This webinar will make the business case for grass based beef production, including grass fed and finished beef. We will focus on the techniques that have the potential for enhanced profitability, such as the importance of pasture management, animal genetics, aggregation, use of existing infrastructure and brand development in establishing a sustainable grass-fed business. A case study on the Wisconsin Grassfed Beef Cooperative, which we feel is highly replicable, will be featured and discussed.

The Wallace Center and the leaders of this webinar are working with partners in the Upper Midwest to pilot strategies that will increase production, keep vulnerable acres in pasture, inform producers and land owners about market opportunities and provide tools that will aid transition to pasture-based production. Learn how you can be part of these pilots, or start or participate in one in your own region.

Reserve your spot – click here

Presenter

Allen Williams

Livestock Management Consultants, LLC

Moderator

Warren King

Wellspring Management, LLC

Presenter

Greg Nowicki

Wisconsin Grass-Fed Beef Cooperative

 

http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=f6e853d37c1ed4db967a79125&id=ddc8abe307&e=d383c0d70a

Eco-apple conference calls

This is our 4th season of grower conference calls during the pest management season. If you are growing apples and might benefit from speaking with John Aue with Threshold IPM and other apple growers, please consider joining the AppleTalk email list.

Once you are on the list you will receive regular emails announcing the calls, as well as information about up-coming webinars and access  to the AppleTalk web site where conference call recordings are taped and other information of interest is posted.

To join the list, email or call Alex McCullough at armccullough@wisc.edu, 608-265-3637.