Heartland Farm Beginnings® is a year-long, farmer-led training and support program designed to help early career farmers committed to creating a sustainable farm business achieve their goals. This intensive, eight-part workshop series will enable farmers with at least one year of production experience to develop a whole farm plan that encompasses realistic goal setting, financial management, and assessment of resources, skills, and markets. Early career farmers will also receive the business planning tools necessary to successfully implement their plan. In addition to the course work, the program includes 2019 conference registration and a mentorship for March through November upon successful completion of the course.

Cost and Registration: $1,000 by August 17, $1,200 by September 21. Pre-registration is required for the entire series.

This OEFFA event is part of the 2018 Sustainable Farm Tour and Workshop Series, featuring farm tours, workshops, and other events. For a complete schedule, go to www.oeffa.org/q/2018farmtours.

Location:
OEFFA
41 Croswell Rd.
Columbus, OH 43214

Contact:
Kelly Henderson / (614) 421-2022 /

http://www.oeffa.org/q/farmbeginnings

Early career farmers interested in advancing their farm's earning potential will benefit from this two-day intensive workshop focused on enhancing the management plans of established operations to maximize soil fertility and yield. Session topics for larger scale sustainable farms will include: growing transplants efficiently; planting from transplants and direct seeding; weed control; meeting demands of distributors, institutions, stores, restaurants, and cooperatives; and picking, washing, packing, cooling, storing, and delivering your products to maximize efficiency and freshness.

Scaling up your farm business also requires moving beyond paper fliers, random Facebook ads, and coupon codes. You need a marketing strategy, and you need to know the why behind it. In this workshop, you'll learn the principles behind building an online marketing system that continuously attracts qualified leads, grows your customers, and increases sales. You'll also leave feeling confident in how to design creative marketing collateral that will build your farm's brand and grow your profits.

About the Speakers: Linda Halley has been an organic farmer since 1989. As a pioneer of the community supported agriculture (CSA) movement, she developed one of Wisconsin's premier CSAs, Harmony Valley Farm. She left Wisconsin to manage Fairview Gardens, a nonprofit, educational farm in California, and later, Gardens of Eagan, a 126 acre greenhouse and produce operation in Minnesota. Currently, Linda is general manager of Gwenyn Hill Organic Farm and Garden in Wisconsin, a diverse, peri-urban, 400 acre farm transitioning to certified organic production. In addition to farming, Linda is an organic farm inspector and has served in leadership positions at the Minnesota Food Association and Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service. Corinna Bench is the co-founder of Shared Legacy Farms, a 400 member certified organic CSA in northwest Ohio. Her farm grew its retention rate from 66 percent to 78 percent in one year after implementing an online branding content strategy. She is the founder of www.mydigitalfarmer.com and the CSA Marketing private Facebook group, offering free digital marketing training for CSA farmers.

Cost and Registration: $110 for OEFFA members, $130 for non-members. Price includes breakfast and lunch both days. Pre-registration is required by November 16 and space is limited to 35 participants. To register, go to www.oeffa.org/q/scalingup2018 or send a check made out to OEFFA, along with the names of all attendees, addresses, phone numbers, and emails to OEFFA, Scaling Up Production and Marketing, 41 Croswell Rd., Columbus, OH 43214.

This OEFFA event is part of the 2018 Sustainable Farm Tour and Workshop Series, featuring farm tours, workshops, and other events. All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise specified. For a complete schedule, go to www.oeffa.org/q/2018farmtours

Location:
Mustard Seed Market & Café at Highland Square
867 W. Market St.
Akron, OH 44303

Contact:
Kelly Henderson / (614) 421-2022 /

http://www.oeffa.org/q/scalingup2018

Please join NFU for the 2018 Growing for the Future Online Conference. This is a FREE four-day online conference focused on developing agricultural leaders from all backgrounds. This annual, nationally focused online conference provides an opportunity for beginning farmers to acquire the skills they need to run a successful operation.

The conference will highlight leaders in the field of agriculture and focus on building a network for beginning farmers and ranchers throughout the country. This conference will give you the opportunity to network with other farmers and ranchers, interact with speakers, and participate in professional development opportunities remotely. A variety of topics will be covered including business planning, cooperatives, ecosystem services, women and veterans in farming, food safety, and much more!

For more information about Growing for the Future, please visit:
https://nfu.org/growing-for-the-future/

Location:
National Farmers Union: Online Conference
20 F Street NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20001

Contact:
Emma Lindberg: NFU Education Coordinator / (202) 554-1600 /

https://secure.icohere.com/registration/register.cfm?reg=5093&evt=NFU18-1&t=1536090436005&t=15407634

The 43rd annual Acres U.S.A. Eco-Ag Conference and Trade Show will include Eco-Ag intensive, day-long workshops; seminars; 1-on-1 eco-consultant opportunities; round table discussions, an eco-ag trade show, and film screenings geared toward the beginning to advanced farmer.

Keynote speakers include Joel Salatin, Eliot Coleman, and Daniela Ibarra-Howell of the Savory Institute

Volunteer opportunities are available. https://www.acresusa.com/events/2018conference/volunteer

Registration is now open. Please see provided link: https://www.acresusa.com/events/2018conference/registration2018

Location:
Louisville Marriott Downtown
280 West Jefferson Street
Louisville, KY 40202

Contact:
Mary Battjes / 512-215-2374 or 800- /

https://www.acresusa.com/events/2018conference

"You don't know enough to know what you need to know." This recent recollection by a farmer after their encounter with a more experienced one reminds us that the questions matter. Much is said, written, and claimed about Soil Balancing but all is still not clear about it. If there is to be a more useful knowledge base about Soil Balancing—shared by farmers, consultants, and researchers alike—new questions and new ways of addressing them must be shared and accepted by many. Join The Ohio State University to discuss and shape where investigations of Soil Balancing should go next and how.

This is the third and final Conference Call-in event on the topic of Soil Balancing. Each call-in will bring together a panel of growers, agricultural advisors, and researchers to share their perspectives and experiences.

Anyone with an interest in this topic may call in to listen to the conversation or may contribute questions or comments of their own before, during, or after the event. For more details or to register, visit: https://offer.osu.edu/SB-call-in

What is Soil Balancing:
Soil Balancing is an approach to soil management which is practiced widely by organic farmers, but is relatively untested by research. A multidisciplinary team at Ohio State is working to develop a more complete and widely shared understanding of soil balancing. Efforts include documenting effects on crops and soils when soil balancing is used, and gathering insight on the ways soil balancing is understood and practiced among researchers, farmers, and consultants.

Location:
Webinar: The Ohio State University, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences
1680 Madison Ave
Wooster, OH 44691

Once registered, you will receive call-in instructions by email. Dial in the day of the broadcast to listen live to the conversation. Participants may send in questions before, during, and after each scheduled conversation.

Contact:
Matthew Kleinhenz / 330-263-3810 /

https://offer.osu.edu/SB-call-in

Join FACT to learn practical strategies for protecting your flock from predators such as raccoons, foxes, and birds of prey. This webinar will help you identify threatening species through tracks, scat, and the damage they leave behind. By understanding how predators think and behave, where and how they live, and how they attack and kill prey, you'll be able to interpret the potential threats. Nonlethal methods for prevention and protection will be discussed.

Our presenter, Jan Dohner, is an author and researcher who lives on her small family farm in Michigan. Jan has over 40 years of hands on experience using livestock guardians for predator control and is the author of The Encyclopedia of Animal Predators.

Please visit this link to register: https://www.anymeeting.com/AccountManager/RegEv.aspx?PIID=ED55D78285493F

Location:
Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT)- Webinar
3525 West Peterson Avenue
Chicago, IL 60659

Contact:
Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) / 773-525-4952 /

https://foodanimalconcernstrust.org/webinars/

Join FACT to learn practical strategies to keep your cattle, goats, and sheep safe from predators such as coyotes, larger predators, as well as roaming dogs and birds of prey. This webinar will help you identify threatening species through tracks, scat, and the damage they leave behind. Nonlethal methods for prevention and protection will be discussed.

Our presenter, Jan Dohner, is an author and researcher who lives on her small family farm in Michigan. Jan has over 40 years of hands on experience using livestock guardians for predator control and is the author of The Encyclopedia of Animal Predators.

Please visit this link to register: https://www.anymeeting.com/AccountManager/RegEv.aspx?PIID=ED55D78285473F

Location:
Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT)- Webinar
3525 West Peterson Avenue
Chicago, IL 60659

Contact:
Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) / 773-525-4952 /

https://foodanimalconcernstrust.org/webinars/

The New Zealand method is an efficient and low-stress way to shear sheep. It also helps maintain the best possible quality of wool to be used for production. Join FACT to learn an overview of the technique, the tools, and the importance of shearing in the humane treatment of fiber bearing animals. This presentation will focus primarily on sheep shearing, but will also touch on animals such as alpacas and llamas.

Our presenter, Amber Van Hove, is the owner of Barnhart Fields Farm in Washington State where she raises Shetland sheep for wool. Amber is a certified national sheep shearer and runs Northwest Shearing where she provides shearing services to local flocks and hobby farms.

Please visit this link to register: https://www.anymeeting.com/AccountManager/RegEv.aspx?PIID=ED56DF8084463A

Location:
Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT)- Webinar
3525 West Peterson Avenue
Chicago, IL 60659

Contact:
Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) / 773-525-4952 /

https://foodanimalconcernstrust.org/webinars/