March | April 2021Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service Thistle OrchardsinPage5
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The Growing Stronger Conference combined the MOSES Organic Farming Conference, GrassWorks Grazing Conference, OGRAIN Organic Grain Conference, Midwest Organic Pork Conference, and Organic Vegetable Production Conference into one week-long event at the end of February. More than 1,600 people attended the mega-conference, which is still open for on-demand viewing through late May. Farmers have been enthusiastic about the event. Here’s a sampling of what they’ve shared: “The Growing Stronger Conference was incredible with a wide variety of topics and very knowledgeable speakers who really went into great detail on their area of expertise.”
Interest in buying and selling carbon credits from agricultural lands is rapidly ballooning among the farm and business community. Farmers are looking to carbon credits as a new opportunity to increase farm revenues and profitability, to subsidize the sustainable practices (like cover cropping and perennial cropping) that aren’t as profitable or cost more than conventional row cropping with corn and soybeans. But perhaps most of all, farmers are looking for ways they can be financially compensated by society for performing land management practices that protect and enhance ecosystem services—in other words, the ways that natural or ecological functions benefit humans, like water filtration, clean air, biodiversity, and, impor tantly for climate change, soil carbon storage. On the other end of the value chain, large cor porations in the U.S. are centering their short- and long-term goals around sustainability and climate 40 Acre Co-opPage9
Data shared by the group indicated that agriculture based on perennial grassland was our best and per haps only approach to building soil carbon, although even pasture was struggling to maintain soil carbon stocks over the 20-year period (Fig. 1). Hypotheses for this lack of significant carbon accumulation in their grassland plots included the inherently shallow roots of cool-season pasture grasses and feedback from the already changing climate. During the discussion period following the panel presentations, attendees speculated that perhaps carbon would accumulate in deeper soils if warm-season grasses from the tallgrass prairie, known for their deeper roots, were grazed. Dr. Gregg Sanford described why the soil carbon balance of an agroecosystem is so precarious. Data show that only 3 or 4 months of the year are periods when the input of carbon from the atmosphere via photosynthesis is greater than the output of carbon to the atmosphere from soil microbes. He also addressed the importance of deep soil sampling over time to accurately represent soil carbon change. Sanford showed how most of the “short-cut” methodologies for estimating change can result in questionable findings that tend to inflate estimates of soil carbon change. Dr. Matt Ruark shared results of a soil carbon survey on organic grain farms concluding that the most important indicators of high soil carbon were whether the soils formed under prairie (that is, Mollisols) and whether recent management included pasture. Then, Dr. Anna Cates explained why estab lishing cover crops in the upper Midwest is so difficult. She described narrow windows each fall between main-crop harvest and temperatures that are too low for cover crop germination. Dr. Cates made clear how important cover crops are for soil and nutrient reten tion and reducing runoff, but showed how the amount of cover crop biomass is directly linked to whether it shifts the soil carbon balance of a cropping system. Ashley Becker shared preliminary data from a sur vey of over 30 grazing farms in southern and central Wisconsin. Grazed pastures had almost 5 tons more carbon per acre in the surface 6 inches of soil than nearby sites on similar soil types under annual crop
change mitigation, with most pledging to achieve “net zero carbon emissions” in one to two decades. These companies have earmarked significant dollars to achieve these goals and, while they are unlikely to cut their fossil fuel emissions entirely, they are looking to purchasing carbon credits to offset the carbon emis sions associated with their activities. This has led to formation of carbon markets that “find” carbon stor age mechanisms and sell them to carbon buyers. Nori1 and IndigoAg2 are the two most recent and notable startups buying carbon credits from farmers (surviving for the meantime on investor funding), as farmland is seen as having large potential for greenhouse gas emission offsetting and atmospheric CO2 drawdown. On IndigoAg’s platform, farmers can earn up to $30/acre/year and $50/acre/year on Nori’s platform for adopting practices like no-tillage, cover Virtual mega-conference draws farmers’ praise; access still available to recordings
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No-till, cover crops don’t ensure net soil carbon gains; integrated crop-livestock systems should be incentivized
By Audrey Alwell
There’s a palpable buzz around soil carbon in the agricultural community. It’s exciting to see so much attention and energy directed toward addressing climate change and, in particular, so much explora tion about how agriculture can be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Investment organiza tions are clamoring to find the scheme where their capital will “do good.” Policymakers are scrambling to develop incentive mechanisms for practices believed to build soil carbon. Farmers are touting their manage ment for soil health and carbon accumulation. With this backdrop, a panel discussion at the Growing Stronger Conference explored the evidence that agricultural soils might help draw down atmo spheric carbon dioxide levels to help slow climate change. Relying mostly on results from a long-term experiment at Arlington Agricultural Research Station in south-central Wisconsin—the Wisconsin Integrated Cropping Systems Trial (wicst.wisc.edu)— Dr. Randy Jackson relayed the group’s overall message: Tweaking our dominant grain-based annual crops with reduced tillage, cover crops, and manure addition is not likely to make those systems atmospheric carbon sinks (Fig. 1).
Volume 29 | Number 2 54767WIValley,Spring339,BoxPO TM Soil Carbon Gains continues
Researchers use 30-year cropping systems experiment to evaluate if farm fields can serve as carbon sinks
By Randy Jackson, Gregg Sanford, Matt Ruark, Anna Cates, Ashley Becker, Yichao Rui, David LeZaks
By Nicole Tautges, Ph.D. on
Jennifer Eis, Dreaming Field Farm “I got ideas for my hemp, bees, goats, and chickens— I have a notebook full of ideas to start putting into practice this spring!”
Robyn Bindrich, Valley Girls Farm
Farms as Carbon Sinks continues on 6
“The topics were what I was looking for and more. Access to workshops post-conference is making all the difference. I felt I could do urgent things around the farm and still be able to attend later.”
Mike Miles, Anathoth Community Farm People who missed the live event still may register to watch over 120 hours of recorded workshops, roundtables, and keynotes. For descriptions and regis tration details, see https://bit.ly/GrowingStronger2021. Post-conference registration closes March 31 to allow time to view recordings before the end of May.
Growing Stronger Conference continues on 6 Fig. 1. Twenty-year differences in soil organic carbon (1989 to 2009) across entire soil depth (~3 ft.) at the Wisconsin Integrated Cropping Systems Trail (WICST). Crops on x-axis from L to R: (1) high-input continuous corn, (2) high-input corn-soybean rotation, (3) organic corn-soybean rotation with wheat cover crop, (4) high-input corn-alfalfa rotation, (5) organic corn-alfalfa rotation with oat cover crop, and (6) cool-season pasture with managed rotational grazing (modified from Sanford et al. 2012 Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment).
Dela Ends Scotch Hill Farm, Wis.
donations. Support
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MOSES a 501(c)(3) nonprofit qualified to tax-deductible resilient organic, sustainable, farms donating: MOSES, P.O. Box 339, Spring Valley, WI 54767 educates, inspires, and empowers farmers to thrive in a sustainable, organic system of agriculture. With the virtual con ference in the rearview, I want to thank all of you that attended, presented, exhibited, or volunteered this year. Growing Stronger was truly a collaborative effort! And it showed in the content that managed to be both broad and deep. I say, with just a tinge of surprise, that although I missed the opportunity to see friends in person, there were still incredible moments of connec tion. There were workshops and roundtables that were absolutely profound, with conversations that are so necessary right now. A benefit of the virtual platform was the oppor tunity to record all of the sessions, with the ability to take in multiple workshops in one time slot or go back and revisit a presentation. Because of that, I am going to take this opportunity to highlight some of the nonproduction sessions that are inspiring me as we look toward the future role for MOSES in organic agricul ture. If you missed these during the live event, I hope you will find time to watch the recordings. Farming in the Time of Climate Change—the open ing keynote. I had the absolute privilege of facilitating both the panel and the conversation with the panelists that followed. Jim Goodman, Erin Schneider, and Lea Zeise brought themselves fully to all of the facets of climate and agriculture. I loved how their perspectives wove together and deeply “rooted’” farming as steward ship of the earth’s resources and our connections to each other. Following the panel, we were given permission by the Climate Reality Project to show Amanda Gorman’s poem “Earthrise.” It was the perfect way to begin the conference and the sharing of perspectives. Michael Perry’s Tuesday evening session was funny and validating, while it honored the work we do as farmers. He somehow managed, with gentle humor, to touch on so many of the serious policy themes emerg ing in the conference content. If you are needing a boost or want something to listen to as you set seeds in your greenhouse, Mike is the perfect accompaniment. Having been a chef and restauranteur for the last
• The MOSES In Her Boots Podcast Content Listening Session with farmer-activist Tiffany LaShae. Although described as a listening session, Tiffany’s framing of the popular “In Her Boots” programming and how it could uplift and amplify the voices of the “bootless” women in agriculture was profound. So much of what has brought us to this place— blatant injustice in our food system and extreme climate events—are the result of commodifying those things that are basic human rights (food, land, housing, meaningful work, etc). Throughout the conference, we heard from communities that have historically been excluded from the current structures of building wealth, who have answers for a better, more inclusive way. I am energized by the fact that so many of us are listening, ready to join them. inspiration in Growing Stronger Conference sessions
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MOSES Team: Mike Bollinger River Root Farm, Iowa Sylvia Burgos Toftness Bull Brook Keep, Wis.
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Darin Von Ruden Von Ruden Family Farm, Wis.
Finding
Audrey Alwell, Communications Director | audrey@mosesorganic.org
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Sophia Cleveland, Administrative Coor. | sophia@mosesorganic.org
• Three roundtable conversations with MOSES Vice President Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin on utilizing ancestral organizational and governance structures to create a collective framework
• Understanding & Fighting Monopoly Power in our Food System with Austin Frerick and Lauren Langworthy
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Regi Haslett-Marroquin Northfield, Minn.
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• Dr. Vandana Shiva, who explained a quantum phys icist’s view of interconnectedness and how it relates to agricultural systems during a Facebook Live event in collaboration with the Organic Consumers Association and Regeneration International.
Sarah Woutat, Farmer Advancement Coor. | sarahw@mosesorganic.org On-Farm Organic Specialist Team | specialist@mosesorganic.org Board of Directors: six years, I loved the session brought to us by the Intertribal Agriculture Council, Indigenous Seed-toTable + Cooking Demo. It was a combination of cook ing demonstrations and celebration of how much food ties us to tradition. I can’t wait to visit Sean Sherman’s new Indigenous Food Lab restaurant in the Twin Cities. One of the themes of the week was alternative economies. I think we are all moving toward the notion that the current economic system is benefiting very few and hurting so many. From the monopolies in the food system to new farmer burnout, many of the workshops and roundtables are showing us a better way forward. Some workshop highlights on this theme include:
Jennifer Nelson, Land Access Navigator | jennifer@mosesorganic.org
Sara Tedeschi Dog Hollow Farm, Wis.
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Chuck Anderas, Program Specialist | chuck@mosesorganic.org
Volume 29, #2 March | April 2021 Editor Audrey Alwell Advertising Coordinator Tom Manley Digital Content Producer Stephanie Coffman The Organic BroadcasterTM is a bimonthly newspaper published by the Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service (MOSES), a nonprofit that provides education, resources and practical advice to farmers. Opinions expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. Inclusion of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of a product. We reserve the right to refuse inappropriate advertising. ©2021 MOSES Content may be reprinted with permission. Contact Audrey@mosesorganic.org. Content Submissions or Inquiries: Audrey@mosesorganic.org Display Advertising: Thomas@mosesorganic.org or 888-90-MOSES Classified Advertising: Sophia@mosesorganic.org mosesorganic.org/organic-classifiedsor Free Subscription: mosesorganic.org/sign-up or 888-90-MOSES
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Clare Hintz Elsewhere Farm, Wis.
• Democratizing Agriculture with Chris Newman of Sylvanaqua Farms
Charlie Johnson Johnson Farms, SD David Perkins Vermont Valley Farm, Wis.
Online: mosesorganic.org/donate MOSES
and regenerative
Sarah Broadfoot, Project Manager | sarahb@mosesorganic.org
Lori Stern, Executive Director | lori@mosesorganic.org
Tom Manley, Partnership Director | thomas@mosesorganic.org
Stephanie Coffman, Presentation Coor. | stephanie@mosesorganic.org
By Lori Stern, MOSES Executive Director
The question becomes, how? Change happens farm by farm, from the ground up. Yet, how does a farmer take the first step? How does a farmer find the offramp into a different system without going bankrupt? How does the rebellion begin? We need leaders to break the trail. Leaders that our community can confidently follow. It’s up to farmers across the country to put a stake in the ground, break the levees, and charge forth, united in the agricultural revolution. To stop the corporatized, commoditized, dehumanized, system that’s putting our entire civiliza tion in jeopardy. We are here to support those leaders. Mad Agriculture is working from head to heart, poetry to science, financing to markets, and soil to shelf to catalyze a revolution in regenerative and organic agriculture that is beautiful, just, and inevitable. We help farmers understand their vision and develop conditions for success. In the process of designing and activating a regenerative organic system, every farm and farmer faces a different set of obstacles. For some, a community of like-minded farmers is all that is needed to revolutionize their operation. The catalyst for others can be markets that reward beneficial stewardship of land or an integrated farm plan that brings clarity and technique to their vision. When capital is the primary barrier, there have been few and insufficient solutions. So, we created the Perennial Fund, an alternative bank built for regenera tive organic farmers. We replace traditional operating loans with capital that invigorates the imagination, liberates farmers from the industrial shackles of old-story debt obligations (i.e., bank requirements for GMO seeds, synthetic inputs, etc.), and enables the transition to regenerative organic agriculture. We offer a 10-year commitment to financing farmers through their entire transition. We equip farmers with capital to thrive during the 3-year organic transition trough, build their own working capital reserve, and leverage our farm planning team to co-create a transition plan at no added cost. Each loan is structured farm by farm, to ensure farmers have something that actually works for them. We base their payback on a standard APR or a crop share (revenue share) tailored to the individual farm. Farmers work with our on-staff crop markets lead to access new value-added markets beyond organic pre miums with diversified strategies. The Perennial Fund is structured to ensure that the success of Mad Agriculture, partners, and the farmers are one and the same. The health of the soil and all people is one and indivisible. The Perennial Fund is built upon the principles of the new story. We put our skin in the game to rehu manize finance, share risk, redistribute wealth, decen tralize control, and empower place-based wisdom, with integrated technical assistance every step of the way.
“The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope.” ~Wendell Berry Industrial and extractive agriculture has subverted the economy of nature, degrading planetary eco systems and creating some of the largest challenges humanity has ever faced, like climate change and the loss of biodiversity and fertile soil. The modern indus trial agricultural system has gutted rural America, and yet this manner of agriculture is expanding across the globe. The health of the whole system is faltering—the soil, the people, and the environment. Evidence is everywhere. Commodity markets dehumanize food and expose farmers to the brutality of bottom-line production and international trade dynamics. The USDA Economic Research Service recently forecast a $767 median farm income in the U.S. for 2020. Small towns are boarded up and people are leaving in droves. Small- to medium-sized farms are in sharp decline. Skyrocketing numbers of childhood obesity and autoimmune diseases are well known and not refuted. Rural poverty, job insecurity, food deserts, mental and physical health, and subse quent health care costs are worsening in the agricul tural lands and communities. COVID19 has exposed the dysfunction of industrial supply systems, which have failed in many ways to connect food grown at the farm scale to consumers in need. All of this has come at a huge cost to the Earth. Industrial agriculture is threatening all dimensions of ecosystem wellbeing, from local to global scale, wit nessed in the acceleration of climate change. Climate change is the greatest threat to human civilization and the ecological integrity of the planet and represents the penultimate outcome of our modern and imbalanced affair with nature. We must change course. We need a paradigm shift that creates system change. There is no “silver bullet” to solve the current crisis. The system needs re-imag ining, re-working, re-creation across all domains— culture, economy, policy, diet, and technology. We need a rebellion to drive the next great revolution in agriculture.Thatrebellion is regenerative organic agriculture. Regenerative organic agriculture is a system of farm ing principles and practices that focuses on maximiz ing the health of soil, plants, people, and animals. Regenerative organic agriculture takes a living systems approach to work with nature, rather than against it. Regenerative organic agriculture, in its deepest essence, is founded upon and operates from a differ ent set of values than those that guide the industrial economy.Itmanifests as a shift of values and concepts, from linearity to circularity, quantity to quality, monocul ture to diversity, competition to cooperation, short to long view, extractive to regenerative, centralized
By Brandon Welch, Mad Agriculture Revolution needed to change rural landscape to regenerative organic production
| 3mosesorganic.org | 888-90-MOSESTM
Viewpoints from members of the organic community to decentralized, dominion to interbeing, power to empowerment, withholding to sharing, manufactured to authentic. It inverts the industrial economy and rebalances the global biogeochemical cycles (i.e., car bon and nitrogen) by shifting the economy of extrac tion to the economy of giving, and in that reciprocity, nourishing ourselves through the natural outcome of healthy food as a result of investing in healthy soil. The time is now for a regenerative revolution in agriculture. Out of great pain, great innovation occurs. The conditions are ripe for change. A perfect storm of social, environmental, and economic factors are aligned for another major revolution in agriculture. While daunting, any system can rapidly reconfigure with catalytic strategy and investment. The Green Revolution was funded with less than $50M from the Rockefeller, Ford, and Kellogg Foundations, as society was primed for rapid adoption of industrialization during post-war economy and the rising wave of technology, mechanization, and corporate control and consolidation, and neoliberal capitalism. Rapid and widespread change can be hard to imagine. How will farms change into something dif ferent? Sounds impossible. Yet, it has happened before, and recently. Most Midwestern farms grow the same thing—corn and soybeans—but only for the past several decades. It wasn’t always this way.
Join us in catalyzing a regenerative revolution in agriculture. Learn more about the Perennial Fund and Mad Agriculture at madagriculture.org. Brandon Welch is the Director of Radical Capital for Mad Agriculture.
The Perennial Fund is inspired by the ecological principles, structure, and function of primordial ecosystems, like the tallgrass prairie, redwood forests, or tropical rainforests. These systems are nature’s most mature, beautiful, and resilient expressions of economy, characterized by co-evolution, circularity, diversity, symbioses, closed feedback loops, reciprocity between life and death, and a low natural rate of return (<10%) because most resources are used, shared, and distributed quickly among members of the ecosystem. We invite you to pursue the vision in your heart of a world that is better and more beautiful, but not yet defined. Don’t just read it. Believe it, test it, try it, live it. We challenge you with the words of Adrienne Brown. Can you say? “I am living a life I don’t regret, a life that will resonate with my ancestors, and with as many generations forward as I can imagine. I am attending to the crises of my time with my best self, I am of communities that are doing their collective best to honor our ancestors and all humans to come.”
INSIDE ORGANICS
upRodrigoTwinproducefiedTheyhisOrigenesCalaandCalaRodrigoownsoperatesFarmwithbrother.sellcertiorganicintheCities.grewfarming near Mexico City and moved to Minnesota in 1996. In 2005, Rodrigo began farming at Big River Farms before purchasing his own farm in western Wisconsin in 2008. Rodrigo is a farmer-owner of Shared Ground Farmers’ Co-op and an agricultural trainer with the Latino Economic Development Center. Rodrigo advises farmers on organic certification, food safety, land access, loan applications, farm finances, farm machinery, and greenhouse production.
foundationsstrengthenSheAssociation.FarmersAmericanofandinShefromDhoreNaimahailsSomalia.isafarmerMinnesotathefoundertheSomaliwantstothe of Somali and Horn of Africa farmers to contribute to the future of agriculture in Minnesota and the Midwest. Naima can advise on vegetable production and organic certification. In addition to answering questions from other farmers, these community-based specialists also advise MOSES on the direction of our existing programs and the development of new programs to serve farmers. They are also planning educational workshops for their communities.
SHRED COVER CROPS IN PLACE, PREPARE PERFECT SEEDBEDS, CLEAR HEAVY SNOW, AND MORE WITH A BCS TWO-WHEEL TRACTOR. Organic Compost & F er tilizer For decades, our family has used the manure from our laying hens as a crop fertilizer on our farm. Today, we are pleased to offer a variety of composted layer manure and dry, granular fertilizer blends for use in organic crop production•Available in Bulk, Totes and Bags •Rich in Organic Matter and Nutrients •Helps Condition and Enrich Soil 10 x 4 April www.krehereggs.com Contact: Duwayne Grabenstatter • duwayneg@krehereggs.net • Phone: (716) 512-3857 Scan to Learn More
New community-based specialists can help emerging farmers By Chuck Anderas, MOSES Program Specialist Through a grant from the farmer-owners of Organic Valley via the Farmers Advocating for Organic program, MOSES has hired three additional Organic Specialists to serve emerging farmers. Beatrice Kamau, Rodrigo Cala, and Naima Dhore have joined our team of on-farm Organic Specialists that includes Carmen Fernholz, Mhonpaj Lee, Rachel Henderson, and Kevin Mahalko. All of the specialists are available for one-to-one technical assistance via phone and email. (See mosesorganic.org/ask or call the Organic Answer Line at 888-90-MOSES during businessBeatricehours.)Kamau was born in Kenya and has lived in Chicago for over 20 years. For the last four years, Beatrice has been FarmersingbeekeepShecommunities.immigrantamongarevegetablesgrowingthatpopularAfricanisalsothroughForChicago, a farmer training program offered by Urban Growers Collective, and presented a workshop on beekeeping at the 2020 MOSES Conference. Beatrice is the co-founder of an interna tional network of beekeepers called African Women in Beekeeping. In addition to beekeeping, Beatrice is knowledgeable in business management and accounting, composting, food safety, and growing mushrooms, vegetables, and microgreens. She is also a licensed practical nurse.
4 | March | April 2021 TM MOSES Organic Specialists answer your questions about organic production and certification. CALL: Organic Answer Line 888-90-MOSES (906-6737) SUBMIT: Click “Ask a Specialist” button at mosesorganic.org/ask. READ: Browse answers to questions at mosesorganic.org/ask. DOWNLOAD: Fact Sheets at organic-fact-sheets.mosesorganic.org/
My wife, Juli, and I grow organic apples at Two Onion Farm in southwest Wisconsin. Like many apple growers, we’ve planted dwarf trees because they provide a quick return on investment and are easy to manage in many ways. However, a weakness of dwarf trees is that they have shallow root systems and com pete poorly with weeds. To give the trees a competitive edge, we spread hardwood bark mulch below them to suppress annual weeds. Over time, however, aggressive perennial weeds such as Canada thistle can invade the mulch. Canada thistle competes for water and nutri ents with the trees, and the tall prickly thistle plants bother orchard workers who are picking fruit or doing other work in the lower tree branches.
Canada thistle has deep roots and, once estab lished, it is very difficult to eliminate from an organic orchard. Digging out the thistle roots would be extremely time-consuming and destructive to the nearby apple trees. Research has shown that it is pos sible to deplete thistle’s root reserves and gradually suppress or eliminate the plant by repeatedly killing the shoots, letting new shoots regrow, and then killing them again. However, to implement this strategy, it is necessary to kill Canada thistle shoots about every three weeks. If the thistle shoots are killed at longer intervals, new shoots will grow and replenish the energy stored in the roots between each round of shoot killing. For many years, we chopped down thistle patches in our orchard 2-4 times each growing season (at 5- to 10-week intervals), but the thistles persisted and patches expanded as roots spread and new shoots emerged. We wondered if killing the thistle shoots every three weeks would really eradicate the weed. We also wondered how we could fit this task into our busy farm schedules. In 2019-2020, we received funding from a USDASARE Farmer Rancher Grant to evaluate organic methods for killing Canada thistle shoots. Our goals were to determine whether killing shoots every three weeks would eliminate the weed, and, if so, to determine what was the most economical and effective method for killing the shoots. We performed the project in an orchard of trees that had been planted in 2012 to 2015. Trees are six feet apart within the row, and there is a 5.5-foot-wide strip of bark mulch under each tree row. We maintain a closely mowed grass aisle between tree rows, with a narrow bare strip of cultivated soil between the grass and mulch. We rarely see Canada thistle in the cul tivated strip or grass, presumably because it does not tolerate regular mowing or cultivation. We evaluated four methods for killing shoots: • hand-pulling; • slicing off the shoots at ground level with a dia mond hoe; • cutting the shoots as low as possible with a gaspowered string trimmer; and, • spraying the shoots with Avenger Weed Killer, an OMRI-listed, non-systemic herbicide. Each of the four methods was performed in two settings: in our standard bark mulch and in areas where we had applied a layer of recycled cardboard
The orchard at Two Onion Farm has mowed grass walkways with cultivated edges between tree rows covered by hardwood bark mulch—none of which stopped Canada thistle. The growers experimented with 8 organic methods to eliminate the persistent weed and found success with each.
| 5mosesorganic.org | 888-90-MOSESTM
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Canada Thistle in Orchard continues on 12
Photo by Chris McGuire
By Chris McGuire underneath the bark. We thought that the cardboard might reduce thistle emergence and lessen the time required to kill shoots. That made eight variables or treatments in total. Each of the eight treatments was performed for two years in 14 thistle-infested plots in our orchard. We started treatments on May 22, 2019, and applied them every three weeks, with the last treatment of 2019 on Sept. 25. In 2020, we applied treatments from May 15 to July 23. We counted the number of thistle shoots in each plot every three weeks, right before killing the shoots. We measured the time and materials costs for applying the different treatments. All the methods of killing shoots were extremely effective. Near the beginning of 2019, we counted a total of 1,329 thistle shoots over all our plots. After each treatment, new shoots regrew, but they were pro gressively fewer and weaker. By the end of 2019, there were only 5 shoots in all of our plots, and by June 30, 2020, none remained. We had expected some decreaseCanada thistle emerges through the hardwood bark mulch in the orchard at Two Onion Farm. Photo by Chris McGuire
Farmer explores organic strategies to control Canada thistle in orchard
Randy Jackson is Campbell-Bascom Professor of Grassland Ecology in the Department of Agronomy at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Gregg Sanford is Cropping Systems Agronomist with the UW-Madison Department of Agronomy. Matt Ruark is Professor of Soil Science in the Department of Soil Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Anna Cates is State Soil Health Specialist with the University of Minnesota. Ashley Becker is a Graduate Student Research Assistant in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at UW-Madison. David LeZaks is Senior Fellow at the Croatan Institute. Yichao Rui is Soil Scientist at the Rodale Institute.
If you registered for the Growing Stronger Conference, you may watch the recording of this workshop: Can Regenerative Agriculture Stabilize Soil Carbon? If you missed conference week, you may still sign up to view more than 100 recordings and access resources in dozens of exhibit booths for the same admission price of $125. See https://bit.ly/GrowingStronger2021. Watch the Conference Workshop
At the start of the conference, several farmers were recognized for their achievements. GrassWorks presented the Jerold Berg Grazing Advocate Award in memoriam to Jim Quick from Honey Creek Farm.
The MOSES Board of Directors named Liz Graznak the Organic Farmer of the Year. Liz owns and operates Happy Hollow Farm in Missouri. As board member Charlie Johnson explained, the award honors Liz for outstanding organic practices as well as her efforts to expand awareness of organic food and build com munity around organic farming. Read more about Liz at mosesorganic.org/organic-farmer-of-the-year and view her farm story on the MOSES YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/mosesorganic.TheBoardalsorecognizedHannah Breckbill of Humble Hands Harvest, and Andrew Van Gorp and Lindsay Zimmerman of Sustain DuPage as Changemakers, an award that calls out people who are breaking down barriers and empowering others to farm in ways that are environmentally responsible, socially just, and economically viable. Their farm story is at mosesorganic.org/changemaker-award and on the MOSES YouTube channel.
Growing Stronger Conference — from page 1
6 | March | April 2021 TM Farms as Carbon Sinks — from page 1 © 2020 Healthy Food Ingredients. Join our family of growers who share our passion for cultivating goodness. We’d like you to grow with us. Let’s cultivate goodness, together. Call 844-275-3443 or visit HFIfamily.com Pulses | Soybeans | Flax | Cereal Grains | Corn 920.684.0227 Fax: 920.684.4499 ORDER 800.258.0848 Manitowoc , WI • U.S.A. www.FishFer tilizer.com DRAMM® RPRODUCE OW PCROPS ASTURE Extremely high levels of available Calcium & Phosphorus for Organic & Sustainable Crop Production Natural Fish Fer tilizer s rotations of primarily corn and soybeans. Importantly, the same comparison at 6 to 12 inches depth showed no soil carbon difference. To explore the mechanisms of soil carbon, Dr. Yichao Rui showed how more particulate organic mat ter (partially decomposed plant debris) was accumu lating in the pasture soil and that the microbes in these pasture soils were more efficiently using this carbon source to build their own bodies. Moreover, when these microbes died, their dead cells were accumulat ing to a greater degree in the soil carbon pool known as the mineral-associated organic matter, which is thought to be how carbon actually gets “sequestered” from the Whenatmosphere.woventogether, the stories shared by these scientists raise concerns about emerging agricultural carbon markets. Dr. David LeZaks echoed these con cerns from the perspective of his work in the invest ment capital world. He made clear what an exciting time we’re in, given the Biden Administration’s signals that climate-smart agriculture will be incentivized and rewarded moving forward. But Dr. LeZaks also described how devastating the failure of a new carbon market would be to sustainable agriculture efforts if investments, credits, and promises related to carbon sequestration do not materialize. He and other attend ees emphasized the importance of emerging markets that rely on more than just carbon balance and include water quality, flood reduction, and wildlife habitat. In the discussion that followed these presentations, attendees echoed concerns of the panelists that carbon markets will be co-opted by agricultural practices that are not likely to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide. The sentiment expressed by several of these folks was that we need transformational change of our agricul tural system rather than incremental tweaks or fixes to the existing one.
Audrey Alwell is the Communications Director at MOSES.
The conference featured more than 100 exhibitors. The content they loaded to their virtual booths is still available to browse. Learn about flame weeding, setting up temporary fencing for rotational grazing, recom mended varieties for milling oats, installing subsurface drip irrigation, on-farm produce safety, and dozens of other topics. Many exhibitors also shared miniwebinars on farming topics. These are available in the “Additional On-Demand” section. Many of the exhibitor show specials are still in effect and available publicly. See https://bit.ly/ GrowingStronger-Show-Specials to take advantage of these limited-time offers. “The conference sponsors and exhibitors are the backbone of a strong organic community,” said Tom Manley, MOSES Partnership Director. “They stepped up to support the conference so we could offer a lower registration fee for farmers. I hope you’ll join me in showing appreciation by looking to them for your farming products or services.”
Awards also were part of the Organic Research Forum, an annual feature of the MOSES Conference that includes a juried competition of research proj ects by graduate students. Ambar Carvallo from the University of Wisconsin-Madison took first place for her research on Obtaining Tomato Varieties Adapted for Organic Farming Systems in the Upper Midwest. Matthew Gullickson from the University of Minnesota took second place for Field Implementation of Botanical Deterrents for Organic Management of Spotted-Wing Drosophila. Third place went to Sarah Janes Ugoretz from the University of Wisconsin-Madison for Connections Between Hired Labor and Long-Term Sustainability of Organic Vegetable Farms. The virtual format allowed each researcher to explain their findings in recorded videos, which are available as “Additional On-Demand” content within the conference. The virtual conference format provided a unique opportunity to showcase farmer ingenuity and provide tours of organic farms by video. Conference recordings include dozens of speed presentations by farmers as well as exhibitors who provided farming advice related to their specialties.
owners whose operations contribute to spread COVID-19, either among employees or customers. The risk of legal liability for transmission between workers is much reduced where the business is fol lowing best practices. Review the Centers for Disease Control’s checklist for agricultural risk assessment and control planning for COVID-19 for a full list of recommendations.Whenitcomesto liability for transmission to cus tomers, the risk is quite small for a couple of reasons. It will be difficult for most customers to demonstrate that the farm was indeed the source of their transmis sion. And, even if a customer is able to establish that, they would likely need to prove some form of negli gence or wrongdoing, which will be challenging.
As destabilizing as the COVID-19 pandemic has been for farmers and food producers nationwide, it has also opened our eyes to new opportunities and solutions. We’re having conversations and exploring new ideas about how to build strong individual farm businesses that can work independently as well as col lectively to protect our country’s food system, if and when tragedy strikes again. The good news is that there are many opportunities for producers to increase their farm’s resilience during this time. Even though we can’t singlehandedly build new processing plants or fix a broken postal system, we can look at the particular tools we are using to be better prepared in case we get sick, employees get sick or injured, or we need to adapt quickly to new market channels. When we consider our options and make clear choices, we can rest easy at night. Some of us will choose to continue taking risks, and that’s per fectly acceptable. Being able to make that conscious, informed choice is the foundation of a good night’s sleep for farmers and ranchers everywhere. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed many farmers’ vulnerability to sickness and injury. Contracting this disease not only risks the health of individual farm ers, it risks the health of their business as a whole. Being laid up in the hospital during the wrong time of year means that no one is driving the combine, delivering orders, or making crucial decisions about marketing and hiring, to name a few examples. Loss of revenue and individual farmer income is a serious risk with repercussions that can continue for years in the form of high-interest rates on debt and degraded relationships.Twoprimary solutions are available to alleviate this risk. First, look into the costs and benefits of private disability insurance (as distinguished from social security disability, which is not discussed here). Private disability insurance can provide you with lost wages when you cannot perform your job because of illness or injury. The fine print matters, though. For any policy, be sure you are okay with the waiting or exclusion period, the time after which you become unable to work but before the policy benefits kick in. Also, make sure you’re perfectly clear on exactly how your benefits will be calculated. Will your income from self-employment be determined by looking at your net income on a Schedule F? That might not work if your previous year’s tax returns show a loss. Looking at how much income the policy may provide, is it worth the cost? Lastly, be sure to confirm with your insurance agent whether the particular tragedies in your mind are covered: a COVID-related illness? A tractor roll-over accident? Ask questions! Workers’ compensation insurance is another choice. Although many farmers are not obligated to carry workers’ compensation for their employees, and the majority also do not have to carry it for them selves, some farmers choose to cover themselves with By Rachel Armstrong a policy. These farmers are attracted to the fact that workers’ compensation covers lost wages (at a percent age) as well as mileage to doctor visits and a benefit for suffering a loss of limb, permanent disability, and death, for example. Of course, there are limitations, with the primary one being that the injury must have been in the course of work. That can be difficult to prove if we’re talking about COVID-19 illness. Farmers also may not be able to see their regular doc tor if the injury is covered by a workers’ compensation policy. Again, each person will have to weigh the costs and benefits for themselves.
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Pandemic shines light on strategies that help farmers build resilient businesses
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Faced with the closing of restaurants and loss of farmers market sales among others, many farmers turned to alternative platforms like direct-to-con sumer sales, home delivery, and working with other farmers for multi-farm CSAs. Farmers having success with these platforms and hoping to stick with those avenues should spend a little time considering the new legal risks they pose. Auto insurance is a big one. Talk to the farm’s auto insurance agent to make sure any employee driving off-farm is covered, whether they are driving the farm vehicle, a rental, or their own. Also, look into employment law obligations. Doing home delivery and packing boxes with other farmers’ contents is often not considered agricultural labor. In that case, the farm might need to start buying work ers’ compensation, paying into unemployment insur ance, and paying at least the minimum wage if they weren’t already. Because many farm businesses are exempt from these legal obligations when assigning workers farm tasks, they become vulnerable if they cross into activities considered non-agricultural. Developing legal resilience is a lifelong path for many farmers. At each point in the farm business, and with each new circumstance, the right strategy may shift. But it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Prioritizing and risk management are skills every farmer has developed—it’s the nature of the job. You have the mindset necessary to be successful with legal risk management, too. If you need additional resources on legal risk man agement, check farmcommons.org. Farm Commons is a nonprofit that helps farmers understand and resolve their farm business law issues. We especially recom mend our online workshop “Discovering Resilience: A legal workshop for farmers and ranchers.” This online workshop gives farmers and ranchers the fundamental tools to manage legal risk throughout the life of their operation. See membership information in the box to the left. Rachel Armstrong is an attorney and founder of Farm Commons. GemTM is an all-natural liquid fish fertilizer that works with your soil biology to promote growth and development, while improving overall soil your Na ture Experience the Benefits of Membership ofarm.2005@gmail.com ofarm.org 785-337-2442
Prioritizing and risk management are skills every farmer has developed—it’s the nature of the job. You have the mindset necessary to be successful with legal risk management, too. Farmers also endure the huge risk of their employ ees getting sick or injured. Any effort a farmer can devote to helping workers prevent problems and get back on their feet may be a wise choice. First and foremost, farmers can do many things to prevent the risk of COVID-19 transmission at the workplace. Most farmers are likely already increas ing sanitation procedures and requiring masks while working. Consider using a cohort-based approach to task assignments so that individuals are only exposed to a limited number of colleagues while at work. An ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure, consider what you can do to empower workers to get a vaccine. Time off and educational materials can incentivize participation. Employers are legally allowed in many circumstances to require a vaccine as a condition of continued employment. At the same time, opinions vary on the moral suitability of that path, especially considering the negative experience of many farmworker populations when it comes to public health and medical research initiatives. Early in the pandemic, the news coverage and politicians focused on potential liability for business Farm Commons, a nonprofit providing legal resources and education for the farming community, has restructured to a membership-based model. Members have access to in-depth guides and sample documents, interactive online workshops, and a community forum to get feedback. Producers may sign up by June 1, 2021, to receive an annual membership for $49. See farmcommons.org. Membership in Farm Commons
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Atmospheric Carbon Levels’ Relationship to Global Warming Dr. Nicole Tautges provided this brief reminder. Earth’s atmosphere is mostly made up of atmospheric nitrogen (luckily for Rhizobia bacteria and legumes), followed by oxygen and argon, in gaseous form. Carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides, and methane make up less than 0.5% of the atmosphere. While nitrogen and oxygen gases do not interact with infrared radiation (the “heatcausing” portion of solar radiation), carbon dioxide and the other trace gases mentioned above do, first absorbing heat-creating infrared waves and then re-emitting about half of them into our atmosphere. That’s why an increasing portion of our atmosphere being carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides, and methane (the worst!) causes warming of our planet. Soil Carbon Gains
8 | March | April 2021 TM Soil Carbon Gains — from page 1 cropping, nitrogen fertilizer usage reduction, and/or increasing farm rotational diversity. However, Nori is not accepting applications at this time, and it is unclear when new opportunities will open up for growers on their platform. Furthermore, equity concerns abound with Nori’s program, as they only enroll growers operating 1,000 acres or more. Farmers at this scale are often the most well off to begin with, perpetuating a system where the “rich get richer” while the “ag of the middle” and small-scale growers are excluded from being able to access the benefits of carbon markets. Nori also requires startup/ enrollment fees of at least $3,000 for each farm, so getting a farm enrolled certainly represents an upfront cost. Both platforms are requiring third-party verification of net carbon gain and, in IndigoAg’s case, after enrollment, farmers only get paid if their soils actually gain in carbon. A business executive very interested in these car bon markets recently said to me, “Farmers don’t have anything to lose; they get to earn money for carbon credits on top of receiving the benefits of doing the practices.” (The corporate business community she works with is investing heavily in climate changemitigation efforts.) I’m not so sure. Given the sub stantial amounts of time (and dollars, in Nori’s case) farmers invest in getting enrolled, there seems to be a substantial risk of not getting paid if the prescribed practices (cover cropping, no-till, rotation diversifica tion) don’t result in net carbon gain. That’s where the importance of understanding the “state of the science” of soil carbon sequestration comesThein.world’s soils were being openly discussed as a potentially important “sink” for atmospheric carbon in the early 2000s. Given that around 30% of the planet’s soils are used for farming, focus turned to agricultural management practices as a means to increase soil carbon. No-till was a practice reported early on to create a net gain in soil carbon. As crop residue was thought to be a major carbon reten tion mechanism in no-till systems, some called for increases in fertilizer use to increase crop residue inputs to soils, a practice that researchers rightly cautioned against, due to the disproportionately high greenhouse gases associated with the manufacture and transport of nitrogen fertilizer. However, globally, soil carbon gains achieved with no-till have been mixed as more studies were conducted at a broader geographic range, with some crop rotations even resulting in losses of soil carbon with the adoption of no-till3. Policymakers (and these most recent carbon markets) have largely ignored the complicating factors and persist in promoting no-till4 as a panacea practice for soil carbon storage and other beneficial conservation outcomes. It is crucial to note here that there is strong scientific consensus around no-tillage being proven to be beneficial for soil reten tion and the prevention of erosion, a hugely important consideration for choosing management practices that contribute to environmental and agricultural sustainability.Otherpractices identified early on, like managed perennial grass establishment (e.g., pasture) and manure/compost application, have been largely con firmed by the majority of studies to result in mean ingful increases in soil carbon. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in one of few headon comparisons of annual row-cropped systems compared to well-managed perennial grass-based pastures, found that perennial grasses were an essen tial component of cropping systems that achieved gains in soil carbon, whereas losses occurred in all annualManagedsystems.perennial pastures have been observed to increase soil carbon in tropical regions5 as well. (Well-managed pastures include good soil fertility management with either chemical or organic fertil izers.) Long-term application of manure not only improves soil carbon levels, but also benefits soil health indicators6. Some counter that manure or com post application simply recycles agricultural carbon and doesn’t represent net removal of carbon from the atmosphere. However, keeping organic wastes from emitting methane is an important step for mitigating agricultural sources of greenhouse gases, of which methane is the most potent. The carbon footprint of manure/compost transport is important to consider, but greater integration of crop and livestock produc tion across the landscape could decrease transport distances and the carbon cost. The carbon markets make little mention of perennial cropping and manure application in their lists of incentivized man agement practices. That brings us to cover crops, a long-incen tivized practice by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and others for a variety of conservation benefits, with some of the most important being soil retention and conservation, and reduced fertilizer losses and resultant pollution of ground and surface waters. However, the state of the science on cover crops resulting in meaningful soil carbon gains is far from consensus. An analysis of studies conducted around the globe found that cover crops resulted in modest soil carbon gains7, but the majority of these studies only measured soil carbon in the top foot of soil. Studies that have measured soil carbon deeper in the profile actually observed net losses in soil carbon over 19 years with the addition of cover cropping to a chemically fertilized system8 (compared to the same crop rotation with winter fallow), but large gains in soil carbon were observed with cover cropping plus composted manure applica tion (full disclosure: I co-authored that paper). Cover crops seemed to alter soil microbial activity in the winter relative to a winter fallow system, resulting in greater soil microbial activity and respiration (i.e., microbial emission of soil carbon from intermediate depths in the soil profile). We urged caution with those results as the study was conducted in a semiarid region of California, and soil bio-physico-chemical cycles can differ significantly between semiarid and humid temperate climates. However, notably, a study in Iowa also observed that cover crops significantly altered soil biological cycles and did not promote soil carbon storage9
It is important to state here, again, that even if additional studies confirm the limited benefit or nega tive effect of cover crops on soil carbon, their benefits for other environmental conservation goals remain important. Not all agricultural management practices need to be beneficial for every single environmental indicator to merit incentivization. However, when we incentivize a management practice, with either public or private dollars, it is crucial that we understand what outcome we are getting for our investment. Misrepresentation of outcomes will lead to mistrust of climate change-mitigation efforts as a whole, and will waste crucial time in the limited window we have to enact meaningful changes to alter the current trajec tory of atmospheric carbon accumulation. So, if there is greater scientific consensus around managed/fertilized perennial systems and integrated crop-livestock systems (leading to manure applica tion and recycling of organic wastes), why aren’t those the practices being incentivized? Probably because they represent the greatest change, especially in terms of economics. Keeping annual row crop rotations and cash crops the way they are now, with their unceasing reliance on corn and soybean in much of the U.S., could be largely preserved and continued, with some (not altogether small) management tweaks, in terms of changing over to no-till equipment and lots of extra work to get cover crops into the ground in fall. Crop marketing and processing could remain the same. Commodity
Principle 5: Education and Training Kelly: People who study co-ops all around the world have found that cooperatives that really embrace education and training for their members, their boards, and their community are more likely to be successful. Are there additional ways that you’re incorporating education and training into 40 Acre?
For a special series on the MOSES Organic Farming Podcast, MOSES has teamed up with Kelly Maynard at the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives to explore some innovative agricultural cooperatives. The first to be featured is 40 Acre Co-op, a nationwide cooperative supporting socially disad vantaged farmers, primarily those who are Black. Our two guests from 40 Acre are Angela Dawson, the founder and president of 40 Acre Co-op and a fourth-generation farmer in the Midwest, and Kheph Rakhu, president and CEO of Better Family Life Minnesota and a member of 40 Acre Co-op. The interview is structured around the seven principles of cooperatives. This is an edited and condensed transcript of the interview. For the full interview, find the MOSES Organic Farming Podcast in your podcast app or on the MOSES YouTube channel. Kelly Maynard: How would you describe 40 Acre Cooperative in just a few sentences? Angela Dawson: The 40 Acre Co-op is a farmerowned producer cooperative with a national member ship base. We focus on socially disadvantaged farmers and center Black farmers because of the wealth gap that exists for Black farmers in the United States. We use the hemp seed as our cash crop to bring more economic equity to agriculture for our members.
Principle 1: Voluntary and Open Membership Kelly: Can you talk about all the different types of members that are in your co-op and what motivates them to be member owners? Angela: The members of the co-op are very diverse and currently all around the country. We have members in Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Virginia, Georgia, and North Carolina. We are open to anyone who is in alignment with the vision and the mission of the co-op to bring economic equity to socially disadvantaged farmers. We center socially disadvantaged farmers and our whole mission is around addressing the wealth and equity and land access gap that Black farmers have experienced specifically. Right now the majority of our [members] are the farmer-owners but we also have vendors or suppliers of those farmers who can be members and then we have people within the cannabis business specifically who are members. Those are the only voting membership class—the class A voting membership are the people who are interested in growing and interested in serving people who are growing. We have another class of membership which is the class C membership and that is the investor class. That is a non-voting class of membership and it’s a unique opportunity that the cooperative has. We don’t take it very lightly to have those different classes within our cooperative because that is pretty much where we can tip the balance in terms of community farmer-ownership versus the old traditional model of investor ownership.
Cooperative principles guide 40 Acre Co-op in supporting socially disadvantaged farmers
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Kheph: As a member, one thing that attracted me was the entire focus on training—particularly train ing in the form of mentorship and apprenticeship. I think that’s an effective way of getting a tactile, expe riential model for learning. We have a saying: “If you know better, you do better.” I think that Angela has done a fine job of attracting members that are likeminded in that and wanting to receive training, but also community members that are experienced that are willing to take people underneath their wings, share their expertise, and share knowledge, which is extremely valuable. Angela: 2020 was our startup year. We collected a lot of valuable input and data from members about what their training needs were. What I learned from member input and the weekly field Zoom calls that we had, was that, for us, the education principle is right now number one because of the lack of investment in the capacity of Black farmers over the years. I cannot overstate the need and that gap. You hear about the
Principles 2-4: Democratic Member Control, Members’ Economic Participation, Autonomy and Independence Kelly: One of the definitions of a cooperative busi ness different from another structure is democratic member control. What can you tell us about your structure and how the members shape the co-op? Kheph Rakhu: When we first started 40 Acre Co-op, it was really exciting to a lot of people, and we attracted a lot of investors. At first, it was super exciting for me because my background is mostly in the philanthropy realm within Minnesota. I worked for a large university and I wrote grants and proposals mostly for physicians and researchers and public health researchers and helped to fund differ ent innovative medical research devices, medicines interventions, that kind of stuff so anytime you get an investor who is excited about your concept and your mission it is typically a good thing. [With 40 Acre Co-op] my excitement probably got the best of me and I had to scale back to really make sure that, even though other people are financially interested in the co-op, we really have to keep the farmer-members at the center. That’s why we wanted to make sure that the farmer-members have the voting power within the cooperative. Angela: The investor piece is a very delicate bal ance, specifically for socially disadvantaged farm ers and Black farmers who have not had access to resources. When this person comes in the room and says that they have a million dollars, all of the atten tion and all of the show goes to them. It’s part of the education about self-efficacy on the land with farm ing—yes, we have been denied access to resources, we’ve never had money or capital. Yes, that million dollars can help us get three tractors that we’ve been needing, but we have to still go about this methodi cally so that we’re centering our members and mak ing sure that we’re building equity for farmers over time.
Kheph: I think it’s one of the great opportunities that we have coming in 2021 is positioning our mem bers to take on an investor mindset. It positions us to have better efficacy when it comes to the financial aspect of running an agricultural institution. There’s the production side and then there’s the business side, and us taking on that mentality of an investor is going to increase that area of competency.
Whether your farm is a non-traditional operation marketing directly to consumers – or through local and regional food systems – our dedicated and experienced team can provide financial solutions designed to help you succeed. And we’ll guide you every step of the way. COMPEER.COM/EmergingMarkets Compeer Financial can provide assistance with financing and operations based on historical data and industry expertise. Compeer Financial does not provide legal advice or certified financial planning. Compeer Financial, ACA is an Equal Credit Opportunity Lender and Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer. ©2020 All rights reserved. Sai Thao Sr. Lending Specialist (612) 597-4086 Sai.Thao@compeer.com Paul Dietmann Sr. Lending Specialist (608) Paul.Dietmann@compeer.com963-7763 (844) 426-6733 | #CHAMPIONRURAL LET’S MAKE YOUR PLANS A TOGETHER.REALITY, 40 Acre Co-op continues on 14
interseeding could help us with our post-pepper harvest covercropping conundrum. Our main concern was the potential for the interseeded cover crop to compete with our crop and decrease yield. We hoped to mitigate competition by delaying establishment of the cover crop until after the critical weed-free period. That led us to the primary question to answer with the experiment: how long should we wait after transplanting peppers to inter seed a cover crop? We opted to seed a mixture of annual ryegrass and Dutch white clover at rates of 20 lbs/A and 10 lbs/A, respectively. In the relatively scant literature on interseeding, these two species were described as well-suited to interseeding.Wegrowpeppers in two different production systems— cultivated bare ground and plastic mulch. We tested three different seeding dates in each of these two production systems. In the plastic mulch system, where the cover crop would be seeded only in the pathways, we figured the spatial segregation of cash and cover crop plus the physical barrier of the plastic film would lead to less competition. As such, we tested fairly early interseed ing dates ranging from three weeks before transplant ing to three weeks after. We believed that earlier interseeding would lead to greater ecological benefits by protecting the soil through the heavy rainfalls we see in June and July. We replaced early pathway culti vation with mowing of the cover crop. In the bare ground system, we decided to broad cast the cover crop seed across the full field width, leading to cover crop seedlings co-mingling with our pepper plants. To limit competition, we looked at later interseeding dates ranging from 3-7 weeks after trans planting. We were looking for the sweet spot that gave our pepper plants competitive advantages for water, nutrients and light, while still allowing the cover crop seeds to establish beneath the canopy. Green bell peppers were harvested weekly begin ning August 1st and marketable fruits were weighed and counted. We observed some successes, some failures, and plenty in between. Since treatments were not replicated in this production-scale trial, our results should be interpreted as anecdotal.
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Interseeding cover crops in vegetable fields gives them head start before winter By Dana Jokela
10 | January | February 2021 TM On our farm in southern Minnesota, we struggled with getting a late-season cover crop established prior to the snow. We would finish the final pepper harvest of the season in early October from plants already singed by frost. We’d hustle to get the field ready for winter rye by removing plastic mulch and mowing and tilling in crop residue. A couple days later, we’d drill the rye, hoping for a gentle rain shortly after to set the stage for some nice late-fall growth to keep the soil protected during winter and spring, while building soil organic matter before our next cash crop. After a couple of weeks, I’d check on emergence. The field would be covered with a carpet of purplegreen rye seedlings, fresh out of the ground and starting to make chlorophyll. Cue the early winter snowstorm that would dump five inches of heavy snow. Growth would grind to a halt. Even when the snow melted soon after, the nights would become colder, the days shorter, and that cover crop’s soil-building poten tial would be severely hindered. This was the challenge we faced as we scaled up our pepper production to nearly a quarter of our total acreage. How could we avoid leaving these fields bare over the winter? Two years ago, we got curious about the feasibil ity of interseeding a cover crop into the pepper fields earlier in the summer. While this was not a new concept, it was not widely practiced. We couldn’t find many recommendations for cover crop species, rates, and planting dates for interseeding in vegetable crop pingWithsystems.funding from a Farmer Rancher Grant from North Central-SARE, we conducted a trial to see if
Dana Jokela mows strips of annual ryegrass/Dutch white clover he interseeded between peppers in plastic mulch. Sogn Valley Farm received a SARE Farmer Rancher Grant to experiment with interseeding cover crops. Photo submitted In both production systems, there was a slight yield drag from interseeding in most cases. Interseeding decreased yield by 14-20% in the plasticulture systems and by 10-12% in the bare ground system. The outlier was the earliest interseeding date in the bare ground system, where heavy competition was evident very early and yields were diminished by over 60%. While a 10-20% yield reduction may not be a great selling point, I would argue that it’s not a reason to dismiss this approach. First, yields across all plots (with that one exception) were quite good based on our historic averages without use of interseeding, ranging from 20,000 to 30,000 lbs/A of marketable bell peppers. Second, there are a host of other benefits to interseeding, including reduced erosion from summer rainfall, cleaner fruit from less soil splash, and mudfree harvesting even right after heavy rainfall. Plus, all interseeding dates achieved the original goal of ending the season with a vigorous cover crop rather than spindly rye cotyledons. With the caveat that this is still a new and evolving practice for us, we can share some general recommendations.
Interseeding Cover Crops continues on next page
When cover crops were interseeded between beds in the plasticulture system, there was a reduction in yield, ranging from a 22% loss at the Mid seeding date to 13% loss at the Late date. Plots without cover crops had somewhat higher yields than the Mid and Late cover crop plots, but in this case there was only a 10-12% difference.
First, since cover crop seeds are surface sown, it’s criti cal that they receive moisture from rain or irrigation until they germinate. We once interseeded an acre of atesseedingseason,atialthatousrapidly.tosystem,ryegrasswithespeciallyirrigationevent,ofseedingPlancropnonedrought.enterrows)irrigatedadjacentwaterdon’tpathwaysplasticulture(whichgetanyfromdrip-pepperonlytoa6-weekAlmostofthatcovergerminated.totimeaheadaforecastrainorhaveready.Wearen’thappyannualinthisasitgoesseedfairlyTheobviproblemwithisitspotentobecomeweedthenextanditshabitcremuchtaller
Serving the Upper Midwest Ensuring Organic Integrity Since 2002 committedresponsivelocal to service Annual ryegrass and Dutch white clover emerge among maturing pepper plants in the bare-ground plot at Sogn Valley Farm in Minnesota. The farmer found that seeding 7 weeks after transplanting peppers minimized competition and allowed the pepper plants to produce acceptable yields. Photo by Dana Jokela season to season. There are undoubtedly circumstances where it could be counterproductive, possibly exacer bating disease by reducing airflow or harboring insect and rodent pests. It may also pose a challenge in dry climates or on farms without irrigation, since the cover crop will use water. But if you’re looking for a way to keep your fields in living cover for more of the year, it might be worth giving interseeding a shot.
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Interseeding Cover Crops — from previous page
plants that start to obstruct the pepper plants. Lowgrowing cover crops are ideal for interseeding. We are hoping to find an alternative grass species, or perhaps just use a heavy rate of straight clover. Interseeding is no miracle practice. It has its tradeoffs. Effectiveness will vary from region to region,
Dana Jokela owns and operates Sogn Valley Farm, a diversified, organic farm near Cannon Falls, Minne sota. See more details about this grant project http://bit.ly/SARE-Grant-Interseeding-CoverCrops.at
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First, let’s discuss interseeding pathways in the plasticulture system. We didn’t see any benefit to inter seeding weeks before transplanting peppers. Our expe rience indicates that the longer one waits to interseed, the lower the chance that yield will be reduced from competition. The tradeoff is that the pathways must be weeded thoroughly up until the point of interseeding. Since we have decent tools for mechanically cultivating pathways, we’ve chosen to interseed 6-7 weeks after transplanting. The added benefit of delaying this long is that we don’t need to mow the pathways. When interseeding the full field width in a system without plastic mulch, we typically follow the same schedule as in plasticulture and interseed 6-7 weeks after transplanting. We keep our fields cultivated with our fingerweeder and do a quick hand-weed to clean up escapes prior to interseeding. The combination of shade from the mature pepper plants and trampling from harvesting seems to keep the cover crop in check during late summer and fall. After mowing crop resi due at season-end, the cover crop puts on a nice flush of growth with its newfound access to sunshine. There are a few challenges that should be addressed.
A detailed report of our results is available online at www.twoonionfarm.com/research/.
The results of this study were hopeful and encour aging. It is clearly possible to eradicate Canada thistle with a rigorous schedule of killing the shoots every three weeks. Of the methods we tried, we favor hoeing with a diamond hoe. String trimming was somewhat faster and less expensive according to our data, but it does have several disadvantages which we did not quantify, including occasional damage to trunk guards, noise, fumes, vibration, higher cost of tool purchase, and ongoing and annoying maintenance issues. In addition, we observed that string trimming was ineffective against low-growing weeds, such as dandelion and crabgrass, which sometimes occur in our orchard, whereas hoeing can be used to control most other weeds in addition to thistles.
12 | March | April 2021 TM price structures wouldn’t have to change too much. And, as the science suggests, our carbon situation likely wouldn’t change much either. Conversely, conversion to perennial and integrated crop-livestock systems that result in net carbon sequestration in the soils would necessitate a funda mental restructuring of not just the farm landscape, but also our food system, with many of the intermedi ate steps between farm and fork needing to be recon figured. A larger percentage of farms would have to keep livestock and hundreds of miles of fencing would need to be (re)erected across America. New marketing structures would have to be developed for meat and other livestock products; we would have to find ways to NOT reject meat and livestock product consump tion, but rather find a way to make livestock a sustain able part of our agroecological landscapes and diets (or fiber systems). New perennial crops may need to be developed and adopted10, and food product
These new carbon markets are pretending they’re a new frontier for sustainable and regenerative agriculture, but they’re not embracing the hard, com plicated work that needs to be done to transform our carbon, financial, and human farm/food economies. Let’s work together, urban to rural, corporations to grassroots, federal and local, to construct new financ ing structures that do support the hard, system-wide changes that need to happen in our agricultural and food system landscapes.
Canada Thistle in Orchard — from page 5
Chris McGuire and his wife, Juli, grow organic apples and other fruits at Two Onion Farm in Belmont, Wis.
Cardboard mulching may have a place. Although we calculated that cardboard mulching was not costeffective, it may be justified if labor is particularly scarce in the late spring and summer. Cardboard can be laid down in late fall or early spring, thus saving precious time cutting down thistle shoots in the busierRegardlessseasons.of the method used, eliminating a dense patch of Canada thistle is expensive and timeconsuming. It’s best to prevent patches from establish ing in the first place! If possible, keep Canada thistle plants from going to seed anywhere on your farm. If Canada thistle is present in sod near the orchard, practice regular close mowing to eliminate or sup press the thistles and make them less likely to spread into mulched areas.
1 https://nori.com 2 https://www.indigoag.com 3 Govaerts et al. 2009. Conservation Agriculture and Soil Carbon Sequestration: Between Myth and Farmer Reality. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences 28, 97-122. 4 Graham et al. 2021. Modest capacity of no-till farming to offset emissions over 21st century. 5 Thomas et al. 2012. Whole farm net greenhouse gas abatement from establishing kikuyu-based perennial pastures in south-western Australia. Animals 2, 316-330. 6 Su et al. 2006. Long-term effect of fertilizer and manure application on soilcarbon sequestration and soil fertility under the wheat–wheat–maize cropping system in northwest China. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 75, 285-295. 7 Poeplau and Don. 2015. Carbon sequestration in agricultural soils via cultiva tion of cover crops–A meta-analysis. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 200, 33-41. 8 Tautges and Chiartas et al. 2019. Deep soil inventories reveal that impacts of cover crops and compost on soil carbon sequestration differ in surface and subsurface soils. Global Change Biology https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14762. 9 Ye and Hall. 2020. Mechanisms underlying limited soil carbon gains in peren nial and cover‐cropped bioenergy systems revealed by stable isotopes. GCB Bioenergy 12, 101-117. 10 https://www.forevergreen.umn.edu
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References: in the population, but the speed of the decrease was surprising—and gratifying! We observed several important differences between the treatments. Thistle density declined to zero in all plots, under all treatments. However, the decline in June and early July of 2019 was much more rapid in plots with a layer of cardboard mulch underlying the bark. By August 2019, however, thistle counts were similar in all treatments. In other words, cardboard hastened the decline of the thistles but was not neces sary to eventually eradicate them. Presumably many of the new shoots that tried to emerge in the spring were trapped under the cardboard and smothered. The time required to kill shoots was less in cardboard-mulched plots in early 2019, simply because there were fewer shoots to kill. Of the four shoot-killing methods, string trimming and hoeing were the least expensive, costing $2.11 and $2.64 per tree over the two years of the study. (These costs include labor and operating expenses, but not upfront costs to purchase tools. “Cost per tree” means the cost to perform that treatment in the 6’ innovations would have to occur that don’t stick soy and corn byproducts into everything under the sun. This level of change sounds really hard. No wonder many prefer the quick supposed fixes of winter cover crops and no-till. I wish they decisively worked for carbon offsetting, too. (Again, let’s not forget that they are beneficial for other conservation goals.)
Nicole Tautges is an agroecologist with Michael Fields Agricultural Institute. 5.5’ area under one tree, for two years.) Hand-pulling was the most time-consuming treatment and was expensive ($4.96 per tree) because of labor costs. Spraying actually required the least time of any treat ment but was the most expensive method ($7.86 per tree) because of the high cost of the spray product. Although cardboard mulch reduced the time needed for killing shoots, it did not save money because the time required to lay the mulch was greater than the subsequent time savings.
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Lisa Kivirist, co-author of Homemade for Sale, is among the featured speakers at the Home-Based Food Entrepreneur Virtual National Conference. Photo by John Ivanko The Home-Based Food Entrepreneur Virtual National Conference, online April 6-9, will cover topics to help farmers and food entrepreneurs develop and market cottage food enterprises. Photo by John Ivanko breads help diversify our income mix and entice hungry visitors to our farm. There’s even the poten tial of adding the sale of buns to go with our ground beef for burgers.” The conference keynotes will bring together, for the first time, the nation’s foremost leaders in expanding cottage food laws, harnessing the power of technology to foster business development, and providing insight into the future of the food freedom movement. Speakers include David Crabill, founder of Forrager.com; Alexia Kulwiec, Executive Director of the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund; Erica Smith, lead attorney with the Institute for Justice; and Lisa Kivirist, co-author of Homemade for Sale. A team of successful cottage food entrepre neurs and educators will lead workshops with live question-and-answer sessions covering a range of topics, from marketing and product pricing to business structure and new product development. Various online meet-up sessions and message boards will enable attendees to connect state-by-state as well as by topics, like utilizing local grains and creative marketing strategies during COVID-19. To be as accessible to as many cottage food opera tors as possible, tickets are $20. Conference registra tion includes 16 sessions and various additional resources and opportunities to network and ask questions. All sessions during the actual event April 6 through 9, 2021 will be archived for registered attendees to view through July. To register or learn more about the conference, see http://bit.ly/Cottage_Food_Conference. Follow @cottagefoodcon on Facebook and Instagram.
TM A silver lining of the pandemic has been a surge in home-based business start-ups, with more people than ever selling cookies, breads, jams, candies, and other food products made in their home kitchens under their state’s cottage food law. A new online con ference will offer information and resources to help these food entrepreneurs thrive. The Home-Based Food Entrepreneur Virtual National Conference runs from April 6 through 9, 2021.
According to research of registered cottage food producers across the country by the Institute for Justice, these home-based food entrepreneurs skew female and value the flexibility and financial support offered by their businesses. They enjoy the opportunity their cottage food business gives them to be creative, while being their own boss—benefits of home-based businesses highlighted especially by the economic downturn due to the COVID-19 pan demic. This conference provides both resources and tools to succeed, along with networking support. “I’m really excited about this first Home-Based Food Entrepreneur Virtual National Conference. What a great opportunity to share ideas, learn from others in the cottage food community,” said Sylvia Burgos-Toftness, owner of Bull Brook Keep Farm in Clear Lake, Wisconsin. “While our business is primarily grass-fed beef, baking and selling artisan grains, herbs, vegetables; Suståne; safe, simple, worldwide QUALITY ORGANICS FOR ANY CROP FROM SUSTÅNE’S FAMILY OF FERTILIZERS AND SOIL BUILDERS
“Championing new food businesses and strengthening existing ones amplifies our local food economies and especially provides opportunities in our rural areas,” said Jan Joannides, Executive Director of Renewing the Countryside, the nonprofit organization that has organized this virtual confer ence. “Whether you are a farmer already selling value-added products out of your home kitchen or just starting out, this gathering will provide the infor mational and inspirational boost to help diversify your farm income and learn from other cottage food entrepreneurs around the country.”
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Kheph: My organization is a collaborative com munity development institution and our goal is to do a great deal of outreach because there is a strong demand within North Minneapolis, East St. Paul, and the surrounding suburbs for access to either quality food sources or just the overall interest in agricul tural production and development. As Angela has addressed there’s been a strong outcry due to a lot of the injustices centered around agricultural enterprises and our communities and so it’s kind of the corner stone of why we exist. Angela: 40 Acre Cooperative’s founding is obvi ously based on our concern specifically for Black farmers and their lack of opportunities in agriculture and in the marketplace, and obviously in their com plex relationship with the USDA, and so that’s sort of the big-picture concern. But there’s a lot of other concerns intertwined in the DNA of the co-op. One of them that I would like to eventually highlight is for us to be at the leadership of addressing environmental degradation and climate change. One of the things that we know very clearly is that agriculture is one of the greatest contributors to climate change and greenhouse gases, and it’s mostly because of the way that agriculture is structured and the model that is used. We focus mostly on the exclusionary way that the model has damaged Black farmers, but we also are disrupting this model for several reasons. Not because it’s just bad for Black farmers, but it’s also bad for the environment and it’s bad economically. White independent farmers aren’t doing that well either. So we feel like even though we’re focused in addressing the inequities that have affected Black 40 Acre Co-op
14 | March | April 2021 TM 40 Acre Co-op — from page 9 grainmillers.com | 952.983.1269 PURCHASING CONTRACTS FOR ORGANIC: • CORN • OATS • WHEAT • BARLEY • RYE Built on Farmer Relationships
Principle 6: Cooperation Among Cooperatives Kelly: Can you talk a little more about how 40 Acre is collaborating with other entities including cooperatives? Angela: We are interested in partnering with other organizations who are aligned with our mission and our vision to address the equity gap for socially disad vantaged farmers. Most people are not as comfortable with the co-op model. We probably have about three co-ops that we actively engage with at 40 Acre. The rest of them are different kinds of businesses, either LLCs or nonprofits or other for-profit entities. My hope, after we get through the muck and mire of get ting started, is that we end up being a best practices example of how to organize a co-op in marginalized communities. We hope that we can rely on others in the cooperative community, especially in the Midwest, to help support our mission. We work with Shared Capital. We also work with Start.coop which is a co-op accelerator. We were a part of their cohort this year. We got a lot of training and worked with six other co-ops that were in the cohort—a finance co-op, an HR co-op, a tempeh co-op, and a housing developer co-op. We were the only agricultural co-op in that group, but we found a lot of camaraderie just with people being able to help support us in these principles, to delve into some of our structural, foundational messages around how we fit into the co-op community because we’re so differ ent and because we’re trying new things.
Principle 7: Concern for Community Kelly: Principle 7 is often a driving force for the creation of co-ops—trying to address a community need. How is the co-op working to serve the commu nity now and in the future?
I’ll say that it’s 10 times worse for Black farmers because they weren’t even integrated in the same building like Black students were in school. Black farming has been very segregated for a very long time. We never got the Brown versus Board of Education type of law that had to force any kind of integra tion with Black farmers. They basically have been operating on their own little island while the rest of the agricultural economy got these investments in technical assistance and technology and new software and new genetics and all this stuff that comes with education and training. We decided that we’re just going to take it element by element and try to address the needs as we can. We rely on partners to help us with this because the need is so vast and so diverse. We have education around specific technical things like how to operate machin ery, and we have education around the co-op model. Then there’s the whole business side that we haven’t had a chance to address. Kelly: Some of the members in 40 Acre are Black veterans and you had training with a traumainformed lens. Is there anything else you can share about that in your training? Angela: As we met with farmers and from my observation of farmers, it’s very clear that Black farmers and Black people, in particular, have a unique economic traumatic experience with the United States’ capitalist system. It is different than other communities in terms of the way that we were introduced to farming here and the way that we were introduced to the economic system here. I’m a fourthgeneration farmer. My father was a farmer, his father and his father were farmers, and I consider those men foundational farmers. But then [there are] the foun dational farmers who are still in the south and those farmers who were part of the original Pigford versus Glickman class action settlement where those spe cific foundational farmers decided to come together to sue the USDA for the 30 or 40 years of specific discrimination against them when they tried to get resources for their farms. I deal with a lot of their grandchildren and their nieces and nephews that are still trying to hold on to their farms. There’s trauma there, and we’re not even talking about the veteran war kind of trauma. We’re talking about economic and financial trauma. When you hear the stories of these foundational farmers and what they have dealt with from the USDA, and how they are treated in these rural communities, it would be really remiss to just act like we’re sitting here together now and sing ing “Kumbaya” and growing tomatoes. For me, it was really important for us to set out our training to address and acknowledge what we’re dealing with so that by the time we get to this con versation of how we’re going to disperse economic resources for the co-op, we’re doing it with an informed lens. We know what we’re talking about; we know what we’re dealing with; we know where the gaps are; we know where the pain is; we know where stuff has been unprocessed; we know where the disease is. We are using a certified therapist for this conversation who works specifically on financial trauma. That’s why I love my job and I love being a part of the co-op because there’s no other place that I would be able to bring up this conversation and have it be valid.
“The course marks the first of many online courses that The Land Connection is working to develop, with several more to become available in the next 12-18 months. It really is a pivotal time for our organization and our partnerships,” said Taidghin O’Brien, The Land Connection’s Marketing and Communications Manager. “The series of online courses expands the portfolio of free digital resources that The Land Connection has developed, with a particular focus on accessibility, in hopes that these trainings and technical assistance programs are shared and utilized across the country for the betterment of all food and farmThebusinesses.”LandConnection has been provid ing training and support to beginning farmers for more than a decade. Their beginning farmer training programs have been generally oriented toward those interested in starting up a small specialty crop operation, providing them with the basic tools and guidance to start their small farm business. The training program has continued to grow over the years and has developed into a comprehensive program meeting the needs of a growing interest in small, sustainably run, specialty crop operations. Recently they have also begun offering trainings and technical assistance to farmers that are interested in developing online stores in the wake of the pandemic. In the coming months, The Land Connection will also be releasing a Spanish-language version of the text that will also be available for free through their website. In addition to the free download of the text book through their website, The Land Connection has a limited number of hard copies available for free with shipping included. If you are interested in receiving a hard copy of the text, visit the website and fill out the interest form. (See the box for the link to the website.) For more information or help accessing the course, contact Cassidy Dellorto-Blackwell, The Land Connection’s Farmer Training Program Manager, at cassidy@thelandconnection.org.
NEW FREE ONLINE COURSE Financial Risk Management for Specialty Crop Producers This self-directed course covers: •Financial Analysis & Planning •Accessing Capital •Accessing Farmland •Insurance •Business Management •Long-term Planning VISIT OUR WEBSITE AND START THE COURSE https://thelandconnection.org/course/financial-risk-management-course/TODAY! Act for a Sustainable World +1 (608) 637-7080 www.naturesinternational.com An Ecocert Group Company CertiOrganic fication & More PeoplewithYouTrust +1 (888) 337-8246 www.ecocertusa.com Make sound financial decisions to improve your profitability ! $19.95 | 270 mosesorganic.netpages BOOK: Download the 62-page textbook at courses-overview.https://thelandconnection.org.onlineONLINEfor-specialty-crop-farmers.resource/financial-risk-management-https://thelandconnection.org/COURSE:Registerforthefreecompanioncourseat
The Land Connection, a nonprofit based in Champaign, Illinois, has created a free online course as a companion to its textbook, Financial Risk Management for Specialty Crop Producers, published in late 2020 in partnership with the USDA Risk Management Agency. For many specialty crop farmers who have been dealing with a tumultuous year, both resources come at just the right time as they plan for the upcom ing season and figure out how best to prepare for the unknown. With the pandemic still affecting daily life around the world, many farmers and business owners are re-assessing their business plans and risk management strategies, and this new online course and textbook provide plenty of tips to help. Financial Risk Management for Specialty Crop Producers provides an indepth exploration of maintaining, refining, and growing a farm business. Both the textbook and the new selfdirected course were designed specifically for specialty crop producers with a few years of experience running a farm busi ness, though the information is applicable to farmers at many stages of development. The content was written by farmers and professionals serving farmers. The textbook explores the tools for budgeting and financial planning; skills and strategies for accessing capital; structures and considerations for accessing management practices; and strategic planning for ongoing success. Each chapter includes relevant examples of forms and calculations. The modules presented in online course follow the chapters from that text, covering: (1) Financial Analysis & Planning, (2) Accessing Capital, (3) Accessing Farmland, (4) Insurance, (5) Business Management, and (6) Long-term Planning. Each module is broken into a series of three to five les sons that are supplemented with videos, links, and resources for further reading. Most lessons also include a short quiz to check your learning. The intent of the course is to improve decision-making skills in all areas of a specialty crop operation. While the information provided in the textbook it provides farmers with a good overview of key topics that farmers should have a firm grasp of in order to build successful specialty crop operations.
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The Land Connection launches free online course for specialty crop producers
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Kheph: I find that it’s a great vehicle for having a bootstrap system for getting started. Everyone has a similar value system and it’s cool to see this value system mobilize and become an enterprise.
40 Acre Co-op — from page 14 cultivate and grow, and it’s been like that for the past three years. When we first started the 40 Acre Co-op in northern Minnesota, we had one investment check that was five figures. We opened a bank account here in northern Minnesota and I didn’t know how demonized I would be in association with hemp. I never even said medical marijuana, I just said hemp. I didn’t even say CBD. The bank first accused me of check fraud, so instead of the typical five-day hold on these types of checks, they did 15 days. Then, just because they were super suspicious, they added another five days. By the time the 15 days were up, I received another check from this investor larger than the first one. The bank then decided that I was traf ficking and they told me that they didn’t want to hold my money and were reporting me. We have a long way to go in the Midwest to undo that specific rhetorical programming that criminalized Black people around the plant. I talked to branch managers and business bankers at this particular co-op credit union and they all treated me like I was a criminal because I had a large donation related to hemp. In Minnesota, my hometown where I was born, my mom was born, my grandma was born, and my great-grandma was born, that I am seen as a criminal… I have a law-school education, I am a mother and a grandmother, and they told me that I was trafficking drugs across the country just by looking at me.
Angela: I’d like to just add that people who are interested in building a co-op, do it with some thought and get some mentors. [The cooperative model] can solve a lot of problems, but it is messy, takes longer, and requires more energy. You have to communicate more and educate more. It requires patience, self-reflection, and leadership. If you don’t have the patience for any of that, you probably don’t want to build a co-op or you probably don’t want to be a part of a co-op. Chuck Anderas (podcast host): Cannabis helped build the prison industrial complex with Black people being criminalized for using, growing, and selling cannabis. It is essentially a strategy of structural racism to criminalize cannabis, and it seems kind of redemp tive that you’re focusing on cannabis to try to make an avenue for Black farmers to be profitable. Did the history of it play into your decision to focus on hemp? Angela: Definitely the history had an impact. I don’t know any Black person, farmer or not, who has not been impacted by the prison industrial complex either themselves or through a relative—mostly because of some sort of non-violent drug offense. It’s a very painful part of that trauma conversation, quite frankly, because of the ongoing impact. I was in the BlackCanna Conference with Toi Hutchinson who is a [former state] senator of Illinois working specifically around the criminal justice issues in cannabis in Illinois. She found just in 2020 that 70,000 people of color were eligible for the exemption to grow cannabis but didn’t have it. They weren’t able to get a license to grow cannabis because they didn’t meet the federal criteria of not having a drug offense in the last 10 years. Because of the nature of their drug offense, those 70,000 people were actually eligible for an exemption, but they didn’t get it and they couldn’t participate on the business side of cannabis because of that. The criminal justice issues around cannabis are enormous and just as sad as the Black farmer policy issues in the USDA. They work hand in hand really to create that trauma complex that Black people have in agriculture. Just in October in Illinois, $100 million was made off of the legal can nabis business. We hope to have the capacity to deal with the regulatory and policy issues around that. Because of the racial issues that exist in Minnesota, only two white companies are licensed to
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Kelly: For farmers and food producers considering building a cooperative are there any final words either of you would want to share from your experience so far?
Learn more about 40 Acre Co-op at fortyacrecoop.us. Subscribe to the MOSES Organic Farming Podcast to hear the full conversation and additional episodes. Assess your soil health by testing for microbial biomass! Fast: 20-minute test Easy: Kit comes with everything you need; results sent to your smart phone MOSAORGANIC.ORG | 608-637-2526 Practical, reliable and friendly organic certi cation services
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Thanks to all who contributed to the food drive! Conference Show Specials Save on potting soils, rotary tillers, fertilizer, seed, books about farming, and other products and services offered on the exhibitor show specials page of the Growing Stronger Conference—no admission neces sary. See https://bit.ly/GrowingStronger-Show-Specials.
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The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) meets online April 28-30 to hear public comments on substances on the National List that are up for Sunset review. The inputs being considered include fertilizers, pest control products, livestock treatments, processing aids, and ingredients currently allowed for use under certain restrictions by certified organic operations. Certified organic farmers and handlers may sign up to comment on whether these inputs are essential and/or
March 31—Negotiating land rental arrangements
National Organic Standards Board Meeting
See details
Revisions to Conservation Practice Standards The
Natural Resources Conservation Service
is seeking public comment on proposed revi sions to 23 national conservation practice standards. The proposed revisions relate to stream crossing, waste treatment, energy efficient agricultural operation, and dry hydrants. Comments are
SWD Survey
The University of Minnesota’s Center for Farm Financial Management is partnering with MOSES to present The Empowered Farm Financials workshop series. The workshops will focus on topics and tools developed to help farms of any size manage their financial situation and plan for the future. The tools include farm financial planning, financial analysis, business and transition planning, land rental agree ments, and more. The last two workshops in the series are:March 24—Navigating farm financial information
Conference Food Drive
advising
The free online workshops begin at noon CT. Register at https://bit.ly/EmpoweredFarmFinancials. When the workshop series concludes, look for recordings mosesorganic.org/farming/farm-finance-workshops.at
Wisconsin Women in Conservation Wisconsin Women in Conservation (WiWiC) connects women landowners with each other and with state and local conservation experts who can help them learn about conservation practices to improve their land and the environment in the state. The program is an innovative collaboration between four leading land stewardship organizations in the state—Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, MOSES, Wisconsin Farmers Union, and Renewing the Countryside—with support from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Groups are forming in 4 regions of the state to provide connections for women landowners and conservation professionals who share a passion for taking good care of soil, water, and wildlife. Jennifer Nelson coordinates the NorthWest group, which meets online Tuesday, April 6, from 10 a.m. to noon. For more information about the program and regional groups, or to register for a meeting, see wiwic.org.
Grower Groups MOSES is helping farmers form groups around specific areas of interest to make connections and share ideas. The current list of groups includes Growing Wellness for mental health support, women in sustain able ag networks, anti-racism, Queer and Trans on the Land, and farmer researchers (farmers interested in conducting research on their farms). To learn how to join a group or start a group focused on your area of interest, see mosesorganic.org/grower-groups.
Researchers working on the multi-state project to find new organic management techniques to control Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) in fruit crops are asking growers to complete a survey of strategies used. This is the final year of the project, which is funded by the USDA-National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Find the survey at http://bit.ly/SWD_survey.
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necessary for organic production and should remain on the National List, or whether there are other effective natural or organic alternatives available. To be consid ered during the Spring 2021 Meeting, written com ments and requests for oral comment speaking slots must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday, April 5, 2021. The NOSB also will take public comments during webinars from Noon - 5 p.m. ET April 20 and 22. See the agenda and discussion documents at usda.gov/rules-regulations/organic/nosb/meetings.www.ams.
The USDA is making approximately $76 million available via the Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) Program. Electronic applications are due by April 29, 2021; paper applications must be postmarked by May 4, 2021. To help farmers determine if the program is a good fit for their operation, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition has published an updated version of its Farmers’ Guide to Applying for the Value Added Producer Grant Program. This free guide explains program changes made due to the COVID-19 pan demic and offers helpful tips to improve a producer’s chances of obtaining funding from this highly com petitive program. Download the eight-page guide at http://bit.ly/NSAC-VAPG-guide.LearnmoreabouttheVAPGprogram at value-added-producer-grants.www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/MichaelFieldsAgriculturalInstitute free grant to farmers in the Upper Midwest. at michaelfields.org/grant-advising-resources. USDA (NRCS) due April 2021-05005.
The MOSES Conference Food Drive, organized to support the La Crosse community impacted by the loss of in-person events, yielded $4,700 through the “Buy a Bag” program at People’s Food Co-op. Shoppers purchased $10 bags of groceries and People’s matched those donations. In addition, long-time conference food donors Blue Farm Chips, Organic Valley, Sno Pac Foods, Meadowlark Organics, and One Love Bread contributed product to the local food pantries.
Beginning Farmer Training Beginning farmers: Mark your calendar for New Farmer U October 29 and 30. MOSES is partnering with Renewing the Countryside to present this 1.5 day event in this fall in Minnesota. Workshops will focus on farm business management and marketing for beginning farmers, with an optional half-day Fearless Farm Finances course. Make plans to attend New Farmer U to connect with other beginning farmers and move your farm ing business to the next level. Watch for details in future issues of the Organic Broadcaster.
Vegetable Grower Discussions
Micro-Grant for BIPOC Organic Farmers Rodale Institute and the Organic Farmers Association have established a new micro-grant program for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) small-scale organic growers. Grants between $500 and $2,000 can be used for various needs, such as tools, equipment, training, consulting—anything that ensures the grantee’s success. The program is open to U.S.-based BIPOC farmers who are currently organic or wish to become organic, as well as any students, interns or apprentices involved in an organic operation. The application closes March 31. See details at bipoc-farmer-micro-grants.rodaleinstitute.org/education/
The North Central Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Center is surveying specialty crop growers in the Midwest to measure the prevalence and economic impact of herbicide drift on specialty crops. The survey takes between 5 and 20 minutes to complete. See http://bit.ly/Herbicide-Drift-Survey.
Pandemic’s Impact on Organic Sales
The Great Lakes Vegetable Working Group just launched “Vegetable Beet,” a weekly Zoom series with interviews and discussion focused on vegetable pro duction challenges and opportunities. Extension agents lead the discussions. The first episode focused on lessons learned from the pandemic that apply to the 2021 growing season. The second one covered organic media mixes and fixes. Recorded audio is available at https://www.glveg.net/listen. The live Zoom meetings are at 11:30 CT every Wednesday from March to the first week of September.
The Organic Center has collaborated with the University of Maryland on an analysis of over 4,000 scientific articles to put numbers behind the soil car bon-building techniques that organic farmers use, and to identify the best strategies for carbon sequestration. The results of this meta-analysis, published in the scientific journal Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, show that by adopting certain manage ment practices, organic growers can significantly boost the amounts of carbon captured in their soil, increas ing microbial biomass carbon by an average of 30% and upping the soil organic carbon by an average of 18% above organic’s normal carbon storage.
University of Massachusetts Amherst research using satellite imagery shows that nearly 30 million acres of the Midwest Corn Belt has completely lost its A-horizon soil, the upper portion of the soil that is rich in organic matter and supports retention of nutrients and water. The researchers say erosion of the A-horizon has already reduced corn and soybean yields by about 6%, leading to nearly $3 billion in annual economic losses for farmers across the Midwest. The A-horizon has primarily been lost on hilltops and ridgelines as a result of tillage erosion. Tillage erosion is not included in national assessments of soil loss, and researchers say this has led to signifi cant underestimation of the true magnitude of farm land erosion. The researchers recommend incentives for no-till farming and regenerative agricultural prac tices to help restore soil productivity.
Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) has updated Smart Water Use on Your Farm or Ranch to include new innovative, SARE-funded research on a range of conservation options. Topics include soil management, such as using compost, conservation tillage and cover crops; plant manage ment, featuring crop rotation, water-conserving plants and rangeland drought mitigation; and water manage ment strategies such as low-volume irrigation and water recycling. The 16-page publication is available free online or in print. See smart-water-use-on-your-farm-or-ranch.www.sare.org/resources/
18 | March | April 2021 TM NEWS BRIEFS
Smart Water Use on Farms
2020 organic produce sales were 14.2% higher than the previous year, according to the 2020 Organic Produce Performance Report put out by the Organic Produce Network. The report reflected the pandemic’s impact on consumers’ grocery shopping habits. Nine of the top 10 organic sales and volume categories saw double-digit growth. The top four categories were packaged salads, berries (strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries), apples, and herbs and spices.
Pest Management Survey
Study of Women Farmers’ Success Factors Carmen Rowe, a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at Boston University, is working on a dissertation project focused on the experiences of women farmers. She hopes to identify factors that help facilitate success and positive outcomes for women in agriculture. She’s asking female farmers to complete a 45-minute inter view by phone or video call. To sign up, go to https:// calendly.com/womeninaginterviews. Send questions to crowe@bu.edu.
The Organic Center will host a free webinar about the study on Thursday, April 15 at noon CT. Sign up bit.ly/OrganicCenter-Carbon-Sequestration-Webinar.at
Loss of Topsoil in Midwest Corn Belt
Imogene Ingredients • Protects gut integrity against Cocci, Clostridia and Crypto • Reduces pathogen load and scour duration • Improves protein conversion and reduces ammonia Farmatan has been a game changer for my beef, goat, dairy and poultry customers. Dr. Jim Heavens, Heritage Equity Nutrition, Dyersville, Iowa • Suitable for ABF and organic herds • Excellent results with transition and lactating cows Call for details & pricing (515) 745-1639 FarmatanUSA.com ©2020 Imogene Ingredients. All Rights Reserved. Nature’s Answer to Scours www.landstewardshipproject.org The Land Stewardship Project’s mission is to foster an ethic of stewardship for farmland, to promote sustainable agriculture, and to develop healthy communities.
Cottage Food Lawsuit
Award for Organic Specialist Wisconsin Farmers Union recently recognized Rachel Henderson with a Builders Award, given for outstanding commitment to building Farmers Union through county involvement, leadership development and member recruitment. Rachel, who is a MOSES On-Farm Organic Specialist, owns Mary Dirty Face Farm in western Wisconsin with her husband, Anton Ptak. The farm is home to a 12-acre certified-organic mixed-fruit orchard. Henderson has built an innova tive CSA-style Fruit Share with 120 members. Besides fruit, the farm includes pastured hogs, lambs, and poultry. View their website: www.marydirtyface.com. Sustainable Farming Videos USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) has a new series of short animated videos to show how producers can improve the success and health of their farms by implementing sustainable practices. The first episode, “A Whole Farm Approach to Sustainability,” showcases holistic management practices that increase biodiversity, enhance soil health, promote ecological pest management, and conserve water. The second episode focuses on healthy soils and the positive impact of cover crops. Other episodes highlight conservation tillage, labor and social sustainability, ecological pest management, grazing and pasture management, water conservation, and the economics of sustainable agriculture. There are eight episodes available. Farmers, ranchers, educa tors, and other agricultural professionals may down load the videos to use for noncommercial educational presentations. See SAREOutreach1/videos.www.youtube.com/user/
Carbon Sequestration on Organic Farms
The trio of farmers who won a court order in Wisconsin in 2017 to allow state residents sell goods baked in a private kitchen has filed a motion asking the court to declare that the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection is violat ing the 2017 order by limiting allowable baked goods to only those that are flour-based. Lisa Kivirist, Dela Ends, and Kriss Marion also filed a new lawsuit aimed at adding other items, such as fudge, candies, roasted coffee beans, and granola, to the list of products resi dents can make and sell without obtaining a commer cial food license, which requires the installation of a business-grade kitchen.
For Sale, used 2-3 seasons: 3pt implements, 240vPhillips LED growlights8, and BCS-722 w/20”tiller. Buckeye Trac tor: Water Wheel Transplanter & undercutter/hiller Checchi-Magli sp50v: Single row potato digger. 218-827-8102, northerndelicious@gmail.com, Babbitt, MN Mechanical transplanters for sale: 4 row, 3pt tool bar with rubber tires, trays, seats, & water gulp (shedded). Also 1 row older steel wheel machine on 3pt bar. Call 701-430-1122. For Sale: Buffalo cultivators, planters, and rolling stalk choppers. Call 320-221-2266. 60 Ft. Toolbars. Moore Built double fold and Elmers 58’ single fold that could be converted to a 60’. Toolbars only. No row units/gauge wheels. MB is $15,000, Elmers is $3,000. $16,500 for both. 7x7 bar for your next cultivator, tine, flamer, planter, project. Call Matt (320) 296-4100. Root barrel washer. 9’L x 3’D barrel, 540 PTO powered, 1yr old cedar planks, mobile frame. Very good condition. Can load on trailer. $2500, 48063 location. Andrzejewskifarmsllc@ gmail.com
Available
FARMS/LAND MISCELLANEOUS Place your ad to be seen by 15,000 readers! $20 for up to 30 words; $5/additional 10 words New ads posted weekly online: mosesorganic.org/organic-classifieds EQUIPMENT JOBSGRAINS The Ahimsä Alternative, Inc. For all things Neem & Karanja INSECTICIDEBIOLOGICAL 100% Cold Pressed Neem Oil (3750 ppm azadirachtin) Controls Aphids, Army Worms, Beetles, Stink bugs, Caterpillars, Leaf hoppers, Leaf miners, Whitefly, Mealy bugs, Midges, Nematodes, Spider mites, Weevils, Scale, Thrips. www.nimbiosys.com100%ColdPressed,Wild Harvested Neem Oil, Karanja Oil,Neem & Karanja Cake TerraNeem®EC Order @www.neemresource.com or call 1-877-873-6336 Biological Insecticide, Miticide, Fungicide, Nematicide Cold Pressed Neem Oil Ready to Use For Organic & Sustainable Use 4-hour REI Zero days to harvest FORAGES HUMATES Gallons: 5, 15, 55, or 265 Dry super sacks: 2400 Ibs. Or 50% semi-soluble (Magna Plus) OMRI certified Other dry water-soluble: 7-6-4 or Frommelt16-0-0AgGreeley,IA563-920-3674 Wide selection of certified organic products: Certified seed potatoes, garlic, shallots, cover crop seed, fertilizers, inoculants, sweet potato slips, allium transplants, heritage grains, and flowers. Reasonable prices and volume discounts! 207-717-5451 www.mainepotatolady.com info@mainepotatolady.com your source for quality seed potatoes
Organic Sugar Maple Land/Business for sale. 158 acres in southeast Ashland Co. Maple tubing system with 7000 taps, potential for 3000 additional. Includes syrup house with bunk room, RO system, holding tanks, 10,000kw generator, vacuum system with two pumps, garage with electricity, 3 stall garage. Close to Turtle Flambeau Flowage. Email: paul@ birchlandrealty.com Southern MN Organic farm for sale, 40 acres, 33 tillable with 31 acres nearby available to rent. Certified organic 6 years. Prime productive ground, le Sueur loam type soil. Shop and storage outbuildings, updated original brick farmhouse. May. 907-232-4879, leeofthenorth@gmail.com
For Sale: Kult Kress Fingerweeder 3-row cultivator LIKE NEW $9,000. Farmall C Rear belly-mount cultivators trackeradicators $3,250. 2013 Nissan pneumatic Forklift stored inside propane $9,250. 2003 Sprinter Van $4500, 206,000 miles. Contact James at blackbrook.farm.llc@gmail.com or 651-343-2595.
For Sale: Organic Corn/Hay/Oats. Will grind corn. Organic hay, big bales, wrapped and dry. Organic oats. Can deliver. SW WI 608-574-2160. Check the Jobs page at mosesorganic.org/job-postings for dozens of farm-related posts. Here’s an example: Northwood Mushrooms (aka Cherry Tree House Mush rooms), northeast of the Twin Cities, is hiring for positions involved with field work (such as log-moving and picking), mushroom processing and packaging, and farmers market sales in Minneapolis. On-farm jobs include housing. For detailed job descriptions, see northwoodmushrooms.com or contact Jeremy at cherrytreehousemushrooms@gmail.com.
OMRI 15-1-1 & 7-7-7 dry soluble fertilizers. 3-3-3 clean liquid organic fertilizer. Sold by the ton, tote and tanker. Call Dan Beck at 308-940-2020. Nature Safe Organic Fertilizers. 275 organic certified acres with about 200 tillable for sale/rent. Certified since the early 90’s. Includes fully functional dairy barn, outbuildings, potential for house rental, and tillage equipment. Please call 920-539-2876 or email jriegleman@gmail.com. Diversified vegetable farm lease opportunity: Babbitt, MN. Fenced fields 2-3 acres, water, wash & packing house with refrigeration, tools and equipment, lease & on-site living to be negotiated. northerndelicious@gmail.com 218-827-8102 For Sale: 80 cow organic dairy w/120 acre farm, freestall, swing 14 parlor, 80 crossbred cows, Ho/Je/Shorthorn, 25 head youngstock, equipment also available. 340 additional organic acres for rent. Email ponan@wi-net.com. Or call Paul Onan at 715-252-5046. Looking to rent. Looking for organic row crop farmland to rent in Northwest Iowa or extreme Southeast South Dakota. Been farming organically for 20 years. 712-229-0161 Baleage for sale: 1st cutting RFQ 139. 120 bales. 2nd cutting RFQ 151. 150 bales. $80 each. South Central Wisconsin. Email Gloria_fruit@yahoo.com or call 608-852-7077. OneCert certified organic alfalfa and alfalfa/orchard grass hay for sale 3×3 square. 150-240 RFQ. Price is based on quality point. Barn stored or tarped. Northeast Nebraska. Josh 402-336-8130. Jim 402-336-8139.
Looking to sell a Compact brand Sifting Bed Lifter that we purchased from Duijndam in the Netherlands. It works great for carrots, parsnip, garlic, and leeks. Has a hydraulic shaker that will sort out dirt and set the harvest on top of the soil. $3000 OBO. Call Paul at (920) 251-5908 or email pjhu ber1984@gmail.com for more information and pictures.
| 19mosesorganic.org | 888-90-MOSESTM Organic Rye for sale. Cleaning available. Sno Pac Farms, Caledonia MN. 507-725-5281.
For Sale: Certified organic oat straw round bales. Call 712-358-2226 or email deyoung53@gmail.com. Certified Organic Hay and Straw for sale. Dry and silage bales. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd crops. Delivery available. Sno Pac Farms, Caledonia, MN 507-725-5281. For Sale: Organic Corn/Hay/Oats. Will grind corn. Organic hay, big bales, wrapped. Organic oats. Can deliver. SW WI 608-574-2160.
CLASSIFIEDS Place an ad online or call 888-90-MOSES. mosesorganic.org/organic-classifieds
Honey Bees: 5 frame nucs available in May. Nucs come with laying queen, brood, and feed. State inspected. 2021 prices: 1-49 $124.00, 50 or more $115.00. $25.00 per nuc with order. $5.00 off per nuc if paid in full by April 1st. Jonas Sotlzfus Jr. S-846 Sampson Valley Rd. Mondovi, WI 54755 Organic Fish Fertilizer 15-1-1, 100% dry water soluble, 5-7 times more nutritious than liquid fish. Will not clog drip irrigation. One lb., 5 lb. or 55 lb. packaging. Humates OMRIcertified, liquid and dry. Can be shipped anywhere via UPS. Frommelt Ag Service, Greeley, IA, 563-920-3674.
For Sale: Tempered, insulated, double-pane glass. Large panes for sunrooms, solar homes, ag buildings, greenhouses or ??? One hundred fifty thousand sold since 1979; 32” x 74” x 1” double-pane only $69.00. If you need glass, now would be a good time! Arctic Glass, www.kissourglass.com, 612-860-8083.
For Sale: A1 mist sprayer, organic use only, excellent condition, $2750. 900 gallon poly storage tank, Banjo shut off, used for water only,$490. Produce crates, 16”×24”×7”, stackable, some never used, $5.50 each. Call 319-559-0373 or email jdjcats@aol.com.
Empowered Farm Financials Workshop Series: Negotiating Land Rental Arrangements March 31 | Noon | Free | Online The University of Minnesota’s Center for Farm Financial Man agement is partnering with MOSES to present this workshop series that focuses on topics and tools developed to help farms of any size manage their financial situation and plan for the future. Register at https://bit.ly/EmpoweredFarmFinancials.
Grains Week! May 3 – 7 | Free | Online Cascadia Grains has opted for a whole new take on the tradi tional 300-person conference, teaming up with a collabora tive national team including the Culinary Breeding Network, WSU Food Systems, Cascadia Grains, GrowNYC, Oregon State University and the Artisan Grain Collaborative and eOrganic. Farmers, ag professionals, and academics can hear research up dates, learn about grain production for artisan breads, cereals for animal feeds, brewing and distilling, and more. Learn more at cascadiagrains.com.
Organic Tomato Seed Production April 20 | 1 p.m. | Online Hosted by eOrganic. Presented by Laurie McKenzie and Jared Zystro, Organic Seed Alliance and Dan Egel, Purdue University. Learn more at eorganic.org/node/4942.
Supporting Pollinators over Time: How to Maintain Wildflower Diversity May 6 | Noon | Online Integrating habitat onto farms and other landscapes can support pollinators and the pollination services they provide. However, flower-rich plantings often require ongoing manage ment to maintain wildflower diversity for pollinators over time. Come learn about a framework for selecting the most appro priate management techniques, and learn how landowners we work with are managing their pollinator plantings. Hosted by Xerces. Register at T8qsxnuqWDLHrQ.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Ua_hE70_
Getting to Know the ‘Good Bugs’ — Scouting for Pollinators and Other Beneficial Insects April 8 | Noon | Online This webinar will introduce a simple monitoring protocol de signed to help farmers, land-managers and backyard garden ers assess populations of beneficial insects on their farm or in their garden. Hosted by Xerces. Register at register/WN_Ua_hE70_T8qsxnuqWDLHrQ.zoom.us/webinar/
Wisconsin Women in Conservation April 6 | Free | 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. | Online | Northwest April 6 | Free | 3 – 5 p.m. |Online | West Central April 7 | Free | 12 – 1:30 p.m. |Online | Northeast April 7 | Free | 6 – 7:30 p.m. |Online | Southeast Women landowners and farmers can learn about conserva tion as well as Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) programs through a new program led by Michael Fields Agricultural Institute in partnership with MOSES, Renewing the Countryside, Wisconsin Farmers Union, and E Resources Group LLC.. Learn more at wiwic.org.
Ownership Pathways in Agroforestry June 17 | 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.| Free | Online This webinar will explore long-term partnerships between tree crop farmers and alley crop farmers, with special focus on rent dynamics and the long-term planning required when integrat ing trees into agricultural settings. Alley cropping systems explored will include chestnuts, small fruits, and timber. Hosted by the Savanna Institute. More details at event/ownership-pathways-in-agroforestry.savannainstitute.org/
North American Agroforestry Conference June 28 – July 2 | $ | Online
DON’T MISS YOUR CHANCE TO ACCESS THE BEST ORGANIC PRODUCT LINEUP. At Great Harvest Organics, we have access to a broad source of genetics from di erent suppliers. This allows us to test, select, and o er a unique combination of products that work for all your organic needs. Visit GreatHarvestOrganics.com or call 800.937.2325 for our full list of products, subject to availability. Wisconsin Farmers Union Budget Organizing Workshop March 29 | 6 – 8 p.m. | Online Get an overview of the state budget process, learn about WFU budget priorities and talking points, and also help prepare you to get involved. Learn more at zoneapp.com/ap/Events/Register/kLxeZgDr.wisconsinfarmersunion.growth
Wisconsin Farm Service Agency (FSA) Webinar Series –Session 3: Need Funding? April 1 | 12 – 1:00 p.m. | Online Need funding on your operation, but not sure where to get started? Join the Wisconsin FSA to discuss Loan Opportunities with FSA, as well as an introduction to the application process. FSA loan staff will be on hand to answer questions. Please email katie.demrow@usda.gov or call 608-662-4422.
Progress on Organic Naked Barley Breeding, Exploration of Organic Breeding Traits April 14 | 1 p.m. | Online Hosted by eOrganic. Research progress made on the Multi-use Organic Naked Barley project with the aim to develop methods to evaluate and select multi-use naked barley lines in organic environments will be presented. Both winter and spring variety trials across the United States at research universities located in New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oregon and California have been evaluated. Learn more at eorganic.org/node/4942.
Wisconsin Farmers Union Winter Meat-ing April 8 | Noon | Online This is the last in the series on solutions to meat processing struggles in the state. See https://www.wisconsinfarmersunion. com/events or call Kristin at 608-514-2031.
Home-Based Food Entrepreneur National Conference April 6 – 9 | $20 | Online This conference brings together cottage food leaders and op erators covering a range of topics from marketing and pricing, business structure, new product ideas as well as insight into the future of the food freedom movement nationally. Hosted by Renewing the Countryside. Go to https://bit.ly/Cottage_Food_ Conference.
Introduction to Growing Hemp May 29 | 2 – 3:30 p.m. | $30 | East Troy, Wis. Come to this workshop to gain the knowledge you need to get started growing hemp, hosted by Michael Fields Agricultural Institute. Learn more and register at fields-calendar/introduction-to-growing-hemp/2021-05-29/.michaelfields.org/michaelMhonpaj’s Garden June 2 |2 p.m. | Free | Online Learn more about season extension for vegetables with MOSES Organic Specialist Mhonpaj Lee. This field day will be inside of a high tunnel so, as a precaution, it will be a virtual event. More details coming soon at mosesorganic.org/events/ organic-field-days.
The Savanna Institute will be hosting this biennial conference that will bring together researchers, farmers, investors, and policy-makers to focus attention on overcoming barriers to scaling up agroforestry for carbon drawdown. Learn more at savannainstitute.org/agroforestry-2021.
20 | March | April 2021 TM COMMUNITY CALENDAR Find details and event links online: mosesorganic.org/community
Wisconsin Farm Service Agency (FSA) Webinar Series –Session 4: Thinking about Conservation on your Operation? April 15 | Noon – 1:00 p.m. | Online Join experts from WI FSA and NRCS to discuss the benefits of available conservation programs to improve conservation ef forts on your operation. Please email katie.demrow@usda.gov or call 608-662-4422.
Whole Garden & Farm Planning: Making the Most of Your Space April 17 | 2 p.m. | $20 | Online Learn how to arrange plants to make sure you get the highest quality fruits and vegetables possible. Hosted by Michael Fields Agricultural Institute. Register at space-tickets-131349025471.whole-garden-farm-planning-making-the-most-of-your-www.eventbrite.com/e/
Farm to Grocery Online Workshop Series March 30 | 2 – 3:45 p.m. | Farm to grocery legality and how-to April 6 | 2 – 3:45 p.m. | Building strong business relationships April 13 | 2 – 3:45 p.m. | Marketing, merchandising and product handling Rural grocers and farmers get the tools necessary to make meaningful business relationships. Stipends available to Min nesota farmers and grocers. Hosted by the UMN Extension Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships, in partner ship with the Sustainable Farming Association. Learn more at extension.umn.edu/event/farm-grocery-workshop-series.
