Farm Beginnings Class Starts Soon
Reserve Your Spot Today

First Class is May 25th

Farm Beginnings® is an educational training and support program designed to help people who want to evaluate and plan their farm enterprise. Farm Beginnings® participants engage in a mentorship experience and network with a variety of successful, innovative farmers; attend practical, high quality seminars, field days and conferences.

FIRST CLASS: May 25, 2013 - 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. - Building Networks, Value Clarification & Goal Setting - Holistic Management - Ralph Tate

Course fee - $500 (flexible payment plan)

If you would like an application for Farm Beginnings®, please contact: Randy Saner or David Lott, Lincoln-Logan-McPherson, County Extension Office OR 308-532-2683 or 800-200-1381 or rsaner2@unl.edu

A $50 deposit is required to reserve your spot and must be returned with the application.

Classes will be held at the Lincoln-Logan-McPherson Extension Office, 348 W State Farm Road, North Platte, NE 69101

Informational Brochure

Farm Beginnings Application  

Aspiring Women Farmer Opportunities
Your Future in Farming

Sunday 19th, 1-3pm
Seward, NE Civic Center, 616 Bradford St.

Learn from experts in five intensive business training sessions and build a business plan for sucess. Beginning for women with up to 10 years farm experience

Free of Charge. Contact Kathie Starkweather at CFRA to register (kathies@cfra.org). This is a project of NSAS, CFRA & WFAN.

More information on the programs: http://www.cfra.org/women_farmers

Wheatland High Tunnel Build Workshop

Tuesday, May 14 – Friday, May 17

Wheatland Middle School Campus. Wheatland, WY. High tunnels or hoop houses can be incorporated into your gardening and cropping practices as a means to extend the growing season and increase specialty crop production - even in Wyoming. This educational workshop will provide you with the knowledge to build a high tunnel utilizing locally available materials, on your own property. Jeff Edwards, (307) 837-2000, jedward4@uwyo.edu

http://www.uwyo.edu/ces/_files/events/2013-hightunnel-workshop.pdf

Soil Testing Webinar

May 16 - at 2 pm

Soil Health Testing - David Hammer, Director of MU Soil Health Lab and Professor of Soil Science, MU College of Engineering. To join the webinar log in at univmissouri.adobeconnect.com/debikelly

Late May - Littrell Farm Organic Field Day, Mexico, MO. Call 573-884-7945 to register.

Webinar: Conservation Reserve Program Overview

Thursday, May 23

WFAN will host a free informational webinar for women farmers and farmland owners about the USDA's Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) on Thursday, May 23, from 10 - 11:30 a.m. CDT. Presenters will include conservation professionals from the USDA's Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Iowa Department of Natural Resources. CRP is a voluntary national program that provides funding and technical support for farmers to use environmentally sensitive land for conservation benefits, including habitat preservation. The next sign-up period opens May 20 and runs through June 14. Learn whether CRP is for you!

To register for this free webinar: https://womenfoodagnet.wufoo.com/forms/z7p7m5/

Sustainable Management for Livestock Production Webinar

June 3rd at 7pm

Sustainable Management for Livestock Production - Ann Wells, DVM. To join the webinar log in at univmissouri.adobeconnect.com/debikelly

Nebraska Season Extension Farm Tour
Tomato Acres

June 9, 2013 from 2:00-6:00pm
Tomato Acres, 325 Easy St., Elm Creek, NE

The demonstration will allow growers to:

Take a first-hand look at the innovative design

• Learn how it was built
• Understand the benefits
• Determine how the project will extend the growing season
• Assess teh affordability and practicality of the method
• And more!

Guest Presenters: Terry Labs, Producer Grower and Stacy Adams, UNL Professor of Agronomy & Horticulture.

FREE ADMISSION with a Free Meal! Please RSVP by May 31st to casey.foster@nebraska.gov or 800-422-6692

More information: http://www.ourbesttoyou.nebraska.gov/

NEXT WORKSHOPS:

1. Hintz Produce, July 12, 2013 from 5:00-7:00pm
2. Savory Eats, September 14, 2013 from 2:00-4:00pm

Are you a Supermarket Vendor or a Super Market Vendor?
Farmers' Market Vendors & Farmstand Owners

June 13th at 1:00pm CT

The eXtension Entrepreneurship webinar series is finishing the season with three presentations of interest to farmers' market vendors and farmstand owners. To Register: https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/etc-cop

On June 13 we conclude our series with Ginger Myers, UMD Extension Marketing Specialist presenting Are you a Supermarket Vendor or a Super Market Vendor? While marketing your products at a farmers market is a great way to sell direct to customers and garner instant feed back about your products, it does require you work at providing customers with the best shopping and purchasing experience possible, if you want repeat business. Simply putting your products out and waiting for customers to make their selections and then pay you is the same as shopping at the supermarket. That's called transactional marketing. Instead, provide customers with a great shopping experience anchored by high quality products and you'll become a super market vendor. This is relationship marketing where the customer experiences a value-add connection with you as the producer. This presentation examine the traits of highly successful market vendors including market organization, display techniques, signage, communications at the market and through social media, and the vital customer service techniques used by super market vendors.

No pre-registration is required and there is no fee to participate. About 10 minutes prior to the start time simply go the Adobe Connect Pro meeting room at https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/etc-cop. You will be presented with a login screen that has an "Enter as Guest" option. Enter your full name then click "Enter Room" to join the conference. You will be able to hear the audio directly from your computer’s speakers.

The Short and Long Term Benefits of Cover Crops Webinar

June 13 -at 2 pm

The Short and Long Term Benefits of Cover Crops - Newell Kitchen, Soil Scientist, USDA-ARS. To join the webinar log in at univmissouri.adobeconnect.com/debikelly

First International Symposium on Elderberry

June 13-14th
Columbia, MO.

More information to come.

Bradford Research Farm Quail and Native Plant Field Day

June 20th
Columbia, MO. Call 573-884-7945.

Nebraska Season Extension Farm Tour
Hintz Produce

July 12, 2013 from 5:00-7:00pm 
Hintz Produce, 1610 Dove Road, Hebron, NE

The demonstration will allow growers to:

Take a first-hand look at the innovative design

• Learn how it was built
• Understand the benefits
• Determine how the project will extend the growing season
• Assess teh affordability and practicality of the method
• And more!

Guest Presenters: Mark Hintz, Producer Grower and Stacy Adams, UNL Professor of Agronomy & Horticulture.

FREE ADMISSION with a Free Meal! Please RSVP by June 30th to casey.foster@nebraska.gov or 800-422-6692

More information: http://www.ourbesttoyou.nebraska.gov/

NEXT WORKSHOPS:

1. Savory Eats, September 14, 2013 from 2:00-4:00pm

Practical Management of Cover Crops Webinar

July 18 - at 2 pm

Practical Management of Cover Crops - Tim Reinbott, University of Missouri Superintendent of Bradford Research Center.

Bradford Research Center Organic Field Day

August 1st
Columbia, MO. Call 573-884-7945

Nebraska Season Extension Farm Tour
Savory Eats

September 14, 2013 from 2:00-4:00pm
Savory Eats, 52153 Highway 20, Brunswick, NE

The demonstration will allow growers to:

• Take a first-hand look at the innovative design
• Learn how it was built
• Understand the benefits
• Determine how the project will extend the growing season
• Assess teh affordability and practicality of the method
• And more!

Guest Presenters: Sandy Patton, Raspberry Grower and Stacy Adams, UNL Professor of Agronomy & Horticulture.

FREE ADMISSION with a provided refreshments! Please RSVP by August 30th to casey.foster@nebraska.gov or 800-422-6692

More information: http://www.ourbesttoyou.nebraska.gov/

Coming Soon

Spotlight on Community CROPS!!
Ribbon Cutting at New Farm

Congratulations to BFBLN farm member Community CROPS on their new farm site that will be an incubator for beginning farmers!The Ribbon Cutting was at Prairie Pines on Tuesday, May 14, 2013. 

Why move?
Community CROPS is moving to Prairie Pines for three reasons.
First, we simply need more space. Prairie Pines will give us the same amount of space as Sunset Community Farm, but as we convert more hay fields to veggies, we will be able to triple our current production capacity. 

Second, the collaborative possibilities are enormous at Prairie Pines. The University's desire to improve its outreach in the community, as well as its wealth of research and information will be a boom to our program and theirs.

Third, the timing is perfect. Lincoln continues to turn prime agricultural land into housing and retail developments. It is estimated that the area around Prairie Pines will be developed in the next ten to fifteen years. Prairie Pines will be a green oasis in the middle of the construction, and we hope that our example will be an inspiration to developers, home-buyers, and contractors to pursue green design as Lincoln grows eastward.

Where is Prairie Pines?
Prairie Pines is located on 112th and Adams St., just east of Lincoln, Nebraska. Signs will be posted to guide you to the entrance. Many photo and video opportunities will be available.

You can learn more about the new farm at communitycrops.org

Spotlight on Grain Place Foods, Inc.!!
Faces of the Green Pages Conversations with Today's Green Business Leaders

April 2013 —Grain Place Foods; Aurora, NE

When Don Vetter began questioning the science and ethics of the emerging agricultural practices of the 1950s, he began to adopt organic farming methods for his family farm near Marquette, NE. Sixty years later, that farm has grown into Grain Place Foods, a family business that employs three generations of Vetters, and helps steward other local farms in their journey toward organic production.

"Currently, we're seeing a demand for organic grains that supasses our ability to produce in this country," says Don's son, David, when asked what makes him hopeful about the future of the green economy. We asked David to tell us more about farming in Nebraska and the history of Grain Place Foods...

Green America: What does your business do?

David Vetter: Grain Place Foods produces a variety of organically grown grain-based products. We provide whole grains and whole grain products to food distributors for sale in bulk bins or to small local or regional manufacturers. We also supply raw materials to other manufacturers of organic food products that are sold in local retail markets. In addition we manufacture specialty pet foods and ingredients under contract for organic pet foods, sold in national and international markets.

Finally, we also offer our products direct to the consumer via our online store, including GMO-free cane sugar; organic brown rice; organic, non-GMO corn meal; organic barley; and our most popular product, our popcorn. These products come from our own farm, and from other local sustainable farmers from whom we buy directly.

Full Story: http://www.greenamerica.org/greenbusiness/interviews/articles/201304-Grain-Place-Foods.cfm

Discovering Social Media Use for Your Business-Webinar Link

Social Media sites are quickly developing and consumers are using the sites to find businesses and products for them. These sites give businesses an opportunity to connect with current and potential customers, market their products/services, and track new business leads. However, using social media requires invested time and understanding. Are you unsure of which social media sites your business should be on or why you should become invested in using them? This webinar looks at the top five social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterst, LinkedIn, Foursquare) including: statistics for businesses, general information, user demographics, site limitations, consumer expectations, and example business pages.

This webinar was hosted by the Nebraska Cooperative Development Center and given by Amanda Bergstrom, NCDC Communications Specialist Graduate Assistant.

Webinar Link: https://connect.unl.edu/p8wsna2b007/

Facebook	Pinterest Source: inspiredbycharm.com via Buy on Pinterest Source: food.unl.edu via Buy on Pinterest
Twitter Buy Fresh Buy Local Nebraska 2012-2013 Spring Food Guides are now available! Pick one up today at your local... fb.me/14ubexm6T — Buy Local (@BuyLocalNE) May 7, 2012	Lincoln Local Website Check out lincolnlocal.com-They have recently featured two BFBLN members! Maggie's Vegetarian Cafe, Leon's Gourmet Grocer, Pepe's Vegetarian-Mex Restaurant, and Robinette Farms! Watch the videos at: www.lincolnlocal.com/ (May have to check out "archives" for the videos)
BFBLN Photo Gallery Check Out Our PHOTO GALLERY	Discover Foods Blog Discover Foods Blog Written by a "food scientist by training and a foodie by practice." Wednesday, January 9th: "Food Trends of 2013 (Pasta with Cauliflower)" Monday, December 17th: "Healthy Holiday Sides-Green Beans"