This course will be all worms! Learn how worms can determine your soil health and how to cultivate them. We will also be demonstrating how to build and easy worm bin with minimum inputs.
Instructors: F.A.R.M. & Texas Worm Ranch
Skills Taught
- Build/ install infrastructure
- Build soil health & productivity (e.g., make compost, plant and manage cover and catch drops, integrate crop and livestock production, install crop rotations, add organic amendments if and as required)
- Monitor ecological impact of all production activities
- Implement conservation practices & measures (e.g., buffer strips, water quality management projects, wildlife habitat improvement, strip cropping)
- Cultivate soil
Now that you have multiplied your worm collection, use the castings for compost tea. Compost tea is a great way to love your plants naturally. Compost Tea is a Liquid Gold fertilizer for flowers, vegetables and houseplants. … Very simply, it is a liquid, nutritionally rich, well-balanced, organic supplement made by steeping aged compost in water.
Skills Taught:
- Benefits of compost tea
- How to improve crop growth with compost tea
- Nutrient retention and availability of soil
- Build stronger soil structures with compost tea
Following discussion, we will demonstrate how to build a compost tea brewer!
REGISTER HERE
This session you will learn how to know your markets and grow what they demand. Conduct market research, Building relationships with customers both wholesale and retail; promoting your farm and marketing plans
We will also be learning about implements for no till gardening. Participants will learn how to use a paper pot transplanter and seeder.
- Sell farm products & services
- Distribute farm products (e.g. deliver, ship)
- Obtain customer feedback
- Keep good records (e.g. customer comments, competition, price changes, sales, promotional activities)
- Conduct market research (e.g. research industry, competition, markets/customers, production potential, marketing strategies)
- Prepare marketing plan (e.g. pricing, marketing strategies, logo, product line, target customers, sales potential, promotion, product placement, labor needs, consumer trends, name, organic/”green” label options, potential for value-adding)
- Research legal requirements (e.g. zoning, organizational structure, product handling, liability, tax abatement options, development rights)
- Prepare annual/seasonal marketing plan (e.g. marketing strategies, sales outlets [on-farm, farmers’ markets, retail, wholesale], pricing, value adding).
- Monitor market conditions (e.g. price, supply, competition, consumer trends)
- Develop promotional materials
- Promote farm products & services (e.g. advertise, participate in “buy local” or “green label” campaigns)
- Obtain necessary supplies (e.g. scales, receipt books, cash box, packaging, labels)
- Contact buyers (e.g. retail and/or wholesale)
- Inventory tools, equipment & supplies
- Acquire necessary tools, equipment & supplies (e.g. purchase, borrow, rent)
- Monitor condition of tools & equipment
- Maintain tools & equipment
REGISTER HERE BY AUGUST 7
Join Mesquite Field Farm for a tour of a USDA beef processing facility and learn about beef labelling and requirements.
Skills Taught:
- USDA Processing Facility Tour
- Product label requirements and development
- Developing a cut list
- Beef cattle processing requirements
- Developing relationships with your processor
- Product labels and marketing
Join Mesquite Field Farm for mobile chicken tractor building workshop
Participants will
- Learn the Suscovich design of mobile chicken tractors
- Learn how to build a mobile chicken tractor
- Construct 4 Suscovich style mobile chicken tractors
Lunch is provided by Pioneer BBQ
RSVP by October 18, 2018
REGISTER HERE
This workshop will teach individuals how to build wicking beds for vegetable production. Wicking beds are a permaculture technique as an alternative to growing vegetables in the ground. We will be building a wicking bed.
Skills Taught:
- Understanding irrigation systems
- Planning irrigation systems
- Raised Beds
- Soil Moisture testing
- Determining moisture needs
Instructor:
Steve Smith, Army veteran, co-founder of F.A.R.M.
RSVP by November 1, 2018
REGISTER HERE
Join us for a farm tour of Stiles Farm in Thrall, Texas. The Stiles Farm Foundation is a 2,716 acre farm located in Thrall, Texas in eastern Williamson County. The farm is managed by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service as a living demonstration of research-based, profitable, and environmentally sustainable agricultural practices for the Texas Blackland Prairie.
Tyler Coufal, Williamson County Extension Agent, will be putting together some hands-on learning activities and a farm tour of the Stiles Farm.
You can vote for topics from the following when registering:
- Parasite Management & Soils
- Cattle Handling & Working
- Sheep & Goat Handling & Working
- Animal Health & Nutrition
FARM LEARNING LAB:
MANAGING PRODUCTION INCOME FOR SUCCESS
December 11th
9:00am – 1:00pm
Owenwood Farm & Neighbor Space
1451 John West Rd, Dallas, 75228
Does your farm income keep you up at night? Are you worried about those one or two crops making or breaking your year? We can’t control the weather, and we can’t predict farm income interruptions. But, we can plan for them.
Come to this free workshop and sleep better at night!
Join us for an interactive look at tools to assess potential income vulnerability throughout the year. You will have an opportunity to use tools to see where your farm’s income comes from throughout the year and look at strategies for managing any vulnerabilities, whether through diversification, crop insurance, or a combination. You will also gain knowledge on Whole Farm Revenue Protection crop insurance and have the chance to work with knowledgeable folks on whether this is a good option for your farm.
Just getting started in farming? You are welcome as well! This workshop will give you an opportunity to think through your farm plan as you are planning or getting it up and going.
Who should attend:
- Any farmer or rancher who wants to improve the financial viability of their farming operation
- Beginning farmers who are already growing or who have an idea of what they will grow. If you haven’t decided what you will be producing, this workshop maybe frustrating you to.
- Experienced farmers who want to better understand their farm and look at additional risk management options
- Any farmer with more than one product raised on the farm
Presenters include:
Scott Marlow, Rural Advancement Foundation International -USA – Scott is Senior Policy Specialist at RAFI-USA. Previously RAFI-USA’s Executive Director, Scott also directed the Farm Sustainability program, providing in-depth financial counseling to farmers in crisis, education on disaster assistance programs and access to credit, and addressing the needs of mid-scale farmers increasing the sustainability of their farms by transitioning to higher-value specialty markets. With over 20 years working with farmers, Scott’s specialty is financial infrastructure, including access to credit and risk management. He has served and continues to serve on various boards and committees in North Carolina and nationally, including the steering committee of the National Task Force to Renew Agriculture in the Middle. He has a Masters Degree in Crop Science from NC State University and a BA in Political Science from Duke University.
Susie Marshall, GROW North Texas – As founder and executive director of GROW North Texas, Susie has 15 years of experience in working with farmers and food access. She also directs the Food Safety Outreach project for the Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, training small farmers in the Food Safety Modernization Act and serves on the Southern Risk Management Education Center Advisory Committee. Susie has a Masters Degree in Health & Physical Education from Texas A&M – Commerce and a BS from Texas Wesleyan University.
This training made possible by a grant from the USDA Office of Advocacy and Outreach.
REGISTER HERE
What is one thing there is never enough of? COLD STORAGE!
Skills Taught:
- Determining Equipment Needs
- Sourcing Eqipment/Supplies
- Cooling
- Cleaning
- Drying
- Dry and Cold Storage
Instructor:
Steve Smith, Army veteran, co-founder of F.A.R.M.
RSVP by December 13, 2018
REGISTER HERE
It is always difficult for new livestock producers to understand all of the moving parts required to move their livestock from farm to table. This class provides a site visit to a USDA certified processing facility, cut list development, and labeling requirements for TDA and USDA.
Skills Taught:
- USDA Processing Facility Tour: How beef is processed
- Product label requirements and development
- How to develop a cut list for processing
- How to use customer input and marketing data to develop cut lists
- Beef cattle processing requirements
- How to develop relationships between you and your processor
- Product labels and marketing
Instructors:
- Doug Havemann, Army Veteran, Co – Owner, Mesquite Field Farm
- Melissa Havemann, Co-Owner, Mesquite Field Farm
Registration link coming soon. Contact Doug Havemann for details.
About this event
Please wear appropriate attire for the weather predicted for that weekend. It is required that you wear close toed canvas or leather footwear (boots preferred). No shorts will be allowed. Your clothing should be made from durable materials, like wool, leather, or heavy tightly woven cotton. A fabric baseball cap should also be worn to protect the top of your head from sparks. We will provide welding hoods, welding gloves, welding blanket, and welding sleeves for your use while actively welding. If you have your own welding helmet, gloves, and /or jacket you may bring it with you.