Southeast Region Farm to School Conference

A day long conference with workshops and networking galore! A great opportunity for farmers, Child Nutrition Directors, school personnel, food distributors, and ag professionals that want to learn more about the growing farm to school movement.

Contact libby@asapconnections.org or visit http://www.growing-minds.org/rla%20flyer.php for more.

The Upstate Farmer/Growers School General Meeting

With increasing need for more farms providing local, sustainable and or organic products, a growing need to help farmers who want to make changes in production practices, for training more farm managers that understand the process, and for consultants that can help formulate changes... It is with great excitement that we announce... The Upstate Farmer/Growers School.

A collaboration of local farms in the upstate coming together to bridge the gap of knowledge in sustainable farming and planning in this area, finding ways we might preserve this land, and develop with wise land planning.

Please join founder Jim Smith at the first general meeting where he will explain what the school is about, present an opportunity to share your ideas on how it might work, and and offer suggestions on what needs to be taught.

A program has already been outlined, but can change based on local needs.
Listed below are the first “courses” and you can get more information by emailing
geoearth@bellsouth.net

July 21, 9:00 am – 4:30 pm and July 22, 8:30 am - 1:00 pm at Peregrine Farm, Graham, NC and Central Carolina Community College, Pittsboro, NC

Raising Heritage Turkeys on Pasture: A 2-day workshop, presented by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.

Leaders: Marjorie Bender, American Livestock Breeds Conservancy  and Frank Reese, Jr., Good Shepherd Turkey Ranch

Workshop Registration: $40 (SE Region Agricultural Extension Agents – no charge)

Registration Deadline: Friday, July 11, 2008

Turkeys are moving back outside. And not just any turkey; heritage turkeys. This 1 1/2 day clinic will teach outdoor production of heritage turkeys from brooding through processing and marketing. Nutrition & feeds, diseases & predators, management & more will be covered. Participants will receive a complete production manual (also available at no charge at www.albc-usa.org/downloads.html). Frank Reese, Jr., the primary instructor, has 45 years of experience raising heritage turkeys, and is now leading the nation in re-establishing a market for these hardy and flavorful historic birds. The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy has been saving heritage turkeys since 1997. As a SARE Professional Development Project, Extension agents and other educators are eligible for fee waivers and travel support.

Questions?  Contact the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy at PO Box 477, Pittsboro, NC 27312, phone (919) 542-5704, or email jberanger@albc-usa.org

July 24-25, 2008, Buncombe & Haywood Counties

Fresh Produce Safety Trainings

Food safety is a growing concern, with the recent salmonella outbreak coming on the heels of outbreaks involving spinach and ongoing product recalls.  In response, the retail and food service industry are beginning to utilize third party audits to verify that farms are producing vegetables and fruits in the safest manner possible and in compliance with “Good Agricultural Practices” (GAP) and “Good Handling Practices” (GHP).   To help North Carolina Cooperative Extension agents and North Carolina growers prepare, the North Carolina Fresh Produce Safety Task Force and Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) are offering fresh produce safety trainings on Thursday, July 24th and Friday, July 25th. 

The training sessions will provide information on the general practices that growers, field workers, and packers of fresh fruits and vegetables should use to handle fresh produce safely, reduce the potential for outbreaks of food-borne illnesses, and address the risks associated with the movement of fresh produce into the marketplace.  Food safety certification demonstration audits will be conducted on two farms and at a packing facility by a third party auditor with the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association.

On July 24th at 1:30 p.m., agents and farmers are invited to participate in a food safety demonstration audit at a Haywood County farm and nearby packing facility. 

Prior to this demonstration, a session for agents only will also be offered at the Haywood County Extension Center from 9:00a.m. to 1:00p.m.  Experts will focus on handling procedures for produce moving from farms to wholesale market outlets. 

On July 25th at 9:00 a.m., farmers and extension agents are invited to attend a training session at a Buncombe County farm that moves most of its produce through direct marketing channels.  After a general information session on GAP and GHP, a demonstration audit will be conducted at that farm.

Farmers who want to participate should visit http://asapconnections.org/special/2008/FoodSafety.htm for more information and to register.  Register early because space is limited for the audits.

Agents can register at the Extension intranet LMS website. For agents attending the Thursday session, Friday’s session is optional.

Instructional materials are drawn from fresh produce safety modules developed by the NC Fresh Produce Safety Task Force. Funding for this workshop is provided by the Risk Management Agency and the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.

For more information, please contact Keith Baldwin at 336.334.7957  or kbaldwin@ncat.edu, Diane Ducharme at 704.250.5402  or diane_ducharme@ncsu.edu, or Allison Perrett at 828.236.1282  or allison@asapconnections.org. 

North Carolina Egg Grading School for Small Producers

The class is directed at new and established small producers of free-range eggs, extension agents, and purchasers of locally grown products. If you are an individual who wants to learn more about the proper methods of grading and evaluating the internal and external quality of shell eggs, then this workshop should be of interest. The training will include a review of the North Carolina Egg Law and components which apply to small producers. The class will include both lecture material and hands-on laboratories.

 Visit Cooperative Extension’s Growing Small Farms website calendar at http://chatham.ces.ncsu.edu/growingsmallfarms/calendar.html to view the complete agenda and to download a registration form.

 Registration is $25 and the deadline to register is July 18 (ignore the June 15 deadline stated on the egg handling school website, but do register early to guarantee your spot). For more information contact Dr. Ken Anderson at ken_anderson@ncsu.edu or 919-515-5527.