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Training, resources, and practical advice to help you grow. |
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December 2020 Organic Link |
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Registration is open for the Growing Stronger Collaborative Conference on Organic & Sustainable Farming, which takes place online Feb. 22-27, 2021. Admission is $125, with a $25 discount through December. Scholarships for farmers are available. This 5-in-1 event combines the MOSES Organic Farming Conference, GrassWorks Grazing Conference, OGRAIN Organic Grain Conference, Midwest Organic Pork Conference, and Organic Vegetable Production Conference into one virtual conference experience with more than 60 workshops and opportunities to connect through roundtables, meet-ups, and socials. The conference includes a virtual exhibit space featuring suppliers, buyers, certifiers, consultants, and more. Have a topic or an issue you want the Growing Stronger community to discuss? Sign up to lead a roundtable. |
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Call for Farmer Speed Presentations The Growing Stronger Conference provides the chance to showcase organic and sustainable farms through farmer speed presentations. These 5-minute videos can be as simple as a virtual farm tour or a demonstration—video or a series of photos—of an innovative growing practice or farm hack. We love to see what you're doing on your farms! See more ideas and submit a video here. |
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Call for Organic Research Presentations Farmers, graduate students, and university researchers involved in organic research can submit summaries to be considered for the Organic Research Forum at the Growing Stronger Conference. The forum will feature information about current research and its implications for organic farming. This will be a juried forum with awards for 1st through 3rd place. Accepted entrants will receive free admission to Growing Stronger. See the Organic Research Forum webpage for details about this virtual forum and proposal guidelines. |
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MOSES Mentor Program Scholarships If you're a beginning farmer who would like to get guidance from an experienced organic farmer, you're in luck—we have a number of scholarships available to cover the $350 cost of the MOSES Farmer-to-Farmer Mentoring Program. Mentorships are available in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The program runs from January 2021 to February 2022 and includes admission to the 2021 Growing Stronger Conference online and the 2022 MOSES Organic Farming Conference. Apply by Dec. 10. |
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MOSES Farmer Advancement Coordinator Sarah Woutat has joined the MOSES team as the Farmer Advancement Coordinator to help new, intermediate, and more experienced beginning farmers find success in organic production. Sarah’s responsibilities include coordinating the MOSES Farmer-to-Farmer Mentoring Program, a program she knows well—she was mentored through the program to help establish her certified organic vegetable farm and then became a mentor to several farmers in more recent years. Sarah owned and operated Uproot Farm near Princeton, Minnesota, from 2010 to 2019. After selling her farm and moving to Minneapolis, she was a market manager at three farmers markets in the Twin Cities. If you have ideas about beginning farmer programming, email sarahw@mosesorganic.org or call Sarah at 888-90-MOSES, extension 703. |
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Peer-Led Mental Health Group for Farmers The farmer-led group, Growing Wellness, meets monthly to provide a safe place to discuss mental health issues. Growing Wellness meets next on Tuesday, Dec. 15 at 5 p.m. CT to talk about members’ current support networks and mental health needs through COVID and winter isolation. Discussion also will center on setting up care pods or a buddy system between farmers who can look out for each other’s mental health. This meeting will not be recorded. Register here. Learn more about Growing Wellness and how to join the listserv focused on farmer mental health. |
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Farmer Groups MOSES is helping farmers form groups around specific areas of interest to make connections and learn from each other. The current list of groups includes Growing Wellness (see above), women in sustainable ag networks, anti-racism (see below), and Queer and Trans on the Land. See the MOSES website to learn more about these groups and how to start a group based in your area or focused on your area of interest. |
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MOSES Community-Based Organic Specialists MOSES is hiring three farmers or farmworkers from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds to be Organic Specialists. These specialists will provide farmers in their communities with technical support on organic production and certification through the Organic Answer Line, identify key issues and voices within their communities for content at the MOSES Conference or field days, and create resources to serve their communities. Click to see the job post. |
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Current Podcast Episodes The MOSES Organic Farming Podcast currently features a 3-part series with tips to establish pollinator habitat on organic farms. Organic Specialist Chuck Anderas talks with Xerces staff and organic growers about the benefits of pollinator conservation practices and how they mesh with organic practices. They also explore programs that make it easier to establish pollinator habitat. Subscribe to the MOSES Organic Farming Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. |
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Pollinator Farmer Chat To build on the pollinator conversations currently featured on the MOSES Organic Farming Podcast, Organic Specialist Chuck Anderas will host a Zoom chat so farmers can speak directly to the podcast guests, share pollinator success stories, and ask questions about pollinator conservation practices. The chat will take place Tuesday, Dec. 15 at 10:30 a.m. Register here for this free conversation. |
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MOSES Instagram Farmer Takeover Farmers can take over the MOSES Instagram account on weekends to share growing tips, cool hacks, time-savers, or other ideas with the MOSES community. These takeover posts could be the seeds of a farmer speed presentation at the Growing Stronger Conference, too. Sign up for a weekend! |
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Conference Scholarships for Livestock Farmers Food Animals Concerns Trust (FACT) offers scholarships for livestock and poultry farmers to participate in trainings to learn humane animal management practices. This scholarship may be used to attend the 2021 Growing Stronger Conference. |
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Renewable Energy Funding The USDA's Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) provides grants and loans to farmers and rural businesses interested in improving energy efficiency. The program supports the purchase of wind, solar or other renewable energy systems, and provides grants to help farmers with energy audits and renewable energy development. Grant applications are due Jan. 31, 2021 (for energy audits), and March 31, 2021 (for renewable energy projects). For more information about REAP, see the related blog from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. |
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Guide for Specialty Crop Producers The Land Connection has published a free guide to help specialty crop farmers build successful businesses. Financial Risk Management for Specialty Crop Producers was written by experienced farmers and business professionals. It explores tools for budgeting and financial planning; skills and strategies for accessing capital; structures and considerations for accessing land; crop insurance products; foundational business management practices; and strategic planning for ongoing success. Each chapter includes relevant examples of forms and calculations. |
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Emerging Farmers Conference The 2021 Emerging Farmers Conference, a multilingual virtual event, takes place Jan. 29-30. Pre-conference events and workshops will be offered virtually one week prior to the event. The conference is free for farmers, $50 for non-farmers. |
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CSA Farm Resources
The CSA Innovation Network has created social media and print promotional templates to help CSA farmers promote early CSA member renewals and sign-ups. The package includes shareable and customizable Facebook and Instagram posts, printable flyers, and other graphics. The CSA renewals promotional package is free to download.
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Opportunity for Wisconsin Growers
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection is looking for Wisconsin growers to supply ingredients for schools participating in the annual Wisconsin Chili Lunch. The event helps develop farm-to-school supply chains. Complete this survey to indicate which Wisconsin-grown products your farm could supply.
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Minnesota Marketing Reimbursements Minnesota food manufacturers and Minnesota Grown licensed farms can apply through the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s New Markets program for 50% reimbursement on investments in marketing activities, such as e-commerce, virtual B2B tradeshows, point-of-sale promotions, and contracted merchandising. The program covers expenses incurred between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2020. |
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Stateline Farm Beginnings The application period for Stateline Farm Beginnings® has been extended to Dec. 13. It is a year-long course to help launch farm businesses and includes over 60 hours of class time, which will be virtual in 2021. |
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Edible-Alpha® Live! The University of Wisconsin's Food Finance Institute announces Edible-Alpha® Live!, a two-day event to show how impact investing can change our food system. It is aimed at impact investors and food/farm businesses that want to understand where they fit in this space. From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. CT Tuesday, Dec. 8, the event features food storytelling from Lost Creek Farm, followed by curated connections with food/farm businesses, investors, and the stakeholders that are supporting them. Tickets are $15. From 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT Wednesday, Dec. 9, the event centers on innovative farm businesses and investment opportunities in the food and ag space. Tickets are $25 for farmers, $40 for others. |
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Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service (MOSES)
PO Box 339 | Spring Valley, Wisconsin 54767
1-888-90-MOSES | info@mosesorganic.org |
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