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Training, resources, and practical advice to help you grow. |
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November 2020 Organic Link |
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We’re excited to announce the 2021 MOSES Conference will be a virtual event in partnership with GrassWorks, Iowa Organic Association, OGRAIN, the University of Wisconsin, and Fairshare CSA Coalition. Growing Stronger: Collaborative Conference on Organic & Sustainable Farming will take place online Feb. 22-27, 2021. Registration opens Dec. 1, 2020. Admission will be $125, with a $25 discount through December. Growing Stronger combines the MOSES Organic Farming Conference, Grazing Conference, Midwest Organic Pork Conference, Organic Grain Conference, and Organic Vegetable Production Conference. This 5-in-1 event will provide a rich conference experience with more than 60 workshops and opportunities to connect through roundtables on food system and farming issues, meet-ups, and socials. The conference includes a virtual exhibit space featuring suppliers, buyers, certifiers, consultants, and more. The event also provides the chance to showcase organic and sustainable farms through farmer speed presentations. These pre-recorded videos can run up to 5 minutes and show an innovative growing practice, an insightful tip that makes a farm chore easier, a cool tool or farm hack, or simply provide a virtual farm tour. Make plans now to join in this combined virtual conference and grow stronger with your community! |
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Farmer-to-Farmer Mentoring Program Need an experienced farmer to guide your farm or help you set up a new organic enterprise? Want to share your experience with a beginning farmer and encourage sustainable, organic production? Apply now to participate in the 2021 MOSES Farmer-to-Farmer Mentoring Program. Mentorships with experienced organic farmers 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 MOSES Organic Farming Conference in both years. We have several scholarships to help cover the $350 program cost. Mentored farmer David Bachhuber called the program "a wise investment that cut years off the learning process." The application deadline is Nov. 30, 2020. |
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Call for Organic Research Presentations The 2021 virtual conference provides the opportunity to change up how we showcase the organic research being done by farmers, graduate students, and university researchers. Instead of the traditional poster gallery, we're giving these researchers the chance to share a 4-minute recording about their study and it's implications for organic farming. We'll also post PDFs of the research posters, when available. And, we'll provide discussion space so conference participants can engage with research presenters about their topics. The research forum is a juried session with awards for 1st through 3rd place. Accepted entrants will receive free admission to the Growing Stronger conference. See the Organic Research Forum webpage for details about this virtual forum and proposal guidelines. |
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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. The meetings start with a short presentation. Last month, Monica Kramer McConkey, a licensed counselor in rural Minnesota, talked about ways to nurture positive mental health. Her talk is available on the MOSES YouTube channel and as an episode on the MOSES Organic Farming Podcast. Growing Wellness meets next on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 5 p.m. Chris Frakes with the Farmer Suicide Prevention program at the Southwestern Wisconsin Community Action Program will discuss 5 steps to take if you encounter someone who is struggling with thoughts of suicide. While this is not a complete suicide awareness and intervention training, it will provide basic steps for effective listening, providing support, and connecting someone in crisis to other appropriate resources so they can receive the level of support needed to help them stay safe. 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, 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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Based-Community Organic Specialists MOSES has received a grant from Organic Valley Farmers Advocating for Organic to recruit and train farmers from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds and empower them to serve their own communities as MOSES Organic Specialists. Our specialists provide direct farmer-to-farmer technical support on organic production and certification through the Organic Answer Line, and help guide our programming. The positions will be posted soon here. Email questions about the positions to info@mosesorganic.org. |
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Conservation Stewardship Program Updates USDA recently released updates to the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) as directed by the 2018 Farm Bill, integrating feedback from agricultural producers and others. The updates better align CSP with NRCS’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) through common applications, contracting operations, conservation planning, conservation practices, and related administrative procedures. Additional changes include increased payment rates for adoption of cover crop rotations, a new supplemental payment for advanced grazing management, a one-time payment for developing a comprehensive conservation plan, and specific support for organic and transitioning-to-organic production activities. |
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Environmental Quality Incentives Program Updates USDA recently published the final rule for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program as directed by the 2018 Farm Bill. EQIP is a program of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and is the primary program available to farmers and landowners for farm, ranch, and woodland conservation work, offering payments for more than 100 conservation practices. The updates address resource concerns for organic producers, avoiding the need for more regulatory programs, and helping producers transition from the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The payment cap for producers participating in the Organic Initiative was raised from $20,000/year to $140,000 for contracts entered into for fiscal years 2019 through 2023. Farmers in Minnesota and Wisconsin must apply by Nov. 20, 2020 for funding in 2021. Find application information for other states here. |
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Midwest Grazing Exchange The Midwest Perennial Forage Working Group just launched the Midwest Grazing Exchange, a free matchmaking service to connect graziers and landowners who live in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Graziers can search for forage to graze and landowners can search for livestock to graze their land. The website also lists grazing specialists and organizations offering grazing support for each state participating in the exchange. |
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Grassland 2.0 Grassland 2.0 is a regional project to reimagine agriculture in a way that maximizes the economic, environmental, and societal benefits of well-managed livestock grazing. This collaborative group of scientists, educators, farmers, agencies, policymakers, processors, retailers, and consumers is working to develop pathways for increased farmer profitability, yield stability, and nutrient and water efficiency, while improving water quality, soil health, biodiversity, and climate resilience through grassland-based agriculture. |
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Grants for Farmers American Farmland Trust has partnered with Tillamook to offer the Brighter Future Microgrant Program to provide grants up to $5,000 to help farmers launch, grow, and sustain farms through these challenging times. Grants may be used for farm equipment, infrastructure, or professional services. Applicants must farm within 100 miles of major cities such as Minneapolis, Detroit, Columbus, and Cincinnati. For a complete list of cities and other grant guidelines, click on the link above. |
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Farmer, Rancher Grants NCR-SARE’s Farmer Rancher Grant Program supports farmers and ranchers who want to explore sustainable solutions to problems through on-farm research, demonstration, and education projects. NCR-SARE expects to fund about 50 projects in the 12-state North Central region worth a total of $720,000. Watch the grant-writing webinar to get pointers on writing a strong proposal for the innovative idea you'd like to try to further sustainable farming. Applications are due by Dec. 3, 2020. |
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Meat Processing Wisconsin Farmers Union will host “Winter Meat-ings” to discuss creative solutions to meat processing struggles in the state. They'll launch the series with a panel on Zoom discussing "Beefing Up Markets & Processing” at 7 p.m. Nov. 11. The rest of the Zoom meetings will take place at noon:
- December 10: Farmer & Processor Perspectives
- January 14: Mobile Slaughtering & Creative On-Farm Solutions
- January 28: Cooperative & Community Solutions
- February 11: State & Federal Policy Solutions
- March 11: Labor Solutions
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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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