Events

September 18, 2019
Waukesha, Wisconsin
Learn about the basic principles and available tools for precise mechanical weed control at the 3rd annual Midwest Mechanical Weed Control Field Day. It features weeding tools and allied equipment, keynote speakers, company representatives, farmer-to-farmer networking, and in-field equipment demonstrations. It will feature demonstrations for both specialty crops and row crops.
In: North Central SARE Region

September 18, 2019
Becker, Minnesota
The Sustainable Farming Association hosts an opportunity to dig deeper into soil health opportunities, challenges, and monitoring with soil health experts. This field day will include a tour of Snake River Farms' managed grazing and oak savanna restoration and discuss managed grazing in woodlands.
In: North Central SARE Region

September 18, 2019
New Franklin, Missouri
University of Missouri Extension and the Center for Agroforestry are presenting this free farm field day for Missouri producers. Tour chestnut orchards at the Horticulture and Agroforestry Research Center, meet with MU researchers and experienced growers, and get up-to-date information on successfully growing and marketing. Registration is required.
In: North Central SARE Region

September 18, 2019
Lawrence, Kansas
K-State Research and Extension Douglas County, in cooperation with the Kansas Rural Center, will hold a free farm tour and discussion at Juniper Hill Farms. The tour will focus on the challenges and opportunities for improved risk management in the production of fruit and vegetables and other specialty crops in Kansas. This workshop will provide a brief panel discussion of some of the challenges faced by specialty crop growers and then a tour of part of Juniper Hill Farms specialty crop production operations. Crop insurance agents, farm service providers and the general public with an interest in specialty crop production are encouraged to attend.
In: North Central SARE Region

September 19, 2019
Bloomington, Illinois
Farm Commons offers a day-long workshop for agricultural service providers that covers six core legal subject areas, including business structures, land purchasing and leasing, insurance and liability, employment law, and agritourism and adding value. Presenters highlight core "action steps" or legal best management practices that advisors should recommend to help farmers reduce risk.
In: North Central SARE Region

September 20-21, 2019
Dubois, Indiana
The Indiana Sheep Association's (ISA) annual symposium is split into two days. Session topics on Friday include NSIP basics, sheep genetics improvement, marketing with NSIP and using Purdue's Animal Disease and Diagnostic Lab. Session topics on Saturday include sheep industry innovation and trends, NSIP for small flocks, high-speed Internet on the farm, grazing management, and marketing via social media. Both days will end with a farm tour of Southern Indiana Purdue Ag Center, and Saturday will include a brief business meeting and ISA awards.
In: North Central SARE Region

September 20, 2019
Mt. Vernon, Missouri
Join University of Missouri researchers, extension specialists, and experienced growers at MU Southwest Research Center for a free afternoon field day to learn about alternative tree crops that have economic potential for Missouri. Topics will include jujube, pawpaw, American persimmon, hazelnuts, black walnut, tree-crop economics, sustainable urban orchards, and the Ag Intel Crop Decision Tool.
In: North Central SARE Region

September 21, 2019
East Troy, Wisconsin
Farm Aid's annual festival is a an all-day celebration of music and family farmers featuring a unique lineup of artists and genres, along with family farm-identified, local and organic foods. The Farm Aid 2019 lineup includes Willie Nelson & Family, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds, Bonnie Raitt, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Margo Price, Jamey Johnson, Tanya Tucker, Brothers Osborne, Yola and Particle Kid. At the Homegrown Village, hear farmers and artists talk together about pressing issues on the FarmYard Stage, attend demonstrations to learn agrarian skills, and connect with farmers and organizations doing critical food and farm work all over the country.
In: North Central SARE Region

September 21, 2019
Iowa City, Iowa
This Practical Farmers of Iowa free afternoon field day visits Susan Young at Lucky Star Farm. Susan will share her tips and tricks for raising poultry rotationally on pasture. See her setup for raising Thanksgiving turkeys. Susan will discuss how she has started the process of incorporating silvopasture into her system. The day will conclude with a marketing discussion about using home delivery to sell eggs.
In: North Central SARE Region

September 22, 2019
Two Harbors, Minnesota
Join Zachary Paige of North Circle Seeds for an informative Seed Saving Gathering hosted by SFA Lake Superior Chapter. Paige will present a hands-on demonstration of seed processing as well as discuss opportunities for interested growers to partake in North Circle, which seeks to specialize in seed varieties that thrive in northern Minnesota. There will also be a farm tour plus plenty of networking time for seed growers and keepers to share seedy knowledge.
In: North Central SARE Region

September 22, 2019
Glenwood, Iowa
This Practical Farmers of Iowa free afternoon field day will focus on the basics of beekeeping in the fall and winter months in Iowa. Carol Fassbinder-Orth of Bountiful Blossoms Bee Company will discuss a range of topics, including honey harvesting, marketing, and storage options; preventing and detecting colony collapse and loss; site selection for beehives; bee forage considerations; supplemental feeding of bees; parasite and pest treatment options; bee breed characteristics; winterizing colonies; and more.
In: North Central SARE Region

September 28, 2019
Athens, Ohio
Rural Action and Woodland Ridge Farm present this Intro to Whole Farm Production workshop, a way to learn about various income streams for your new farm. Topics for the workshop will cover the methods used at Woodland Ridge, including pastured pork production, ginseng cultivation, on-farm sustainable energy, and Airbnb basics.
In: North Central SARE Region

September 28, 2019
Chelsea, Iowa
At this free afternoon Practical Farmers of Iowa field day, Adam Ledvina will share why and how he raises Kiko goats to meet his goals of ecological restoration and profitability. Adam has started a profitable business using goats for brush management and selling Kiko breeding stock.
In: North Central SARE Region

September 28, 2019
Youngstown, Ohio
This free event is presented by OEFFA as part of the 2019 Sustainable Farm Tour and Workshop Series. The mission of Lady Buggs Farm is to restore, revamp, and revitalize the neighborhood community by providing fresh foods, gardening, cooking education, and wellness products that are affordable and accessible, while creating a loving urban homestead.
In: North Central SARE Region

September 28, 2019
Athens, Ohio
This event is presented by OEFFA as part of the 2019 Sustainable Farm Tour and Workshop Series. Join the Freedman family for a tour of their newly constructed processing facility where an overview of wine and honey production, processing, and packaging will be presented. They'll focus on management challenges unique to Ohio, specifically those related to a vertically integrated business, from farmsteading, homesteading, and regulatory oversight perspectives.
In: North Central SARE Region

October 1, 2019
Holt, Michigan
This Farmer Field School event at Michigan State University Student Organic Farm offers a hands-on opportunity to help build a greens dryer and a greens bubbler, and the chance to do a wash-pack design sketch.
In: North Central SARE Region

October 2, 2019
Two Harbors, Minnesota
Minnesota Premium Garlic Project offers an afternoon class at Little Chili Farm that will cover the elements of garlic growing including seed selection, planting, mulching, weeding, harvest, curing, and cleaning. Admission is free, but registration is required.
In: North Central SARE Region

October 3, 2019
West Lafayette, Indiana
Farm Commons offers a day-long workshop for agricultural service providers that covers six core legal subject areas, including business structures, land purchasing and leasing, insurance and liability, employment law, and agritourism and adding value. Presenters highlight core "action steps" or legal best management practices that advisors should recommend to help farmers reduce risk.
In: North Central SARE Region

October 5, 2019
Yellow Springs, Ohio
The Arthur Morgan Institute for Community Solutions and Rust Belt Fibershed present Dayton Fibershed Day, an opportunity to see what's going on in the region with local growing, weaving, and dying, and learn why it matters. Topics include fiber cooperatives, benefits of local textile systems, flax processing, natural dyes, and more.
In: North Central SARE Region

October 6, 2019
Mt. Vernon, Iowa
At this Practical Farmers of Iowa afternoon field day, visit Laura Krouse at Abbe Hills Farm. Tour a 100-share CSA farm that provides food from the gardens until late fall without requiring the use of a high tunnel. Laura will also show off her newest high tunnel, built in 2019, and share the results of her first season growing in it.
In: North Central SARE Region

October 7-9, 2019
Rosemont, Illinois
The National Direct Agricultural Marketing Summit provides a unique networking opportunity for direct agricultural market practitioners to form new partnerships and learn new business strategies that can improve the performance of their farms and businesses. The Summit features resources to assist market managers, direct marketing farmers, and agribusinesses as well as practitioners or technical assistance providers in understanding and enhancing direct marketing efforts. The Summit theme is "Entrepreneurship Opportunities Across the Food Value Chain," focusing on direct-to-consumer markets, local food systems, and value-added technical assistance.
In: North Central SARE Region

October 10, 2019
Columbia, Missouri
Farm Commons offers a day-long workshop for agricultural service providers that covers six core legal subject areas, including business structures, land purchasing and leasing, insurance and liability, employment law, and agritourism and adding value. Presenters highlight core "action steps" or legal best management practices that advisors should recommend to help farmers reduce risk.
In: North Central SARE Region

October 10-15, 2019
Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota
Food–Ag–Ideas Week, led by Grow North and partners, convenes entrepreneurs, for-profit and nonprofit leaders, growers, investors, and others to create a more interconnected, dynamic, and competitive ecosystem for food and agriculture entrepreneurship and innovation. The event features six days of panels, speakers, tours, and demo showcases hosted in inspiring spaces with a build-your-own schedule format. Speaker sessions will address a variety of topics across sustainable agriculture, food innovation and tech, and food and society.
In: North Central SARE Region

October 12, 2019
Xenia, Ohio
This free event is part of the 2019 Sustainable Farm Tour and Workshop Series. Finch Creek Farm has been transformed and revitalized through the organic management of their hay production, rotational grazing of cattle, and broiler production using the chicken tractor model. The entire 300 acre farm was fully transitioned to organic in 2019, and Finch Creek continues to implement regenerative management practices in their quest towards nutrient-dense food. Join this tour to explore the concepts of paramagnetism, mineralization, and soil balancing, and a discussion about the transformative path the farm continues to take.
In: North Central SARE Region

October 12, 2019
Clark, Missouri
Green Pastures Farm and the Savanna Institute present a tour of Greg and Jan Judy's farm. They will discuss the benefits of silvopasture and the lessons learned over the years on their silvopasture operation that includes 16 farms. They graze grass genetic South Poll cows, cow/calf pairs, bred heifers, bulls, stockers and a parasite resistant St. Croix hair sheep flock. Greg and Jan's emphasis is on working in balance with nature and keeping inputs low.
In: North Central SARE Region

October 13, 2019
Clifton Hill, Missouri
The Savanna Institute is holding a free afternoon field day at Shepherd Farms. Learn about Midwestern pecan production from Dan Shepherd, a producer with decades of experience. The field day will include a tour of the harvesting and processing equipment and a mature pecan orchard.
In: North Central SARE Region

October 17-18, 2019
Madison, Wisconsin
Organic Seed Alliance, in partnership with Seed to Kitchen Collaborative at University of Wisconsin–Madison, is hosting an Upper Midwest Seed Summit. This one and a half day gathering will bring together regional seed leaders to learn, connect, and identify opportunities to advance the regional organic seed system in the Upper Midwest. The retreat-style gathering will include famers, seed-growers, on-farm plant breeders, researchers and regional seed company representatives. The goals are to learn from each other, lay the foundation for grassroots collaboration and identify shared priorities for future regional seed work. Space is limited.
In: North Central SARE Region

October 17-19, 2019
St. Paul, Minnesota
At the Women in Sustainable Ag (WISA) conference, connect with people from across the country who work in sustainable ag to exchange ideas, find new resources, and network. Workshops cover leadership skills, personal growth, farm business success, and more. The WISA Conference includes a Plate to Politics track organized by the Women, Food & Ag Network (WFAN).
In: North Central SARE Region

October 17, 2019
Ames, Iowa
Farm Commons offers a day-long workshop for agricultural service providers that covers six core legal subject areas, including business structures, land purchasing and leasing, insurance and liability, employment law, and agritourism and adding value. Presenters highlight core "action steps" or legal best management practices that advisors should recommend to help farmers reduce risk.
In: North Central SARE Region

October 19-20, 2019
Topeka, Kansas
This Mother Earth News Fair features expert speakers on natural building, modern homesteading, real food, and more, as well as demonstrations, workshops, hands-on workshops, exhibits, and a product marketplace.
In: North Central SARE Region

October 22-24, 2019
Red Wing, Minnesota
The National Farm Viability Conference is geared towards professionals in the fields of farm and food business planning, financial planning, agricultural financing, farmland conservation, agricultural market development, and food hub management. It offers attendees the opportunity to network and learn from industry leaders and other professionals in their fields, develop new knowledge and skills, and tour nearby farms and value-added processing facilities.
In: North Central SARE Region

October 22, 2019
Canton, Minnesota
Sustainable Farming Association and Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship are hosting a series of free grazing field days, all of which include paddock viewing, grazing tours, and farmer discussion. This event at the Vance and Olaf Haugen farm is is co-sponsored with Great River Graziers and Kickapoo Grazing Initiative and will include discussion on evaluation of grazing and pastures for fall and planning for spring as well as considerations for Karst geology/water quality in the Driftless region.
In: North Central SARE Region