Tilth Producers of Washington

| Workshops – Saturday, November 14 | Workshops – Sunday, November 15

Workshops – Saturday, November 14, 2015

Session A: 10:30am-Noon
A1 – Sustainable Beef Production for Beginners
A2 – Medicinal Crops for Farmers
A3 – Croptime: Scheduling Vegetable Crops with Degree Days
A4 – The Voice of the Market: Best Practices for Selling to Retail Grocers and Restaurants in the Intermountain West
A5 – How to Adapt and Respond to New Produce Safety Rules: Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) & Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)

Session B: 1:30-3:00pm
B1 – Meat Processing in Washington: What’s Working? What’s Not?
B2 – Growing Wine Grapes Organically
B3 – Measuring Soil Health on the Farm
B4 – LINC Foods: A Cooperative Food Hub Approach
B5 – Learning from the Land: Farm Internship Programs in Washington State

Session C: 3:30-5:00pm
C1 – Getting Started With a Small-Scale Dairy
C2 – Creating Healthy Soil and Fertility Using Organic No Till Combined with Year Round Cover Cropping for the Market Gardener
C3 – Environmental Footprint of Organic Farming
C4 – How to Prepare for your Lender
C5 – Food and Farming Policy Briefing: All you Need to Know to be a Farm Policy Advocate in 2016

Workshops – Sunday, November 15, 2015

Session D: 10:00-11:30am
D1 – Sustainable Pork Production for Beginners
D2 – Irrigation Management for Drought
D3 – Ignorance is Bliss? History Repeated for Brassica Black Leg in the Pacific Northwest
D4 – Leveraging Farmers Markets to Expand Sales
D5 – Challenges and Opportunities in Growing New Farm Businesses: Veterans and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers

Session E: 1:00-2:30pm
E1 – Micro-Dairying on a Biodynamic Farm
E2 – Flower Production: The Farmer-Florist Movement
E3 – State of Organic Seed
E4 – Our Dangling Carrot? Social Change – Identifying and Reaching Your Audience
E5 – WSDA Organic Program: ‘Sound and Sensible”

To read about all the workshop presenters, click here!

Workshop Descriptions by Track

1 – Livestock

A1 – Sustainable Beef Production for Beginners

Mark Heitstuman, Jan Busboom, and Susan Kerr, Washington State University MEATs Team
Maurice Robinette, Lazy R Ranch

This workshop will help beginning beef producers increase their knowledge on how to produce safe, high quality food animals profitably; while producing the animals in an environmental and animal care conscious manner. The workshop will address opportunities and issues to enhance the production, safety and quality of beef production from the farm to the plate. Topics covered will include breed selection and genetics; nutritional requirements and managing cattle on pasture; producer perspectives on sustainable cattle; healthy animals produce quality beef; record keeping and budgets; producer perspective on marketing opportunities and profitable beef production.

Since 2006, the WSU Meat Animal Evaluation, Analysis and Technology Team has presented beginning and advanced-level Pork, Beef and Lamb programs that strive to help producers add value to their product from “Farm to Plate”. All stages of the production cycle are addressed in these programs, including: selecting livestock for carcass merit, genetics, nutrition, health care, recordkeeping, processing and marketing. Workshop presenters will include Mark Heitstuman, WSU Asotin/Garfield County Extension Director; Dr. Jan Busboom, WSU Meats Extension Specialist in Pullman; and Dr. Susan Kerr, WSU Regional Livestock and Dairy Specialists in Mt. Vernon.

B1 – Meat Processing in Washington: What’s Working? What’s Not?

Kathryn Quanbeck, Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network
Bruce Dunlop, Island Grown Farmers Co-op
Jerry Haun, Haun’s Meat & Sausage
Sue Lani Madsen, LPCA

Overview of some of the recent efforts to expand access to meat processing in Washington State. What has been successful, what hasn’t, and why – new brick & mortar plants, mobile slaughter units, on-farm processing. We’ll talk about the economics of processing: what it takes to build a new plant. We’ll also cover how to better utilize existing infrastructure instead of building new.

C1 – Getting Started With a Small-Scale Dairy

Susan Kerr, WSU NWREC
Lorrie Conway, Conway Family Farm

There is growing interest in small scale, family, and niche market types of dairy production. This workshop will be a general overview of dairying with sheep, goats, and cattle for those who are considering getting involved with this type of food production. Housing, nutrition, selection, reproduction, milking procedures, and food safety considerations will be presented. A resource list will be provided for those interested in more detailed information. This workshop will feature a co-presenter who runs a successful licensed Grade A goat dairy.

D1 – Sustainable Pork Production for Beginners

Mark Heitstuman, Jan Busboom, and Susan Kerr, Washington State University MEATs Team
TBD, Local Pork Producer

This workshop will help beginning swine producers increase their knowledge of how to produce safe, high quality food animals profitably; while producing the animals in an environmental and animal care conscious manner. The workshop will address opportunities and issues to enhance the production, safety and quality of pork from the farm to the plate. Topics covered will include breed selection and genetics; nutritional requirements of swine, including managing swine on pasture; producer perspective on producing swine sustainably; healthy animals produce quality pork; record keeping and budgets; producer perspective on marketing opportunities and profitable pork production.

E1 – Micro-Dairying on a Biodynamic Farm

Henning Sehmsdorf, S&S Homestead

The workshop will discuss the defining role of the cow on a biodynamic farm, describe the dairy products we make and how, the nutritional benefits of raw milk and cheeses, and explain the regulations and economics governing a micro-dairy.

2 – Production and Soils (Beginner Emphasis)

A2 – Medicinal Crops for Farmers

Michael Pilarski, Friends of the Trees Botanicals

The workshop will introduce a range of medicinal crops including trees, shrubs, perennials, and annuals. Learn how to fit them into rotations and introduce medicinal agroforestry systems which integrate trees into the system. This workshop will also discuss labor requirements and marketing. The focus will be on crops with good market potential.

B2 – Growing Wine Grapes Organically

Joseph Barreca, Barreca Vineyards

This presentation will cover several main varieties of grapes that are hardy and productive in Northeast Washington, preparation, spacing, trellising, pruning, pest control, irrigation, harvest and wine production. Experience in this region is with small vineyards, under 10,000 vines. Attendees should be aware that there are many philosophies and methods associated with grape growing and wine production. This presentation does not attempt to cover the whole field but is focused on organic growing and vintage.

C2 – Creating Healthy Soil and Fertility Using Organic No Till Combined with Year Round Cover Cropping for the Market Gardener

Gary Miller and Amy Plant, Good Earth Centre

“Combining no-till and organic right now might be one of the holy grails of production agriculture” – Tim Steury, Washington State University Magazine, Fall ’11. Unfortunately, the adoption of organic no-till has been slow. This workshop we will focus on the practicality and flexibility of adopting organic no till when using methods that do not require significant changes to current practices or investing in new equipment. Based upon the presenter’s direct experience, they will discuss year-round cover cropping for no-till including methods for direct seeding and transplanting without roller-crimping. Participants can expect to learn about benefits, practical guidelines, tools and equipment, cover crop strategies, weed management, and common challenges.

D2 – Irrigation Management for Drought

Troy Peters, WSU Irrigated Agriculture Research & Extension Center

This workshop will speak to the basics of irrigation water management as well as some strategies for irrigating during water shortages.

E2 – Flower Production: The Farmer-Florist Movement

Emily Asmus, Welcome Table Farm

This workshop will cover the basics of integrating cut flower production into a vegetable farm system. It will also speak to marketing, planting lists, and the rise fo the farmer-florist movement.

3 – Production and Soil (Advanced Emphasis)

A3 – Croptime: Scheduling Vegetable Crops with Degree Days

Nick Andrews and Heidi Noordijk, Oregon State Small Farms Extension

Calendar day maturity information provided in seed catalogs is very approximate and varies depending on your location and time of year you plant. Degree-days measure temperature over time, and can more accurately predict development of exothermic organisms like plants, insects and diseases. We are developing a crop scheduling tool that uses degree-days to predict harvest. We will demonstrate Croptime and show you how you could use it on your farm.

B3 – Measuring Soil Health on the Farm

Tabitha Brown and Jason Morrow, WSU Department of Crop and Soil Science
Kendall Kahl, WSU/Latah Co. Conservation District

This workshop will demonstrate field methods that could be used on-farm to assess soil health including various biological, physical and chemical properties. Further, information will be shared on the interpretation of soil health test results with respect to on farm decisions.

C3 – Environmental Footprint of Organic Farming

Lynne Carpenter-Boggs and Cornelius Adewale, WSU Department of Crop and Soil Sciences
David Granatstein, WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources

The Organic Farming Footprints (OFoot) program assessed farm environmental impacts including greenhouse gases, carbon footprint, nitrogen leaching, and carbon sequestration. This introductory presentation will discuss the overall impacts of farming and organic farming on major environmental impacts. The workshop will then demonstrate use of the OFoot program, which allows customizing of the impact assessment on a particular farm. Increasingly, processors and retailers are requesting such impact assessments. It will include an opportunity to schedule individual time with the team for personal farm assessment, and opportunity to provide input that will help us to expand and improve the program.

D3 – Ignorance is Bliss? History Repeated for Brassica Black Leg in the Pacific Northwest

Lindsey Du Toit, WSU Northwest Research and Extension Center

The Pacific Northwest (PNW) USA is the primary region for production of seed of many brassica species, including brassica vegetables, cover crops, oilseed crops, and forage crops. In the 1970’s, epidemics of black leg (caused by the seedborne fungus Phoma lingam) in midwestern and eastern states were traced back to infected seed lots grown in the PNW, and had major consequences for the PNW brassica vegetable seed industry. Research on management of the disease, coupled with strict enforcement of control measures by the seed industry, largely eradicated black leg from the PNW. In 2014, a widespread epidemic of black leg occurred across the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Extensive surveying revealed the disease probably was introduced to that region on infected seed lots over a few years. In addition, black leg was found in >15 winter canola fields in west-central Idaho and in a few winter canola fields in Umatilla Co., OR in spring 2015, raising concern about the very rapid and recent spread of this pathogen in areas of the PNW. This presentation will review the history of black leg in the PNW; recent epidemics in the Willamette Valley and Idaho; current and changing regulatory status of this pathogen in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington; and important aspects of management of this pathogen for growers and the seed industry on all scales of production in order to prevent this pathogen from becoming endemic in this critical region of brassica seed production.

E3 – State of Organic Seed

Kristina Hubbard and Jared Zystro, Organic Seed Alliance

How seed is bred, produced, and managed affects the health of people and our planet, and the success of farmers and future generations. The organic seed movement is creating systems that adhere to the principles of diversity, fairness, health, and shared benefit, ensuring our plant genetic diversity remains in the hands of people, not patent holders. In this way, the organic community is committing to seed that’s different from the biotechnology and chemical industry, where privatization, genetic uniformity, and chemical production systems are emphasized. Organic Seed Alliance is monitoring the success of organic seed systems in the U.S. and just completed a five-year update to its State of Organic Seed report. Do farmers have enough organic seed? What are our nation’s organic plant breeding priorities? How are certifiers enforcing the organic seed requirement? How much of our tax dollars support organic seed research? How is GMO contamination being handled at the seed level? These questions and others will be answered as part of this workshop, along with a roadmap for collaborative solutions to grow, adapt, and protect more organic seed. Data specific to the Pacific Northwest and other regional organic seed project updates will also be provided.

4 – Marketing and Finance

A4 – The Voice of the Market: Best Practices for Selling to Retail Grocers and Restaurants in the Intermountain West

Colette DePhelps, Soren Newman, and Cinda Williams, University of Idaho Extension

In Idaho, as in much of the eastern Washington and eastern Oregon, low rural population densities and long transportation distances to urban markets present unique challenges for producers interested in selling their products direct or semi-direct to grocery stores and restaurants. A team of researchers and extension educators at the University of Idaho are working on a project to help give small and medium-sized vegetable, fruit, and livestock producers better access to local (within 100 miles) and regional (within 400 miles) retail and restaurant markets. In this workshop, they will share the initial findings from our September / October 2015 survey of Idaho restaurants and grocers. Based on survey data, an overall picture of the products restaurants and retailers purchase that could be provided by local producers; share what restaurants and retailers say are the best strategies for marketing and selling local products to local buyers; and, provide key factors that influence retailers’ and restaurants’ interest and willingness to buy local products. This information, combined with results of a producer survey will be the basis for modeling to identify the optimal location of food aggregators (for example, warehouses and central hubs), routes for product delivery, and volume of product sales needed to make these enterprises economically viable. This workshop will also show how survey and interview data will also be used to determine where more production of specific crops and livestock products is needed to meet the existing market demand, and how these products can be brought to market via existing and new food aggregation and distribution systems (for example, regional food hubs or utilizing existing distributors and warehouses).

B4 – LINC Foods: A Cooperative Food Hub Approach

Elizabeth Robinette and Joel Williamson, LINC Foods
TBD, Panel of LINC Institutional Customers

LINC Foods was launched in Spokane in August of 2014. We are a food hub that focuses on connecting local farmers to institutional scale markets such as university dining services, school districts, and hospitals. We have a unique organizational structure in that half of LINC Foods is owned by the farmers whose food we sell (we now have over 30 farmer-owners), and half is owned by the employees of the food hub. We have also benefited greatly from the support and cooperation of local foundations, as well as our customer organizations. We currently work with four universities, 10 school districts, one hospital, a casino, a grocery store, and a handful of restaurants in Spokane. Our workshop would feature a short presentation on how LINC Foods was started and our success to date, followed by a panel of customers, farmers, and funders to discuss how their collaboration has served to strengthen the local food system of the Inland Northwest. Attendees can expect to learn more about how to access institutional markets (addressing issues of food safety, liability insurance, adequate volume), the benefits of a cooperative structure, and gain a clearer picture of what the food and farm scene in Spokane is like.

C4 – How to Prepare for your Lender

Wendy Knopp, Northwest Farm Credit Services
Dan Schilling, Washington State Finance Commission

Participants will learn the ‘5 Cs’ of credit (what lender’s look at when making a loan decision). Overview of a cash flow budget and balance sheet will be taught. Also, loan programs that are available for beginning farmers including the WSHFC bond loan program and FSA’s Beginning down payment program and their direct loans.

D4 – Leveraging Farmers Markets to Expand Sales

Karen Kinney, Washington State Farmers Market Association
Colleen Donovan, WSU Small Farms Program

Have you found yourself questioning whether or not farmers markets are “worth it”? Time, travel, harvests, displays – it all adds up. In this workshop we ask: Are you leveraging the farmers market to maximize sales in all aspects of your business? This workshop provides case studies and data on how being a “farmers market farmer” opens doors to new business and to strategic promotions beyond the market hours/season. Come gather new ideas and insider tips to make your investment in the farmers market work for you!

E4 – Our Dangling Carrot? Social Change – Identifying and Reaching Your Audience

Sarah Dublin and Patrick Dunn, Oxbow Farm and Conservation Center

Believing that social change is attainable is at the heart of Oxbow’s work – from growing organic vegetables to propagating native species to connecting kids to the soil. Meeting people where they are is how our message will resonate, bringing about the social change we aim to achieve. We will discuss ways to identify and approach intended audience segments, focusing on sharing information in an authentic, engaging and accessible style. Participants will leave this interactive session having identified their own intended audiences and having gained an understanding of the specific tools available to successfully share their message with the people they most hope to reach.

5 – Education and Policy

A5 – How to Adapt and Respond to New Produce Safety Rules: Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) & Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)

Tricia Kovacs and Karen Ullman, WSDA Farm to School and Small Farm Direct Marketing

Produce growers in every market regardless of scale are impacted by on-farm food safety production and handling standards. Food safety continues to be a hot topic because of worker safety, consumer health, risk management, market requirements and the upcoming FDA Produce Safety Rules, which will be finalized by October 2015. These rules will be mandatory. Even smaller operations, which will likely qualify to claim exemption from the FDA rule, will face increased pressure to meet GAP or FDA standards as buyer expectations for food safety planning and documentation increase. The rules will affect farms business planning, operations and access to markets. WSDA’s Farm to School and Small Farm Direct Marketing team will present on the new FDA Produce Safety Rules, and how they relate to the current voluntary Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)/Good Handling Practices (GHP). WSDA will help distill what information is most pertinent to farms and provide strategies for how to implement food safety in a smart, cost-effective manner. The presentation will discuss exemptions, phased in implementation and how rules will impact market access. WSDA will provide copies of the Bridging the GAPs Farm Guide, for farmers interested in developing a food safety plan, and any supplemental resources as needed to stay current under the new FDA Produce Safety Guidelines. The session will provide an overview, but also offer plenty of time for questions and answers, so the group can delve into the areas that concern them most.

B5 – Learning from the Land: Farm Internship Programs in Washington State

Laura Lewis and Kellie Henwood, WSU Jefferson County Extension
Tisa Soeteber and Kelly Kane, Dept. of Labor and Industries
Clea Rome, WSU Clallam County Extension

The focus of this workshop will be on farm internship programs in Washington State, including the Cultivating Success Program and its various models, independent farm internship programs, WSU academic farm internships, and the L&I Farm Internship Pilot Program. Discussion will be provided on how to find the right internship model for your farm. Further information will be shared on how to find resources to develop and support your on-farm curriculum, program evaluations tools, and how to support your interns once they complete your program.

C5 – Food and Farming Policy Briefing: All you Need to Know to be a Farm Policy Advocate in 2016

Ariana Taylor-Stanley, City Grown Seattle/ Tilth Producers of Washington
Ellen Gray, Washington Sustainable Food and Farming Network

What new policies and programs are helping the beginning farmer? What’s next for food safety regulation? How can you get involved? Join Ellen Gray of the Washington Sustainable Food and Farming Network and Tilth Producers Policy Coordinator Ariana Taylor-Stanley to learn about food and farming issues on the docket for the 2016 legislative session and opportunities to advocate. We will cover beginning farmer programs, local food system development, farmland preservation, the farm bill, food safety, and more. The session will include a question and answer period, and state legislators have been invited to help answer your toughest policy questions!

D5 – Challenges and Opportunities in Growing New Farm Businesses: Veterans and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers

Rob Smith, Viva Farms
Kate Selting-Smith, WSU Small Farms Program
Chris Wolf and Mike Hackett, Growing Veterans

We will be looking at challenges and opportunities in training and supporting two socially disadvantaged groups of farmers– Latino farmworkers and veterans– to create successful farm businesses. The workshop will exist as a case study to explore challenges with farmer training and capacity building, speciifically in the context of working with these two groups. We will share evaluation of our programs to further improve farmer training in the Northwest Region. Attendees can expect to learn about farmer training and capacity building in northwest Washington and explore how Viva Farms, WSU Small Farms Team, and Growing Veterans are working together to serve socially disadvantaged populations and to strengthen our regional farming communities.

E5 – WSDA Organic Program: ‘Sound and Sensible”

Brenda Book, WSDA Organic Program
David Granatstein, WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources

This workshop will feature WSDA Organic Food Program projects regarding resources for certification including new ‘Sound and Sensible’ videos, web app, curriculum, and farm walk projects.

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