1. NFU New Farm Project Conference Bursaries

2. NFU Local 316 NFP Engineering project exploration

3. Farm Start’s Training & Events Bulletin for January 2012

4. Holistic Management for Family Farms

5. Organic strawberry production workshop offers potential to berry growers.

6. Record keeping workshop makes organic certification more accessible

–

Interested in going to some of the amazing upcoming farm conferences coming up this winter? The NFU New Farm Project is happy to help you get there with a number of bursaries available for both the Guelph Organic Conference on January 26-29 (http://www.guelphorganicconf.ca/) and Eco Farm day in Cornwall on February 25 – 26 (http://www.cog.ca/ottawa/ecofarmday/ENhome.html). For more information call or email Ian Stutt at 613-353-6622 or ianstutt@gmail.com.

The New Farm Project has organized a meeting to explore using the academic resources available to us locally to develop unique engineering ideas that have application to local food production in small and medium size farm enterprises.  In particular we have a local engineer who has volunteered to assist us in fleshing out those ideas and directing us toward resources in the academic community.

The first meeting will be held at 7:00 pm on Thursday January 19. Meeting location will be Burt’s Greenhouses, 539 Maple Road, Odessa. If you would like to attend please contact Brian Burt; brian@burtsgh.com; 613-386-3426.

Check out the online version of Farm Start’s bulletin for a ton of interesting workshop and conferences happening all around Ontario:

This 6 day course guides your farm team through the creation of a Holistic Goal for your farm and the tools to keep making progress toward that goal- combines social, financial and environmental considerations. Learn to make better decisions.For all types of operations.  January 9,10,11, and Jan 30, 31, Feb1st.  Location- Ottawa.  Holistic Management is for all types of farming and the upcoming course in Ottawa has a  number of young market gardeners registered.

March 2012 is tentatively scheduled for a Central Ontario course which will be held near Uxbridge.

Contact Fran McQuail; email mcqufarm(at)hurontel.on.ca or 519-528-2493  or go to http://www.meetingplaceorganicfarm.ca/holistic.html . This course is eligible for OMAFRA GYFP cost sharing. Start the New Year with better management !

December 22, 2011 (Ottawa)—Canadian Organic Growers (COG) has developed an innovative new workshop on growing organic strawberries commercially. The day long workshop is based on, and a companion to, COG’s newly released Practical Skills Handbook Growing Strawberries Organically. Two workshops are already being scheduled by COG Ottawa and COG Perth-Waterloo-Wellington for early 2012. Funding for the workshop development and delivery is thanks in part to the Agricultural Management Institute (AMI) and the Rural Association Partnership Program (RAPP) of the City of Ottawa.

The Growing Strawberries Organically workshop is developed and delivered by Rob Wallbridge of Songberry Organic Farm in Bristol, QC. Wallbridge is one of very few certified organic commercial strawberry growers in Ontario/West Quebec. Over the past eight years he has experimented with many of the growing techniques described in the book. A former organic inspector with over a decade of experience in the organic sector, from production to organic standards development, Wallbridge also served as contributing editor to COG’s Growing Strawberries Organically handbook.

“We know that the demand for local organic strawberries is there and that they command a premium price,” states Wallbridge. “We just need a lot more of them in the marketplace.”

COG’s new organic strawberry book and workshop will help farmers tap into this important niche market opportunity.

“Strawberries are available from grocery stores year-round now, but the public still gets excited at the beginning of the local strawberry season,” notes Colin Lundy, Farmer Outreach Coordinator at COG Ottawa. “As one of the first crops of the local growing season, strawberries are a symbol for the fresh seasonal local food of summer.” However, Lundy continues, “strawberries also come under scrutiny for their high level of pesticide residues, and the public is routinely encouraged to seek organic sources.”

Organic strawberry production relies on a management-intensive approach that incorporates a number of strategies designed to build and maintain soil fertility and plant health. Growers who employ these techniques experience significantly fewer pest and disease outbreaks and weed control issues. At the same time, organic growers do still have a number of tools available to deal with problems when they do occur. The Growing Strawberries Organically workshop will discuss these strategies and tools, in addition to the other management practices that are key to successful organic strawberry production.

“Through detailed discussions and a variety of hands-on exercises, participants will be able to develop a set of tools and techniques for growing organic strawberries suited to their own operation,” promises Wallbridge.

The Growing Strawberries Organically workshop will be attractive to any berry growers interested in this niche market, whether they are organic growers wanting to diversify their farm or improve the quality and quantity of their organic strawberries, or conventional growers wanting to explore organic strawberries as an option or simply to reduce their pesticide usage while still raising quality berries.

The one day Growing Strawberries Organically workshops will be delivered in Ottawa on February 11th, 2012 and in the Guelph region on a date still to be determined. Registration includes lunch and a copy of the COG publication,Growing Strawberries Organically.

For more information or to register visit the Canadian Organic Growers website www.cog.ca/shop and click “Events” or contact COG Ottawa’s or COG PWW’s respective Farmer Outreach coordinators: Colin Lundy,colin@cog.ca, 613-493-0020 and Tegan Renner, outreach@cogwaterloo.ca, 226-251-3012.

December 19, 2011 (Ottawa)– Canadian Organic Growers chapters in Eastern Ontario – West Quebec (COG Ottawa) and Perth-Waterloo-Wellington (COG PWW) are teaming up to offer new and existing farmers training opportunities related to organic production and certification. Workshops will be offered over the winter in both Eastern Ontario and Western Ontario, thanks in part to the support of the Agricultural Management Institute (AMI).

The Record Keeping for Organic Farming workshop is based on the COG handbook Record Keeping for Organic Growers (published 2010). The workshop identifies which types of records are necessary for organic certification and helps farmers avoid keeping records that are not necessary. Workshop participants will learn different options for setting up a record keeping system for both computer savvy farmers and those that prefer to use pen and paper. There will be reviews of how to employ record keeping tools from calendars to spreadsheets, and from pocket books to smartphones.

“I repeatedly hear from farmers that one of the main barriers to transitioning to organic production is the mountains of records they need to keep,” notes Colin Lundy, Farmer Outreach Coordinator with COG Ottawa. Lundy admits that some existing organic farmers also identify record keeping as a significant farm management headache. “There does not need to be mountains of records, and records can be a useful tool without taking up all of a farmer’s time.”

Organic records prove the organic integrity of farm products throughout the production process. According to Lundy, organic farmers with a record keeping system in place can also use these records as important management tools to increase the efficiency, sustainability and profitability of their farms, as well as for other types of inspections such as animal welfare and food safety.

The Record Keeping for Organic Farming workshop is appropriate for all farmers potentially interested in organic certification, whether they are conventional farmers considering a transition to organic production or are already certified organic and looking for a way to improve this aspect of farm management. Likewise the workshop provides specific information for crop, livestock and fruit/vegetable producers.

The workshop is developed and delivered by Maureen Bostock, co-owner of Sweet Meadow Farm, a certified organic fruit and vegetable farm in Lanark County. Bostock is a trained workshop facilitator, an organic inspector, and an inspection evaluator. She also sits on the Permitted Substance List Working Group for the Canadian Organic Standards and has been appointed to the Standards Interpretation Committee by the Organic Federation of Canada. All this makes her an extremely valuable resource for farmers interested in organic agriculture.

“No one enjoys record-keeping except bookkeepers,” says Maureen with a smile. “The value in this recordkeeping course is learning to make the records work to help you farm better while at the same time satisfying the requirements of organic certification.”

The one day Recording Keeping for Organic Farming workshops will be delivered in Ottawa on January 21, 2012 and in Western Ontario on March 10, 2012. Registration includes lunch, refreshments and a copy of the COG publication, Record Keeping for Organic Growers. Discounts available for additional registrants from single farm businesses.

For more information, updates, or to register visit the Canadian Organic Growers website  www.cog.ca/shop and click “Events” or contact COG Ottawa’s or COG PWW’s respective Farmer Outreach coordinators: Colin Lundy,colin@cog.ca, 613-493-0020 and Tegan Renner, outreach@cogwaterloo.ca, 226-251-3012.