Michigan Farmer Field School
Helping to cultivate viability for new and beginning farmers
September 14, 2015 Monday, 8 am 6pm
Field Based Pest and Disease Management: For Sustainable Outdoor and Hoophouse Vegetable Production Student Organic Farm - Lansing, Michigan.
NEW PRICING!: $150 for the first person from your farm, $30 for the 2nd ($90 per person).
Participants will spend most of the day in the field and hoophouses seeing and learning about the pests, diseases, disorders, beneficials, and reactive measures associated with different crops as well as discussing the practical and financial aspects of management
strategies.
Outcome goals: Participants will learn how to identify and scout for major pest and disease challenges to their farm, articulate management responses to identified problems and become
familiar with resources for problem-solving.
Includes: Overview of a systems approach to pest and disease management, identification and exploration of lifecycles and common thresholds for action for pests and diseases. Also
includes hands-on response strategies, field training for hoophouse and field pest and disease scouting and helpful record keeping.
Presenters: Ben Werling MSU Extension, Nicole Quinn MSU Graduate Research Assistant, Vegetable Entomology Lab, Jeremy
Moghtader Farm Manager, MSU Student Organic Farm, Director MSU Organic Farmer Training Program
October - 18, 2015 Sunday, 8am-6pm
Holistic Soil Management: Fertility, Cover Cropping, Weed Management and Tillage Student Organic Farm Lansing, Michigan.
Includes: Proven strategies, planning, and tools at various scales for building and maintaining the healthiest soils while managing weeds and prepping fields for crops.
Presenters: Lee Arboreal- Live Edge Growers (formerly of Eaters Guild Farm), a 15 year veteran organic farmer focused on larger scale organic production and
Jeremy Moghtader - Farm Manager, MSU Student Organic Farm & Director, MSU Organic Farmer Training Program.
November - 14, 2015, Saturday, 8am - 6pm
Year Around and Seasonal CSA Success: Strategies and techniques for improving profitability and satisfaction Student Organic Farm Lansing, Michigan.
Learn about proven strategies and different approaches to CSA startup and growth from the experiences and exploration done by the Organic Farmer Training Program and Sunseed Farm. Leave with new tools and new ideas about how to live, work and grow your CSA.
Presenters:
Tomm Becker - Sunseed Farm, Jeremy
Moghtader - Farm Manger, MSU Student Organic Farm, Director MSU Organic Farmer Training Program.
Additional Upcoming Workshops:
Business Planning Finding and Focusing on Profitability (Jan/Feb 2016), Scaling Up your Farm Business (April/May 2016), Planning for Better Pest and Disease Management(Feb./March
2016)
TO REGISTER FOR A WORKSHOP & KEEP INFORMED ABOUT THE FARMER FIELD SCHOOL:
For information on workshop details, upcoming workshops and the Michigan Farmer Field
School Series, or to register go to http://www.msuorganicfarm.org/farmer-field-school.html and
fill out the registration form.
For workshop Questions contact:
Megan DeLeeuw Farmer Field School Program Manager 734-718-5506
ABOUT THE FARMER FIELD SCHOOL
The MSU Farmer Field School is comprised of intensive one and two day hands-on workshops. They are tailored to deliver in-depth, practical information building on the decade of farmer training on-going at
the MSU Student Organic Farm and the wealth of knowledge in Michigans farming community.
Experienced farmers and premier agriculture educators from our region are teaming up to co-lead and deliver workshops in the Farmer Field School. Each workshop also includes group-based learning processes where
diverse approaches to farming challenges can be shared and discussed by both participants and workshop presenters and demonstrated at host farm sites. For the current cycle, workshops will take place on select farms in southern Michigan with a goal of expanding
the workshops to other regions of the state as the program develops.
With an emphasis on vegetable production, the Field School is designed to help improve the
profitability of diversified, sustainable, Michigan farmers in their first 10 years of farming who serve local and regional markets. The Field School is part of a broader vision and collaboration among statewide organizations including the MSU
Center forRegional Food Systems and Michigan Food
and Farming Systems to
help increase new farm success by working to make farming a more prosperous, secure, and sustainable career choice for the many beginning as well as future farmers here in Michigan to keep farmers farming, farmland in production, and
food local and regional.
The Farmer Field School is organized through the collaboration of MSU Student Organic Farm, Michigan Food and Farming Systems (MIFFS). and the Center for Regional Food Systems (CRFS).To learn more, visit www.msuorganicfarm.com.
This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute
of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2015-70017-22856.
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