Farmer Events
September 2021
Grant writing workshop: Food Security Infrastructure Grant (FSIG)
Tuesday, September 28, 6-7:30pm Location: Remote Join Kelly Coleman, CISA’s Program Director and one of CISA’s grant writers, as she shares her extensive experience in grant writing and how you can write an effective grant application for the currently open Food Security Infrastructure Grant (FSIG) opportunity. Attendees will come away with a better understanding of the types of projects this grant can cover, a framework of how they can approach the grant application, and tips on how to write a…
Find out more »Towards Organic Fruit Management in New England: Holistic Decision making for Regenerative Fruit Practices
Hosted by Quonquont Farm: 9 North St., Whately Connor Stedman from Appleseed Permaculture and Farm Manager Leslie Harris will share insights and practices from Quontquont Farm's efforts to innovate new IPM and organic pest management strategies. Participants will engage in activity with their own current growing challenges or circumstances. The farm tour portion of the workshop will focus on Quonquont's sustainable apple and 2 acre blueberry production systems, while workshop exercises will be applicable to a wide range of fruit…
Find out more »October 2021
Profitable Meat Marketing and New Pricing Calculator
Hosted by Barstow’s Dairy Store and Bakery: 172 Hockanum Rd., Hadley You are raising and selling local meat, but are you making a profit? Learn to use the new and improved Cornell Meat Price Calculator to develop prices that deliver a profit in every channel. We'll demo the new tool and talk about early results from Cornell and CISA's joint project on meat marketing. Barstow’s Longview Farm, who is a participant in the recent pricing project, will share their…
Find out more »Farm Energy and Resource Conservation – Working with NRCS and FSA Technical Assistance and Conservation Programs
Hosted by Red Fire Farm: 184 Meadow St., Montague Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) will spend time going over the conservation planning process and how to apply for financial assistance conservation programs. Farm Service Agency (FSA) will cover the first step in the whole process – registering your agricultural operation in the USDA database. NRCS will dive a little deeper into soil health and other relevant technical topics at the farm. Host Red Fire Farm will share their experience working…
Find out more »Equipment and Tool Section for Small Farm Production
Hosted by Song Sparrow Farm: 140 Meadow St., Northampton This workshop will provide information on how to select the right equipment for a small acreage farm. It will explore the relationship(s) between hand tools and mechanized equipment as related to different scales of production, with emphasis on walk-behind tractors. Farmers will share strategies for decision-making for current and future scales and in helping manage towards farm and family goals. Host Diego Irizarry-Gerould of Song Sparrow Farm will walk through production…
Find out more »On-Farm Energy: Audits, Short Term Solutions and Long Planning
(Rain Date October 20) Hosted by Simple Gifts Farm: 1089 N Pleasant St, Amherst The Massachusetts Farm Energy Program (MFEP) will present on how to identify, plan for, fund, and implement both short and longer-term energy projects. This includes energy savings projects, such as upgrading lighting, and energy generating projects, such as solar. Plus, a walk through for what to expect in an audit and what steps to take to plan for and finance suggested improvements. As part of…
Find out more »PSA grower training course in Spanish / Curso de capacitación para productores de la Alianza-PSA impartido a distancia (virtual)
Contact / Persona de contacto: Zoraia de Jesus Barros, CISA Program Coordinator Schedule / Horario: Monday, October 25th, 2021, 11am-4:30pm / Lunes 25 de octubre 2021, 11am-4:30pm Tuesday, October 26th, 2021, 11am-4:30pm / Martes 26 de octubre 2021, 11am-4:30pm Location / Lugar: Virtual on Zoom / Plataforma virtual en Zoom Cost / Costa: Free for MA growers / Gratis para los productores de MA Register here. / Complete el formulario de inscripción aquí. Registration deadline: October 11th / Límite de…
Find out more »Website Revamp: Taking your site to the next level (Part 1 of 2)
Location: Remote* Tuesday October 26 and Wednesday, November 3, 6-8:00pm (participants attend both sessions) Do you have a website, but think it’s outdated or could use some major changes to give it that modern, professional shine? Join Michael Crigler of Bueno Social for this free two-part workshop as he walks us through the graphic design thinking, pro tips, and guiding principles behind what makes an excellent website and how you can apply them to your own. Attendees will come away…
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