2010 Past Events
This is an archive of our 2010 past events and workshops.
Markets are demanding more measures of food safety, and the goal of this workshop is to provide tools and hands-on experience to meet these increasing demands. The N.C. Market Ready Fresh Produce Safety – Field to Family Tier 1 training will continue. This presentation will complete Tier 1 of the comprehensive curriculum developed by leading researchers and Cooperative Extension specialists at N.C. State University and N.C. A&T State University.
The GAP information that will be provided for the entire Tier 1 classification represents 7 hours of instruction, and each participant will be awarded a certificate upon completion of the following:
Tier 1 consists of modules 1 through 6 and addresses GAPs that are directly related to field production and harvest. The training includes an introduction to common food-borne pathogens and diseases as well as recognizing points of potential contamination, proper use of biosolids as a nutrient source, effective hand-washing procedures, packing facility cleanliness, and verifying water quality for field application and postharvest handling.
The workshop will consist of a one-hour presentation on blueberry management followed by a blueberry and blackberry pruning demonstration. Participants will be responsible for travel to CEFS Small Farm Unit for the pruning portion. Directions will be provided at the beginning of the workshop. Please dress appropriately for outdoor weather. Registration is required by February 10. Workshop is limited to the first 35 participants. Please call Diane Lynch at (919) 731-1525 to reserve a spot.
Available to all N.C. Cooperative Extension Field staff, this training will include N.C. State University instructors and invited speakers from other organizations, including Dr. John McGlone from Texas Tech University, a leader in pasture pork production research and outreach. Travel and registration fees will be reimbursed through N.C. A&T State University Cooperative Extension Program external grant funding.
This workshop will start with classroom instruction on improving calving management and animal handling. Following the classroom session we will proceed to the beef unit where we will tour the farm to observe the newborn calves and cows on various forage systems. We will also have hands-on instruction in managing calving difficulty, proper heifer development, and low-stress animal handling.
Controlling gastrointestinal nematodes in their animals represents the biggest challenge facing small-ruminant producers worldwide. Participants will learn about the biology of the gastrointestinal nematodes, where we are and why, a quick review of dewormers, and how to integrate smart drenching, FAMACHA© and pasture management for more effective control. New alternatives being researched will also be discussed. An optional (brief) hands-on session will be held after lunch to teach participants how to use the FAMACHA© card as an effective tool.
A great FAMILY EVENT with lots of kid-friendly activities. Please join us at the CEFS Small Farm Unit as we celebrate sustainable agriculture and local food and farming in North Carolina. The Festival will include educational booths and activities, workshops, tours, kids’ activities, a farmers market, local food and live music all day.
Exhibits: Learn about organic and sustainable farming, home gardening, small farm equipment, healthy eating, and more through exhibits hosted by extension offices, university faculty and staff, nonprofit organizations, and other agricultural organizations in North Carolina.
Kids’ Activities: Children of all ages will enjoy hands-on agricultural activities including games, crafts, and much more!
Workshops: Local experts will offer demonstrations on topics of interest to farmers and home gardeners.
Live Music: Enjoy live music while you visit the educational booths, or simply enjoy a walking tour of the farm.
Farmers Market: Purchase farm-fresh products from local farms at the Festival Farmers Market.
Farm Tours: Tours of the CEFS farm will be offered throughout the day. Tour stops include the pasture-based dairy and beef facilities, swine hoop houses, and cropping system research areas.
W.C. Breeze Family Farm
Hillsborough, N.C.
4-7 p.m.
Ticket Cost: $50 for members of Slow Food Triangle, Friends of CEFS or Friends of Breeze Farm; $60 for nonmembers; free for kids 12 and under
Advanced ticket purchase required.
See the Farm to Fork 2010 Picnic Web site for more information and to purchase tickets.
Join Piedmont cooks and farmers for an evening of food, live music and fun activities for the entire family! In a unique collaboration, the regions most acclaimed cooks will pair with Piedmont farmers to prepare a picnic-style feast that celebrates our local foods and the people who grow and make them.
This workshop will give agents and producers training on the environmental problems associated with outdoor hog production and conservation practices needed to address these issues. The group will tour and discuss the outdoor swine research sites at CEFS and nearby farms.
Community-based food assessments identify food access, availability and demand questions, but also provide an engaged mode of community outreach and education about the importance of healthy food and local economics, as well as community development possibilities based in good food projects. This workshop will help you understand the basics of community-driven food assessments, will let you hear from youth and community members doing successful projects in North Carolina, and will give you some tools for beginning or expanding your own local assessments. In Part I, we’ll cover different types of community-based assessments, examine ways that they help with outreach and education, and introduce youth-driven community food assessment activities. If you want an introduction to community-based food assessments or want to jump into exploring the baseline of your own area, we’ll offer the information and materials to get started!
Community-based food assessments can create the foundation for a comprehensive food system assessment. See the workshop titled “Food System Assessments Part II: Local, Regional and State Food Assessments” (below, July 13) for ways to leverage your community-based assessment.
One of two on-farm workshops that will demonstrate no-till/roll-kill practices that can be used in organic corn and soybean production. The technique for planting corn and soybeans into roll-killed cover crops will be discussed, and potential follow-up weed control methods will be demonstrated. Crop yields, fertility and crop management will also be discussed, as well as research results from the previous year. To register, please contact Molly Hamilton at molly_hamilton@ncsu.edu or 828-273-1041.
This workshop offers an overview of food system assessments and outlines key steps for developing local and regional assessments. Comprehensive food system assessments often combine secondary data gathered from health departments, ag extension and the USDA Census of Agriculture with primary data gathered by professionals from community members. We will look at a variety of professional food assessment models—the data collected, plus how they are conducted and used—as well as examples of some done in North Carolina. We’ll cover one in detail as a case study and discuss concrete steps to getting a comprehensive county-wide or regional assessment in your area. If you want an introduction to food assessments or you want to explore the baseline data for your own food system, and we’ll offer the information and materials to get started!
Comprehensive food system assessments can create the foundation for a community-based food assessment. See the workshop titled “Food System Assessments Part I: Community-based Assessments” (above, June 5) for ways to leverage your food system assessment.
This workshop will provide an overview of practices designed to enhance beneficial insects (predators, parasites, pollinators) as well as farmland wildlife. Field demonstrations will focus on establishment and maintenance of habitats to provide all the life-cycle needs of these organisms.
Pesticide credits: 2.5 hours (bring your license number).
One of two on-farm workshops that will demonstrate no-till/roll-kill practices that can be used in organic corn and soybean production. The technique for planting corn and soybeans into roll-killed cover crops will be discussed, and potential follow-up weed control methods will be demonstrated. Crop yields, fertility and crop management will also be discussed, as well as research results from the previous year.
Chatham Marketplace
480 Hillsboro St., Pittsboro, N.C., in historic Chatham Mills
$10 each for co-op owners;
$15 each for the public
10% of the tuition will be donated to the Center for Environmental Farming Systems to support the 10% Campaign
Delicious, nutritious beans are one of the great food bargains. Learn about cooking dried beans, including why to soak and when to salt. Find out how to turn one big pot of beans into three or more different recipes. Learn to make and freeze your own beany “fast food” loaded with summer produce to help you get through any time or budget crunch ahead. This fun class includes cooking demonstrations, samples to taste, and a handout with recipes. 90 minutes. This class is a Cook for Good event, with 10% of tuition going to CEFS’ 10% Campaign. Register at the Marketplace or call 919-542-2643.
Rain or shine
UNIVERSITY FARM at N.C. A&T State University
3136 McConnell Road (approximately three miles north of I-40)
Advance registration suggested; contact Linda McCain at 336-285-4681 or lmccain@ncat.edu.
Sponsored by The Cooperative Extension Program, N.C. A&T State University.
FARM TOUR SITES
- Hybrid Black Walnuts
- Beef Cattle Reproduction
- Pastured Pigs’ Performance
- Growing Biofuel Crops
- Controlling Pests without Pesticides
- Breeding Meat Goats
- Tomato Trials
Waste Management Credits and Pesticide Credits are available.
This workshop will include observations on research using alfalfa-grass pasture mixtures being managed either organically or conventionally as well as other pasture-management topics. The workshop will include preliminary observations from alternative approaches in managing reproduction, udder health, and general herd health in pasture-based and organic dairy cows. We will also observe the use of a vacuum system to physically remove horn flies from lactating cows as well as other novel strategies for parasite control.
Are you getting the most out of your high tunnels? This short webinar will focus on the use of low-cost inner tunnels in cool weather to increase microclimate temperatures. These microclimate enhancements have provided significant increases in plant growth and production capacity. There will be a significant portion of time for high tunnel questions.
View on YouTube here.
This workshop will help you understand what you need to know and do to get your farm certified under the USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP). Find out what the standards are, how to get certified, how to fill out an organic certification application, and how to find and choose a certifier. You’ll receive an extensive notebook with record-keeping templates, mock applications, resources, approved materials lists and more. If you are thinking about getting certified organic, this is the place to start!
PESTICIDE CREDITS: N O D X = 1.5 hours
CERTIFIED CROP ADVISER CEU = 1.5 hours Integrated Pest Management and 0.5 hours Crop Management
In North Carolina, the traditional “direct marketing season” for small-scale vegetable producers is from April to October. Successful North Carolina growers who sell primarily at tailgate markets attempt to have quality produce for sale every week during that period. Getting the best price for product brought to market involves production planning. As often as possible, smart growers will want to bring product to market when supply is low so that they can charge high prices. One such production strategy is referred to as “season extension.”
Season extension provides producers with a competitive advantage, because it enables them to produce, harvest and sell crops when they are not typically available to consumers. For example, growers can make “early” spring specialty lettuces or “late” fall tomatoes available to consumers when demand is high at market and supply is low. Having produce available for sale at market when other growers do not can boost farm income and establish customer loyalty.
A common season extension strategy employed by growers is to plant a crop at a nontraditional time. For example, tomatoes are normally planted as soon as the danger of spring frost is past. However, tomatoes can be planted much later in the growing season for market sales beginning in September and ending with the first fall frost. Having tomatoes for sale in the fall, when spring-planted tomatoes have “played out” and supply in the marketplace is limited, is a recipe for increasing sales and making money. This Extension workshop will focus on the production of high-quality tomatoes that can be sold at market from September until the first fall frost.
CERTIFIED CROP ADVISER CEU = 2.5 hours Soil and Water Management
ANIMAL WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OPERATORS CEU = Pending
Riparian buffers are a technology in sustainable agriculture used to reduce excess amount of sediment, organic materials, nutrients and pesticides in surface runoff. Riparian buffers consist of grass, shrubs and/or trees grown alongside water sources (streams, rivers, ditches, etc.). This workshop will describe the design and maintenance of riparian buffers and the potential additional benefits of creating them, including the use of specialty crops within the buffer such as fruit shrubs or trees, nut trees and herbs. The workshop will include a classroom section with pictures and educational materials followed by a tour of CEFS areas with riparian buffers.
COURSE MATERIALS/RESOURCES
“Conservation Buffers: Design Guidelines for Buffers, Corridors, and Greenways,” U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station, September 2008 (.pdf)
“Riparian Forest Buffers: Function and Design for Protection and Enhancement of Water Resources,” prepared by David J. Welsch
Working Trees brochure series, USDA National Agroforestry Center
3 hours of Certified Crop Adviser Credits (1.5 hours Nutrient Management and 1.5 Crop Management)
3 hours of Animal Waste Management System Operators Continuing Ed Credits
1.5 hours of Pesticide Credits (NODX)
This workshop will improve participants’ understanding of how nutrients cycle in pasture-based systems. Participants will be introduced to the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles in a pasture ecosystem, and will improve their understanding of how to manage excreted nutrients. Use of composted poultry litter and dry bedded swine waste on forage crops, and optimal control of insect and plant pests in conventional and organic systems, will also be discussed. Continuing education credits for animal waste system operators and pesticide applicators will be offered.