Carrot Cache Innovation Prize

Innovation Prize for Farmers !

Carrot Cache is offering a $500.00 Innovation Prize to farmers for best, innovative, low cost solution to planting, managing, harvesting, post harvest handling, or processing of food grown on your small Canadian organic urban or rural farm!

Click on image for full details.

New Farmer Training Day, March 4^th – Come hear from Joel Salatin, grass farming guru from Polyface Farm as well as other experienced farmers on topics such as Pastured Pigs, Pastured Poultry, Intro to Sheep, Crop Planning for Vegetable Growers, Salad Bar Beef, Healthy Soils and Marketing. Or attend a full day CSA Mini-School!

March 5^th and 6^th – Pick from a variety of workshops on emerging issues in farming, including Urban Agriculture, the Local Abattoir Crisis, Accessing Land & Capital, and more!

When: March 4^th – 6^th, 2010

Where: Kitchener, Delta Hotel (105 King Street East)

Cost: $95 per day

For more information and to register visit http://www.bringfoodhome.com

Who: AgriCulture and AgriFood Canada wants to hear from Full-Time Farmers  

When/Where: this Thursday the 26^th in Guelph from 6:30 – 8:30 pm

What: Full time farmers are being paid to share their thoughts and provide feedback on several current government programs including Agri-Stability and Agri-Invest. You are invited to attend even if you have not enrolled in these programs.

How much: $100 cash.

Interested? Call to register with Ron Ross at 1-800-798-5060 and he’ll provide the remaining details.

The NFU Youth will be launching the Campaign for New Farmers during the 40th annual convention of the National Farmers Union which will take place November 26th-28th, 2009 at the Travelodge Hotel and Conference Centre, Ottawa West.

The campaign coordinators are inviting individuals or organizations who are working on all types of new farmer training, educational or mentorship programs to participate by displaying relevant information outside the Centennial Ballroom throughout the duration of the convention.  For more information please contact Kalissa Regier at kjregier@gmail.com or Cammie Harbottle at cammieh@gmail.com.

In addition, the official launch will take place in the Centennial Ballroom on Saturday, November 28th from 10:30-11:30AM.

New Farmer Forum

We are excited to tell you about a great upcoming opportunity for new farmers (of all ages) in east central Ontario. Mark your calendars for SATURDAY NOVEMBER 7 and come to Lindsay for a day-long discussion around training and education needs. Click here for all the details. The day is free (except for a $5 contribution to lunch), so please come and bring all the new farmers you know!!

Here are the steps:
1. Contact Anna at (705) 740-9383 or apetry@kawarthaheritage.org to pre-register ASAP. Registration is LIMITED.
2. Log on to http://tinyurl.com/FarmerTrainingSurvey and complete this survey as soon as you can. It only takes 10 minutes.

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Bring Food Home

FarmStart and the FarmON Alliance have partnered with Sustain Ontario, FoodNet Ontario and other partners to organize BRING FOOD HOME – Connecting Ontario Farm and Food Networks, a provincial conference that will be held at the Kitchener Delta from March 4-6, 2010.

The conference will bring together participants from diverse regions and sectors, including farmers, food enterprises, health promoters, community groups and government organizations. The purpose is to facilitate our learning and working together to create food systems that are healthy, just, accessible, culturally appropriate, financially viable and sustainable.

To date we have confirmed Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm and of Food, Inc. fame as one of several keynote speakers, as well as Martin Gooch from the George Morris Centre who will lead a workshop in Value Chain Management. The FarmON Alliance is planning a whole day of events related to farmer training. It is shaping up to be an exciting conference.

For more information please contact the Program Committee Co-Chair at bringfoodhome@sustainontario.com or 647-348-0235 or visit Bring-food-home-2010-conference for updates.

Please join us in Brampton at FarmStart’s McVean Farm Grand Opening this coming Sunday!

For directions and more information, please check out our Flyer or our website at www.farmstart.ca/McVeanGrandOpening.

We are also still looking for a few more volunteers for the event on Sunday for general help, face-painting, etc. If you would be interested in helping facilitate this event, please email info@farmstart.ca or call Keturah at 519-836-7046 x103.

We are really excited about this opportunity to show you our beautiful urban farm, let you get to know the farmers on our land and share some of the wonderful produce the farmers have been growing this season! Don’t miss this chance to come out to the ground-breaking at McVean farm.

Come rain or shine (preferably shine), we hope to see you there!

Exploring the New Farm Dream course

April – June 2009, Guelph, $100

4 Thursday evenings & 3 Saturday farm tours

Thinking about starting your own farm business? Want to learn more about the opportunities and realities of farming? This is the course for you! 

To learn more about the course and to register visit 

HYPERLINK: http://www.farmstart.ca/exploring-the-new-farm-dream

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact Ali English at

 HYPERLINK: ali@farmstart.ca or (519) 836 7046 ext 104

April 8^th, Guelph, 6pm – 9pm, free

Do you have land you want to make available to a new farmer? Or are you a new farmer looking for land? Come join us for an evening of matchmaking and information sharing!

This workshop will be held at the Bookshop’s eBar on 41 Quebec St in downtown Guelph. You’ll find a map and directions here. 

To learn more about the workshop and to register visit  HYPERLINK “http://www.farmstart.ca/workshops”

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact Ali English at

 HYPERLINK:  ali@farmstart.ca or (519) 836 7046 ext 104

Crop Planning and Starting Seedlings for Beginning Market Gardeners

February 14th, 10am – 4pm, Ignatius Jesuit Centre in Guelph, $25

Join Leslie Moskovits, 3 year CSA farmer, who will introduce some tips on how to plan your market garden – from deciding what to grow to scheduling your plantings and more!

For more information on this workshop, and to register, visit www.farmstart.ca/workshops

Ecological New Farmers Conference: New Growers, New Ideas

There’s big news in farming these days! The Ecological New Farmers Conference is a one day event for new or aspiring farmers. On Sunday March 8th, come hear the stories of new farmers and learn from experienced growers. Workshops will be offered on a variety of topics including crop planning for market gardens, raising mixed livestock, urban agriculture, regulations affecting small-scale producers, and cooperative farming models. There will be 2 streams of workshops designed to suit committed new farmers & those who are just starting to explore the possibilities. Held at the Toronto Botanical Gardens. Earlybird registration just $40.

To register or for more information visit www.everdale.org/newfarmersconference
Contact conference coordinator, Angie Koch, at newfarmersconference@farmstart.ca or 519-569-8690

The FarmStart Feast and fundraiser was a huge success – with over 200 people coming out for a magnificent supper.  Click here to see some of the photos taken by Laura Berman.

We want to thank all the farmers, chefs and volunteers who put together such a beautiful meal and wonderful evening, as well as all those who came out to support FarmStart and a new generation of farmers! 

An especially huge THANK YOU to Matchbox Garden farmers, Hannah, Adrian and Eric, and to Cross Town Kitchens, who brought this wonderful evening to life and fed us all.

All proceeds from this fundraiser will go towards improving the facilities at the McVean incubator farm so that we can accommodate more new farmers. 

Sincerely, 
Christie Young, FarmStart Director

The Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario and Everdale present:

Pastured Poultry with Ruth Knight, who has successfully raised pastured poultry at her farm in Clifford, Ontario for over 7 years.

Saturday, October 18, 2008 10:00am – 4:00pm
Everdale Environmental Learning Centre, Hillsburgh, ON

This workshop will offer an overview of different pastured poultry techniques from feeding, housing, fencing, watering, and predator protection. You will also learn about the current rules and regulations regarding pastured poultry and how to stay up to date on those issues.

FEE: $85 – $65 for EFAO members and Farmers Growing Farmers

To register click here

For directions to Everdale click here

Business Planning for Today’s Farm

Start-Ups

Kate Hayes from the New England Small Farm

Institute (NESFI) talks about her pioneering work in

supporting farm business planning for new farmers.

 Thursday Oct 2nd

9:30am – 11:30am

Ramada Inn – Pine Tree Hall (Conference Centre)

716 Gordon Street, Guelph, ON

 Admission free 

Come enjoy a wonderful meal featuring local Ontario harvest from the new farmers at FarmStart’s McVean incubator farm facility!

Click here to download the following flyer 

If you’re curious about Community Supported Agriculture, you won’t want to miss Rachel and Carolyn’s talk at Toronto’s Pape Public Library this week. The Beet Street team will be discussing CSA’s and their contributions to healthy rural economies. They’ll also be accepting new members for their own CSA. Beet Street’s shares are sure to sell out soon, so Toronto residents would be well advised to drop by the library on Wednesday night, meet the farmers, and sign up for a season of gorgeous, fresh veggies!
.

Wednesday, May 14

6:30 – 8:00 pm

Presented by: Canadian Organic Growers (COG)

With: Rachel Climenhaga and Carolyn Bailey, BeetStreet CSA,

and Phil Anderson,COG member and farmer in Stouffville

Location: Pape Public Library, 701 Pape Ave (Danforth and Pape)

Cost: COG members free; non-members $5

The Ontario Farmland Trust has recently announced the topic for their 2008 Farmland Preservation Forum:

Land for the Next Generation of Ontario Farmers

April 17, 2008
8:30am-4:30pm
Arboretum Centre
University of Guelph

The forum will bring together a network of actors from the farm community, the nonprofit sector, and government to address the issue of access to land for new farmers in Ontario. The day will start with a discussion panel featuring three speakers whose innovative work has helped to extend access to land for new farmers in the US and Canada. Participants in the forum will devote the rest of the day to building a strategic means of working collaboratively to address this critical issue. The recommendations that result from this process will be presented to policy makers at a separate event on the morning of April 18th.

For further information and to register, please visit The Ontario Farmland Trust.

The Metcalf Foundation recently commissioned a paper on local sustainable food in Southern Ontario. This paper aims to contribute to a broader understanding of food system dynamics in this province, and is intended as a backdrop for discussions on how Ontario could move toward a truly local sustainable food system through collaboration and the identification of key leverage points for food system change.

OMAFRA’s Policy Capacity Secretariat is hosting a presentation of the report’s key findings by Ruth Richardson from the Metcalf Foundation. This will be followed by a panel discussion in response to the report. There will be ample opportunity for dialogue between the audience and the panellists.

February 29 and March 1 2008
Norfolk United Church
75 Norfolk St.
Guelph, Ontario

The Beyond Factory Farming Coalition’s 2008 Safe Food, Healthy Communities Conference seeks to deepen understanding of livestock issues in Canada, identify and examine keystone issues in Ontario and Canada, sketch out a road map for transition to socially responsible livestock production, reach new audiences and develop new networks amongst groups involved in the sustainable food movement

Keynote speaker

*Andrew Nikiforuk, award-winning journalist and author of Pandemonium: Bird Flu Mad Cow Disease and other Biological Plagues of 21st Century

Friday February 29
7 – 9 PM
Norfolk United Church, Guelph
Open to the public, free of charge.

Conference speakers

* Maxime LaPlante-Union Paysanne
* Fred Tait-National Farmers Union
* Mari Veliz-Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority
* Dr. Ann Clark-Guelph University
* Dr. Jennifer Sumner-University of Toronto
* Ted Zettel-Organic Meadow
* Dr. Art Wiebe, MD-Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
* Peter Katona-Foodlink

For more information, including registration details, please visit the conference website.

The Canadian Farm Business Management Council presents:

GROWING YOUR OPPORTUNITIES
Orangeville And Area Value Plus 2-Day Workshop

Over the two days you will:

• Explore case studies of how innovative rural and farm businesses that have developed their value added ideas and opportunities

• Follow a new product from conception to integration into the marketplace

• Take home lots of practical and useful tips

Workshop Limited to 25 participants. Pre Registration required.

Orangeville, Alder Street Recreation Centre
Day 1-Sat. Feb. 23rd and Day 2-Sat. March 1st
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Registration 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m

Download the poster for full details.

Food For Talk Presents:

Christie Young
FarmStart Director

February 8, 2008, 2-4 pm
University of Toronto, University College
Room A101

While the consumer demand for local food is growing by leaps and
bounds, with new market opportunities increasing for value-added,
local, fresh, quality, and culturally-appropriate produce, production
capacity in Ontario is not keeping up. The net number of farmers
across the province continues to fall, local agri-food system
infrastructure declines (or is completely absent), and policies and
support services for new farmers are insufficient. Moreover, the
perception that farming is a viable, sustainable and meaningful career
path is missing. There simply are not the numbers of new farmers
starting to successfully meet the current, much less future, demand.

Christie Young, founder and Director of FarmStart will talk about the
challenges facing new farmers and a regional food supply. She
will also present the strategies that FarmStart is developing to
encourage and support new farmers to develop locally oriented,
ecologically sound and economically viable agricultural enterprises.

There are many challenges in agriculture today, but there are also many
exciting opportunities. By thinking about agriculture in new and
innovative ways we believe we can meet the challenges head on with a
variety of solutions that promote a sustainable, healthy and regional
food supply.

For more information about the Food for Talk seminar series, please visit the series website.

Saturday, February 16 – one-day conference:

Visionary Farmers and Visionary Consumers
9:00 am – 5:00 pm
89 Chestnut St., U of Toronto Conference Centre
Presented by Canadian Organic Growers
$65 ($85 after Jan. 15); COG members $55
Rates for students, retirees and unwaged

Includes an organic lunch and mini-market!

Info and registration: www.cog.ca 1-888-375-7383 conference@cog.ca

This conference is focused on the successes, challenges and future directions of those committed to an organic way of life. Keynote, Helge Hellberg, Executive Director of Marin Organic, sets the tone as he shares with us the story of his county devoted to going 100% organic. They have inspired schools, businesses and governments to take a stand for an alternative way of doing business and in doing so show us what a sustainable food system looks like.

Panels on topics including “Where’s the local in organic?”; “Being organic in a non-organic world”; “Organics making a difference – environmental impact”, “Can organics feed Ontario”; and “Ensuring organic integrity”. Participants include: Ann Clark, Gavin Dandy, Dag Falck, Wayne Roberts, Wally Seccombe, Julie Daniluk.

Also confirmed is Paula Sobie, a spin farmer from Victoria and Chef Ken Hueston of the amazing Vancouver Island Chefs Cooperative. What’s spin farming? SPIN is S-mall P-lot IN-tensive farming, a way to generate significant income on less than an acre of land. Perfect for urban dwellers, without land or capital, but who have lots of neighbours willing to let someone else grow in their backyards.

Plus a career track – meet the intrepid “new” farmers who, despite lacking land and farming skills, took the leap and followed their dreams of being organic farmers. Panel topics include: “Learning the Ropes: Apprenticing”; “Behind the Plow: Trials and Rewards” (moderated by FarmStart staff member, Sophie Llewelyn); and “Going to Market: Opportunities for Innovative Farmers”.

For a complete agenda, see www.cog.ca

Note: There is still space in the Toronto course… please contact Mike Shook at 519 836-7046 ext 102 to sign up. You can also email Mike.

FarmStart has just started offering the FarmStart Business Planning course in both Guelph and Toronto.

These two sessions run once a week from now through December. At the end of the course you will have prepared a business plan that is ready to take to a bank or to submit to FarmStart to be a participant in the New Farms Incubator Program.

Download the Course Overview – PDF

Toronto Details -

Date: Thursday Evenings from
October 4th to December 12th.
Time: 6:30-10:00
Location: FoodShare Offices – 90 Croatia Street (Map)

Guelph Details -

Sorry – The Guelph Course is now full.

If you would like to be notified of future courses, please sign up for the newsletter.