OAK Conference will feature Berry and moreAre you new to organic agriculture? Have you been certified organic for years, but you want to learn more? Either way, the sixth annual Organic Association of Kentucky Conference has something for you.

The conference, scheduled for March 3rd through 4th at the Paroquet Springs Conference Centre in Shep-herdsville, will feature renowned novelist, poet, environmental activ-ist, and farmer Wendell Berry, a Ken-tucky native, as the keynote speaker on Friday morning. John Bell of El-mwood Stock Farm will share his 8-year rotation plan on adding fer-tility and creating an extra revenue stream with livestock, and Dr. Greg Halich of the University of Kentucky will give a presentation on the keys to profitability and a quality product with pasture-finished beef.

Other sessions will feature growing organic berries, reaching your customers through social media, small-scale farms and walk-behind tractors, beating weeds, success with row crops, growing flowers, practicing permaculture, and much, much more. The conference will also offer a “creative finance” session with information about accessing land as well as low- and no-interest loans, and the Center for Crop Diversification’s Brett Wolff will be discussing SARE grant opportunities for farmers in Kentucky. There will be a “meet the buyers” session with more than a dozen buyers of organic oilseed, produce, grain, and sustainably raised livestock, as well as a logis-tics/delivery company. And be sure to stop by and see Brett and the CCD’s numerous resources at the trade show.

To see the full conference agenda, go to http://www.oak-ky.org/conference-agenda. For registration information, visit http://www.oak-ky.org/2017-conference. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn and network with Kentucky’s organic community.

What’s insideLearning opportunities ..... 2 Price reports update ......... 3

Coming upMarch 2-4 - Indiana Small Farm Conference, Hendricks County 4-H Fairgrounds and Conference Complex, Danville, IN. For details and registration information, click here.

March 7 - What to Think About Before You Plant webinar - direct to consumer markets. See Page 2.

March 10 - Pike County MarketReady Training, 12:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. EST, Pike County Extension Office, Pikeville, KY. For more details and registration information, click here.

March 13 - Shiitake Mush-room Workshop, Robinson Center for Appalachian Resource Sustainability, $10. For details, click here.

March 14 - What to Think About Before You Plant webinar - large-scale markets. See Page 2.

February 2017

Brett Wolff, EditorChristy Cassady, Editor/Designer

Cooperative Extension Service | Agriculture and Natural Resources | Family and Consumer Sciences | 4-H Youth Development | Community and Economic Development

Educational programs of Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of economic or social status and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, creed, religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information, age, veteran status, or physical or mental disability.

If You GoWhen: March 3-4Where: Paroquet Springs Conference Centre, ShepherdsvilleRegister: http://www.oak-ky.org/conference-registration

Diverse winter farminar series from Practical Farmers of IowaFrom Practical Farmers of Iowa

Practical Farmers of Iowa’s 2017 winter farminar schedule includes topics of interest throughout the region. Unless otherwise indicated, all farmi-nars are held on Tuesday evenings at 7 p.m. Cen-tral time for 90 minutes.

Roadside Farm Market Meeting will feature success storiesThe Kentucky Farm Bureau Roadside Farm Market Educational Meeting will take place on Thursday, March 16th, at Chaney’s Dairy Barn, 9191 Nashville Road, Bowling Green. The meeting is open to both current members of the Certified Roadside Farm Market Program and non-members. The educa-tional meeting this year will focus on success sto-ries and marketing. Brett Wolff will be discussing principles of good roadside signage. The meeting will begin with registration at 9:30 a.m. CDT in the back room at Chaney’s Dairy Barn. For more in-formation and to sign up for the educational meet-ing, register online at www.kyfb.com/RFM17 by Wednesday, March 1st to provide an accurate meal count. If you have questions, please contact Fran McCall at Fran.McCall@kyfb.com.

MarketReady may be comingto an Extension office near youAre you interested in selling to restaurants, gro-cers/wholesalers/retailers, and schools? Do you want to explore ways to improve your sales skills? If you answered yes to either of these questions, then the MarketReady Producer Training Program is for you.

MarketReady training will be offered at the Pike County Extension Office on Friday, March 10th, from 12:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. EST. The Pike Coun-ty training will cover Restaurant sales, Grocery/ Wholesale/Retail sales, and Farm to School sales. MarketReady Marketing Basics Training will be offered at the Campbell County Extension Office on March 24th (Direct Marketing Principles: Farm-ers Markets), March 31st (Direct Marketing Prin-ciples: CSA, On-Farm Retail, Agritourism), and on April 7th (Bringing Local Products to Local Con-sumer Markets). The three trainings in Campbell County will be offered from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Eastern time.

For more information or to register, please visit the MarketReady website at http://www.uky.edu/marketready/, or contact Alex Butler at Alex.But-ler@uky.edu or (859) 218-4383.

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Check out these webinars!The Center for Crop Diversification has two webinars coming up in March based on our new publication What to Think About Before You Plant. The first webinar, scheduled for March 7th, will focus on direct-to-consumer market-ing, while the March 14th webinar will focus on large-scale marketing. Both webinars are free, and will be offered from 3:30-4:30 p.m. Eastern time. To register, visit http://www.uky.edu/ccd/beforeyouplantwebinar. If you are unable to participate in the live webinars, they will be recorded and made available on the CCD website (www.uky.edu/CCD).

Continued on Page 3

February 28 - “Diversifying Your Crop Rotation With Small Grains” - Presented by Earl Canfield

March 7 - “Variety Selection for Vegetable Produc-tion” - Presented by Rob Faux

**March 10 - “Pest and Disease Management for Organic Apple Production” - Presented by Maury Wills

March 14 - “Investor and Farmer Partnerships”- Presented by David Miller, Andy Ambriole

**March 17 - “Challenges and Opportunities with

Hazelnuts” - Presented by Jeff Jensen, Norm Er-ickson

**NOTE: These farminars will be held at noon Central time on a Friday, rather than the usual Tuesday evening at 7 p.m.

For farminar descriptions and speaker biog-raphies, visit http://www.practicalfarmers.org/2017-winter-farminars/. For information on how to participate, go to http://practicalfarmers.org/news-events/events/farminars/. If you miss a farminar, you can access it from the Practical Farmers of Iowa archive at http://practicalfarm-ers.org/farmer-knowledge/farminar-archive/.

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Reporting takes tons of time and effort from

dozens of people across the region. Credit goes to everyone who makes this

a success.

A TEAM EFFORT

PEOPLE LOVE PRICES...We did the math on how many people used our price reports in 2016:

12,681 3,496 2,383

29,850

1,716 2,297

Kentucky Illinois

Tennessee

Kentucky Illinois

Regional

Farmers Market Reports

Auctions & Wholesale

52,423 Total Downloads

REPORTS : WWW.UKY.EDU/CCDContinued from Page 2

Want help pricing your products? The Center for Crop Diversifica-tion continues to work to bring you price reports from farmers markets, produce auctions, and wholesale markets across the region. Reports from Kentucky produce auctions this year are already being posted on the CCD website, as have 2017 auction schedules for the Fairview, Lincoln County, Casey County, and Hart County produce auctions.

Look for price reports from farmers markets in Kentucky and Tennes-see to begin in April, with Illinois farmers market and produce auction reports soon to follow. The Center recently added Indiana to its list of farmers market price reporting states. Also check out wholesale prices in the weekly terminal market report, which includes average pric-es based on USDA Terminal Market Price Reports.

To access the CCD price reports, visit http://www.uky.edu/ccd/pricere-ports. Infographic by Brett Wolff, University of Kentucky

Breaking BeansBefore it was called a “local food system,” there were people who grew food so they could eat. To find out what they expe-rienced, read “Food Before It Was A ‘Sys-tem,’ ” by Sister Kathy Curtis on the Com-munity Farm Alliance blog.

At right: Red Bird Mission was one of the first Grow Appala-chia sites.

Below left: Rober-ta Brock’s canned goods.

Below right: A barn built into a hill to allow for food production on narrow bottom land.

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Thanks for reading!If you know someone who would enjoy our newsletter, or you’re not subscribed yet yourself, visit www.uky.edu/ccd/newsletter and click “Subscribe Now.” Stay up to date with the Center on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CenterforCropDiversification/

Photo courtesy of Red Bird Mission

Photo courtesy of Sister Kathy CurtisPhoto courtesy of Justin Brock