Our 7th installment of our Winter Learning Series on Grain-Free Dairy. Ben Gotschall is the owner of Holt Creek Jerseys and the Dairy and Livestock Manager at Wolfe’s Neck Center in Freeport, Maine. He will discuss the challenges and opportunities of 100% grass-fed dairy production as well as share some lessons learned, mistakes made, and success stories from a lifetime of raising and grazing Jersey cattle on native rangeland and improved pastures.
Contact: Visit Zoom Webinar Registration to register.
Visit Facebook for the complete Winter Learning Series Schedule.
Join MOFGA and collaborating organizations for a free labor management series this spring designed to help you support a strong, safe, and equitable farming season with employees.
All are Zoom based.
Join Equality Maine and a panel of queer farmers to learn and discuss some of the best ways to support LGBTQ+ employees and apprentices on your farm. Beginning with an introductory and interactive training, farmers will learn basics such as the differences between gender and sexuality and the importance of respecting pronouns. The second half will feature a panel of queer farmers and farm workers from Maine speaking about their experiences.
Contact: To learn more about the MOFGA Labor Management Series and register visit https://78270.blackbaudhosting.com/78270/Labor-Management-Series?_ga=2.10052787.782232126.1617196229-1431575469.1608742878.
Trusts seem like a logical way to pass on farm assets to another generation, however, they are a complex tool and one should be well informed for what the trust can and cannot do for your individual situation. This webinar will give an overview of what is a trust, the types of trusts and important considerations for using a trust as an estate planning tool for the farmer. A link to join the webinar will be emailed upon registration. This webinar will be recorded and available to all registrants. Part of the 2021 Future of the Farm Webinar Series, Moderated by Kelly McAdam and Kenesha Reynolds, UNH Cooperative Extension. Presenter-Melissa O’Rourke, Farm and Agribusiness Management Specialist, Iowa State University Extension.
Contact: Learn more at https://extension.unh.edu/events/webinar-making-sense-trusts-estate-planning-tool, register at https://unh.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJctcOCpqD0oEtVkSLxOEJ1vduxM2PvIQfde.
In this final webinar in our three-part series, guest presenter Dr. Fred Provenza will discuss how we can help livestock prosper by using foods and habitats available locally while minimizing inputs from fossil fuels.
Background: We often focus on “genetics” of the animals in our care, and rightly so, but we seldom stop to consider that genes are expressed in the environments where animal are conceived, born, and live over generations. Experiences in utero and early in life have life-long influences on behavior including an animal’s abilities to use particular foods and habitats. Natal experiences affect food and habitat preferences in animals as diverse as insects, fish, birds and mammals. The emerging field of epigenetics, which highlights how experiences with social and biophysical environments influence gene expression, is changing static view of evolution based on natural selection of beneficial mutations, a process that occurs over millennia, to one that is dynamic and ongoing within the lifetime of the individual and across generations. Understanding these processes has implications for creating animals that can prosper using foods and habitats available locally while minimizing inputs from costly fossil fuels. This and wildlife for social, economic, and ecological benefits. These findings have counterintuitive knowledge is enabling people to better manage the food and habitat selection behaviors of livestock implications for issues — from invasive plants to rare and endangered animals — that have to do with developing philosophies and management practices that accent ongoing transformation with ever-changing environments as the low-cost alternative to attempting to “go back to the way things used to be.”
Contact: Visit FACT webpage https://www.anymeeting.com/AccountManager/RegEv.aspx?PIID=E053DD81884E3B to learn more and register.
Topics covered will be:
*How animal management can affect grass growth & nutrition
*Clipping in spring, is it needed?
*Grass Management outside of grazing
*Nutrient Management
*Management pinch points
*Meeting his energy needs of the animals
Contact: To register visit https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_O1VRjcdzS-W2be1Qzf07XA
Communicating with Farmers Under Stress is for professionals who serve the agricultural industry and work with farmers and their families. This event will help ag professionals recognize the signs of stress as well as how to communicate with and respond to farmers and their family members when they are in need of assistance.
This event is being offered at no charge to participants. Registration is required to receive the link to access the webinar. Registrants will also receive access to the webinar recording.
Contact: Visit https://extension.psu.edu/communicating-with-farmers-under-stress to learn more and register for this event.
Stonewall Farm will be offering 3 classes in the Holistic Management series. This series is intended for farmers, land owners, field professionals and educators wanting to become an Accredited Professional (AP) with the Savory Institute. Those seeking to become AP’s may need to complete other prerequisites before completing the required verbal exam. As an accredited HUB in the Savory Institute’s Global HUB Network, the content and instructions meets the rigorous standards set by the Savory Institute. Each class comes with the Savory ebooks that will be sent to participates prior to the class. Classes are non-refundable.
Contact: Visit https://stonewallfarm.org/learn/introduction-to-holistic-management/ to learn more.
Are you thinking about raising sheep for yourself or your family? Do you already have sheep, but want to brush up on some of the basics? Maybe you’re looking to test the waters for a new business venture? Join us for this three-part series on the ins and outs of what it takes to raise sheep successfully in New Hampshire. We’ll start with the basics and end with more in-depth topics you can apply to your flock immediately, from regulations and pasture management to health and nutrition. Each session will cover something different, so be sure to attend all three!
Visit https://extension.unh.edu/events/beginners-guide-raising-sheep-webinar?fbclid=IwAR1s57gpdDlV8Kxnq2eTXZQiKY1WeqLN3-i_dX5bg2Dd_bUoi3mRq0ee59k to register.
Topics covered in this last session will be:
*Written grazing plan, prescribed grazing, fencing, clipping, reseeding, water distribution
*New Program of planning annual for grazing
*Present a case study example from NRCS
*Firsthand experiences with providers such as NRCS, FSA, Extension ect.
*Annual forages for grazing systems
*What species work?
*Crop nutrient needs and planting methods
*Challenges presented by grazing annuals
*How much land is needed?
Contact: To register please visit https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_24kgqYvrSUqj0hBMLEPjdA
Join MOFGA and collaborating organizations for a free labor management series this spring designed to help you support a strong, safe, and equitable farming season with employees.
Designed for farmers, this training will feature Sexual Assault Support Services of Midcoast Maine providing definitions, examples, and strategies for responding to as well as preventing sexual harassment in a variety of settings. They will discuss Maine and Federal laws, but cannot give legal advice. After the presentation, SASSMM will highlight farms who have current sexual harassment policies, and SASSMM staff will facilitate a question-and-answer session for farmers hoping to implement their own policies.
Contact: To learn more about the MOFGA Labor Management Series and register visit https://78270.blackbaudhosting.com/78270/Labor-Management-Series?_ga=2.10052787.782232126.1617196229-1431575469.1608742878.