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SEMAP's e-Newsletter
THE VINE
Issue#2                                             

February 2013   
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FARMER POTLUCK
2013 Ag. & Food Conference
Farm & Food Events!
Surveys, Reports, Resources
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Cattle
Greetings! 
web of life

 We hope to see you soon at one of the many potlucks, conferences and workshops taking place this winter.  Please read below for details or click to register for the SEMAP/BCCD conference right now: 6th Annual Ag & Food Conf of Southeastern Mass.

 

Just in our second month of the new year, there are multiple surveys taking place - see below for details or link to ours right now:  SEMAP's 2013 Farmer & Eater Survey.  

 

Please don't forget to check the On-line Farm Guide for winter farmers markets and CSAs.

 

Please pass it on!

 

Best,

Bridget Alexander

SEMAP Executive Director
SEMAP FARMER WINTER POTLUCK SERIES
 
The Winter Farmer Potluck Series w/ The Carrot Project continues on:
 
Wednesday February 20th, 2013
5:30pm
Anawan Grange Hall
243 Winthrop Street, Rehoboth MA
(intersection of Rts. 44 & 118)
 
Enjoy a warm meal with friends and new acquaintances at our Winter Potluck Series! Information on The Carrot Project will be on hand at the event including updates on programs and loan opportunities available specifically for small farms in Southeastern MA.  


A Conference for Farmers, Families & Foodies


FARM & FOOD EVENTS!

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February 27 and 28, Sturbridge Host Hotel, Sturbridge, MA

 

The 4th bi-annual conference is less than 2 weeks away!

Don't miss the opportunity to gain helpful marketing advice from the region's top farmers and industry experts!
 
 
Municipal Local Food Seminar

Thursday, March 7, 2013, 8:30-1 pm
Advanced Technology and Manufacturing Center Fall River

 

With droughts and increasingly uncertain food supplies and prices, food security is becoming an important issue for all regions of the globe. Luckily, Southeastern Massachusetts has an abundance of fertile soils, though not all available plots are being cultivated, and many that once were lost their markets to large industrial farming and international produce trade.

Join us for the fourth in our series of  Municipal Sustainability Seminars as we discuss how to bring food production back to local plots by encouraging local agriculture, the growth of community and urban gardens, edible schoolyards, and neighborhood mini-farms.

 

Find out about what your neighbors are doing and how to draft by-laws that support local food production. Learn about new rules and possibilities for organic waste.

 

MDAR Director Greg Watson will kick off this interactive session.  

Also on the agenda is a discussion with Rep. Paul Schmid, Vice Chair, Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture and Bridget Alexander, Executive Director of SEMAP as well as panel presentations by local farmers and officials.

 

Lunch provided by not your average Joe's. 

 

REGISTER HERE

 
SURVEYS
REPORTS
RESOURCES

SEMAP's Farmers & Eaters Survey - click to take the survey! 

152 Responses so far...

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Organic Farmer Survey

Please help NOFA and MOFGA improve our policy work on behalf of organic farmers and the workers on their farms by filling out this survey if you haven't already! This survey is for all organic farms - certified organic, farmers' pledge, self-declared organic, rural or urban - regardless of size or crops.  It will take 20-30 minutes to fill out the questions on your farm's labor practices and markets. The 2012 Census of Agriculture does not cover all of this information! The results will help guide the policy and technical assistance work of NOFA and MOFGA.  We have extended the deadline so YOU can be included!

 

Survey results will be confidential, and only shared in summary form.  The survey forms an important part of Becca Berkey's dissertation at Antioch University New England and is a joint project with the NOFA Interstate Council Domestic Fair Trade Committee.

 

If you have questions, contact Becca Berkey, Lead Researcher at [email protected] or407-506-9204 or Elizabeth Henderson of the NOFA Interstate Council Domestic Fair Trade Committee at [email protected]

 

You will find the survey at:

http://tinyurl.com/NOFAsurvey 

 

Please complete the survey no later than MARCH 10, 2013 (extended deadline!).

 

 

NOFA/Mass 2013 WINTER GROWING WORKSHOP SERIES
Online registration for the Winter 2013 Massachusetts Growing Greens for the Winter Market Workshop Series is open. 
See here for a full listing of all seven workshops:  http://www.nofamass.org/events/type/winter

 

  

RIACD FARM EQUIPMENT NEEDS & COOPERATIVE SOLUTIONS REPORT

RI Association of Conservation District's Farm Equipment Needs and Cooperative Solutions for Southern New England. 

This report is the result of a year-long study made possible by a USDA/NIFA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Grant, and by the Rhode Island Agricultural Partnership through a van Beuren Charitable Foundation Grant. View the FULL REPORT here.

 

 

UNIVERSITY EXTENSION SURVEY ON FARM PROFIT PROGRAM

University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension and UMass Cooperative Extension are seeking your input to develop an educational program aimed at building capacity in existing farms to improve their net farm profits. In order to show interest and secure funding for this program, we need your help. Please take the online survey at the link below to help make the case. The survey should only take a few minutes of your time.

 

Your input is anonymous and will be extremely helpful in shaping this program and procuring funding. Here is a link to the survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5MNBLPS 

 

  

BEGINNER FARMER NETWORK LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE!

A new website aimed at beginner farmers throughout MA has been launched by The Beginner Farmer Network of MA.  This website is the product of a collaborative process with beginning farmers and farm service providers (including SEMAP!) throughout the state who want the information and services for beginning farmers to be coordinated and easy to find.  Visit the new site at www.BFNMass.org.

 
NEW ONLINE FARM PROPERTY CLEARING HOUSE - New England Farm Finder
This new website, www.newenglandfarmlandfinder.org offers landowners a place to post available farms and farmland. With links to informational resources and complementary programs, this service fills an urgent need identified by task force research.    


LAND JOBS STUFF

Visit this online bulletin board for jobs, equipment, housing, etc.

  
Happy Eating!
 
SEMAP Staff - Bridget, Sarah, Kristen