Practical Farmers?s fall farminars start Tuesday

AMES ? Harvest is winding down, another growing season is nearing its end ? and Practical Farmers of Iowa has set its 2013 fall farminar schedule.

The free online seminar series is offered each autumn to help farmers learn about business and production issues that matter to them from the convenience of their homes.

The interactive webinars, called farminars, are 7-8:30 p.m. each Tuesday beginning next week through Dec. 10, except for Thanksgiving week.

Webinars are open to everyone.Any computer with an Internet connection may be used to participate.

Most farminars are led by farmers, and many are presented in a ?fish-bowl? format where attendees listen as an experienced farmer answers a beginning farmer?s questions. Farminars air live online and allow participants to ask questions of presenters in real-time.

Topics featured this season include: insuring apple orchards; efficient marketing and distribution of local foods; tools and systems for improving vegetable transplant production; improving the profit-potential of grass-based livestock; and building relationships to improve vegetable crop marketing.

Practical Farmers also will produce a day-time series focused on row crops and winter farminar evening series.

To participate: Go to www.practicalfarmers.org/farminar, click the link to connect and sign in as ?Guest.?

Preregistration is not required, but those who register will receive reminder emails one week and one day in advance. All upcoming and archived farminars, as well as free audio podcasts of past farminars, also are available at the link.

The first farminar of the season ? ?Crop Insurance by Written Agreement for Apple Orchards in Iowa? ? will be Tuesday and should be of interest to farmers growing specialty crops, since these crops are difficult to insure in Iowa. Phil Larabee, licensed insurance agent in Cedar Rapids, will discuss the fundamentals of how crop insurance works and how he managed to insure his family?s 3.5-acre apple orchard near Sabula.

?I tell other Iowa apple growers that we have our orchard crop insured, and they tell me they didn?t think you could do that in Iowa,? Larabee said. ?I?m here to share what we have done and how we cover our basic expenses in the event of a crop loss ? and hopefully take away some of the stress and anxiety for other apple farmers.?

Practical Farmers of Iowa?s 2013 fall farminars are made possible with funding from Ag Ventures Alliance, Grain Millers, John Deere, 211 individual donors to the ?100 Days, 100 Beginners? fundraising campaign, Farm Credit Services of America, CERES and The Cedar Tree Foundation.

2013 Fall Farminar Line-up

1). Nov. 5 ? ?Crop Insurance by Written Agreement for Apple Orchards in Iowa? ? Phil Larabee.

Learn the timelines to report and apply for insurance, and the recordkeeping and other requirements to gain crop loss protection.

? Phil Larabee?s mother-in-law, Diane Gravert, owns Gravert?s Apple Basket Orchard near Sabula, which is managed by Larabee?s wife Laura. The orchard lost 100 percent of its crop in 2005, and more than 50 percent in 2006, both due to late-spring freezes. Larabee saw a need for risk management and applied his skills as a licensed insurance agent to insure the orchard?s apple crop, which has been insured since 2009. While apples are federally insurable in the U.S., coverage is not available in Iowa ? but Larabee obtained insurance by Written Agreement, a USDA Risk Management Agency document designed to provide crop insurance for insurable crops when coverage or rates are unavailable.

2). Nov. 12 ? ?Efficient Crop Marketing and Distribution of Local Foods? ? Ellen Walsh-Rosmann and John Lash.

Ready to explore a new distribution business to help increase efficiency and amount of local food available in nearby communities? Learn from an established local food distributor now entering its seventh year, hear an Iowa beginning farmer?s vision for her food distribution company, and then listen as the two discuss considerations when creating a local food delivery business.

? Ellen Walsh-Rosmann of Pin Oak Place, near Harlan, grows fresh vegetables and manages an organic egg-laying poultry flock with her family. She recently gained access to a delivery truck to distribute products to restaurants and select grocery stores in the Omaha area.

? Since 2007, John Lash?s company, Farm to Table, has helped distribute locally grown vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs and cheeses to restaurants, grocery stores and institutional clients. Starting with a few dozen customers, Farm to Table now serves more than 500 in Austin, San Antonio and the Texas Hill Country with farm products from 18 local farms.

3). Nov. 19 ? ?Transplant Production Improvement Considerations? ? Chris Blanchard.

Explore systems to keep your transplants happy (even in the heat of summer) so they are ready to grow in top condition.

? Chris Blanchard owns Rock Spring Farm near Decorah and provides education and outreach about systems and tools for farmers to succeed in agriculture, business and life through Flying Rutabaga Works.

4). Dec. 3 ? ?Revenue Projections and Profit Potential of Grass-Based Livestock? ? Ryan Herman and Neal and Laura Vellema.

Listen in as an experienced livestock farmer shares his insight with beginning graziers.

? Ryan Herman has grazed livestock with his father, Gene, for more than 10 years in the hills of the Mississippi River Valley of northeast Iowa. Together, they have 190 cow-calf pairs. They raise calves on grass as yearlings and sell them to a grass-finishing program. The Hermans have not raised hay since 2005, relying instead on stockpiled pasture and purchased hay. Ryan Herman?s farm recordkeeping and grazing planning are exemplary.

? Neal and Laura Vellema raise pastured beef near Harris. Neal Vellema works full time on his parents? dairy farm, plus he and his wife have started raising their own steers on pasture. Future goals include farming full time on their own dairy, or raising mixed livestock and potentially vegetables.

5). Dec. 10 ? ?Building Relationships, Building Customers? ? Jordan Clasen and Jody Bolluyt.

Relationship building can be a powerful marketing tool. Hear from two farms of different scales about how they focus on building relationships with customers to be successful.

? Jordan Clasen operates Grade A Gardens in Johnston, which supplies the Des Moines area with certified organic gourmet garlic and fresh vegetables, including onions, shallots, leeks, kale, carrots and potatoes. In 2012, he expanded production on 10 rented, certified organic acres to service wholesale and retail customers, including a Community Supported Agriculture market.

? Since 2000, Jody Bolluyt has worked as a farmer at Roxbury Farm, a 300-acre diverse community-supported farm near Kinderhook, N.Y., that grows vegetables, herbs and grass-fed pork, lamb and beef for more than 1,200 families. Bolluyt grew up in Adel and has family who farm near Yale. During her time at Roxbury Farm, she has focused farm sales on CSA shares, dropping wholesale customers and foregoing sales at farmers markets.