Post-Harvest Preparation Workshop and Farm Tour: Prairie Rose Farm in Glyndon, MN

In response to the growing number of emerging vegetable farmers in Clay County, the University of Minnesota Extension is hosting a free, in-person workshop on Saturday, September 28th, from 11am until 4pm at Prairie Rose Farm in Glyndon, MH. The workshop will feature UMN-Extension consultant Ariel Pressman, who will be demonstrating how to grade, clean and package produce for wholesale or farmers market retail. A wide variety of techniques for successful vegetable production and sales will be covered, including: 

-wholesale grading

-produce varieties that are best for markets

-fall preparation for spring crops

-bed shape, tilling, and compost practices

-technical assistance, funding options, and cost share programs with USDA

One-on-one sessions with Ariel will be held after the main session - sign up on site. 

Lunch wil be provided by Go Farm Connect and pre-registration is required by Sept 23. 

Please REGISTER for FREE at this  LINK

Growers, farm advocates, and conservation staff in Clay and surrounding counties are encouraged to attend. The facilitators for this event are Clay County Local Extension Educator Jill Patrie and Go Farm Connect peer Connectors Amy Rice and Raphael Ndimubandi from New Roots Incubator Farm. They will be joined by United States Departnment of Agriculture (USDA) staff James Kruize, Clay County Farm Service Agency Director, and Travis Doeden, acting Clay County Natural Resources Conservation Service director/soil conservationist, who will explain disaster assistance, insurance, loans, cost share grants and other federal support available for farmers, including an explanation of the deadlines to apply for various programs. No prior experience with farm programs is necessary, and growers do not need to won land to participate. 

Translation in Kirundi will be available. For further information, contact Jill Patrie at 218-299-7338 or by email at patri350@umn.edu.

Who Should Attend

All interested parties are invited to attend and learn, including beginning and prospective growers, family, friends,  and cultural and agricultural support professionals. 

About Go Farm Connect

Are you lost in an alphabet soup of federal acronyms? Need help finding the right resources?

Navigating USDA programs can be overwhelming, confusing and intimidating. We get that! We've pulled together an experienced team of farmers to help you connect to the right programs. We offer FREE services that focus on different aspects of building a successful farm business. We can provide a Connector to be a personal guide, coach, and ally who shares your goal of running a successful farm operation.

Go Farm Connect is a farmer-led initiative to build relationships between historically underserved specialty crop farmers (beginning, women, veterans, BIPOC and new Americans) and federal farm agencies.  Our Connectors are trained to help farms of all sizes and specialties in Minnesota and Wisconsin access agricultural assistance programs. The three-year project is led by Renewing The Countryside in partnership with the US Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency, and Natural Resources Conservation Service. Registration through this link is helpful so that USDA staff can be aware of what questions you might want answered. Go Farm Connect staff may take photos and videos at this event to promote programs and future events. Your RSVP gives your permission to be photographed. Please let a Connector know at the event if you want to be kept out of photos.

Please REGISTER for FREE at this  LINK