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Post-Harvest Handling and Food Safety in Theory and Practice

3/23/2015

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Monday, March 23, 2015 - RESCHEDULED TO 3/30/2015
Central City Civic Center and Buffalo Ridge Orchard


Event Link: Post-Harvest Handling and Food Safety in Theory & Practice
Organized By: Iowa Valley Resource Conservation & Development

Presentation Summary
As the demand for local produce has exploded in the last five years, so has the expectation on the part of consumers and institutional buyers for high quality fruits and vegetables with an extended shelf life. Join veteran farmer and consultant Chris Blanchard for a look at the theory and practice of keeping your produce in top condition while minimizing the risk of microbial contamination. This workshop includes a classroom component and and on-site demonstrations of post-harvest handling techniques at Buffalo Ridge Orchard and vegetable farm.

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2015 Indiana Small Farms Conference

3/5/2015

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Thursday, March 5 - Saturday, March 7, 2015
Danville, Indiana


Event Link: Indiana Small Farms Conference
Organized By: Purdue Agriculture

The third Annual Indiana Small Farm Conference with pre-conference workshop activities taking place on Thursday, March 5th. With numerous networking activities, this conference provides small farmers with many opportunities to learn and interact with other farmers, producers, extension educators, researchers, and students.

Chris' Presentations:

Making Your Market Farm Work for You
Thursday, March 5, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Your market farm should work for you, in addition to you working for your  farm – and that requires you to take care of your vegetables and your business, as well as your life. Learn how you can put it all together, from the market farming fundamentals of weed control, irrigation, post-harvest handling, and marketing, to the management of your farming systems, employees, and finances. From big ideas down to practical examples, consultant, educator, and veteran farmer Chris Blanchard draws on 25 years of farming experience around the country at a wide variety scales to provide this engaging session that will help you understand and control the factors that lead to a profitable market farm that won’t drive you and your family crazy.​

Please note: this pre-conference workshop is offered at an additional charge beyond the standard conference registration.

Capturing and Organizing Data for GAPs, Organic Certification, and other Endeavors

Friday, March 6, 9:00 AM
Paperwork can be the bane of the certified-organic, GAPs-audited, and financially-aware farmer. Learn how to capture information, get on top of your paperwork, and wow your inspector, auditor, and banker. Consultant and veteran farmer Chris Blanchard will provide an overview of the basic techniques he and his crew use to gather information and keep it organized for easy access with a minimum of effort.

Evaluating Investments and Operational Changes

Friday, March 6, 1:30 PM
Want to purchase new equipment? Thinking of expanding your operation? This presentation will show you the tools you need to evaluate your options. You’ll get a down-to-earth approach to help you better understand the economic and other impacts of investments and operational changes, including a look at practical tools like partial budget analysis and investment analysis, as well as considerations for quality of life and business development.


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Post-Harvest Handling, Food Safety and GAPs Compliance

1/24/2015

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Saturday, January 24, 2015
Amery, Wisconsin


Event Link: Post-Harvest Handling, Food Safety and GAPs Compliance
Organized By: Hungry Turtle Farmers Cooperative

Presentation Summary
As the demand for local and organic food has exploded in the last five years, so has the expectation on the part of consumers and institutional buyers for production and handling systems designed to minimize microbial contamination. Join a farmer and consultant who has been through the audit process and helped others through it for this review of practical food safety, how to develop a written food safety plan, and how to set up record keeping systems that support business processes rather than existing outside of the system.

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2014 Capturing and Organizing Data for Organic Certification, GAPs Compliance, and other Endeavors

2/4/2014

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Tuesday, February 4, 2014 
Cedar Rapids, IA

Event Link: 
Organized By: 

Chris' Presentations:

Paperwork can be the bane of the certified-organic, GAPs-audited, and financially-aware farmer. Learn how to capture information, get on top of your paperwork, and wow your inspector, auditor, and banker. I will provide an overview of the theoretical underpinnings and the basic techniques he and his crew use to gather information and keep it organized for easy access with a minimum of effort.

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Fearless Farm Finances - East Troy

12/6/2013

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Friday, December 6, 2013
East Troy, Wisconsin

Event Link: http://michaelfields.org/fearless-farm-finances-training/ 
Organized By: michaelfields.org 

Chris' Presentations:

“Farm financial management isn’t as tough as it may seem but many farmers are intimidated by tracking and working with numbers,” says Paul Dietmann. “Learning the basics in this training will take away the fear and uncertainty and help farmers make more informed decisions about their farm businesses.”

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Fearless Farm Finances - La Crosse

11/15/2013

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Friday, November 15, 2013
LaCrosse, Wisconsin

Event Link: http://mosesorganic.org/events/community-calendar/ 
Organized By: Mosesorganic.org

Chris' Presentations:

Most of us didn't get into farming out of a love of numbers - but you have to understand the numbers to understand your farm. This two-day session with Chris Blanchard, Paul Dietmann, and Craig Chase covers setting goals and thinking about scale, financial statements and ratios, enterprise analysis, and getting to profitability.


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2013 MOSES Organic Farming Conference

2/22/2013

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Friday, February 22, 2013
LaCrosse, Wisconsin

Event Link: mosesorganic.org/conference.html 

Organized By: Mosesorganic.org

Chris' Presentations:


Capturing and Organizing Data for Organic Certification, GAPs Compliance, and Other Endeavors - Paperwork can be the bane of the certified-organic, GAPs-audited, and financially-aware farmer. Learn how to capture information, get on top of your paperwork, and wow your inspector, auditor, and banker. Rock Spring Farm's Chris Blanchard will provide an overview of the basic techniques he and his crew use to gather information and keep it organized for easy access with a minimum of effort.

Transplant Production Systems - Greenhouse-grown vegetable transplants are an important part of a successful vegetable farm, and the systems you use for everything from transplant trays and benches to the transplanter you use to set your crop in the field have a significant impact on the quality of your transplants and the cost of producing them. Join Rock Spring Farm's Chris Blanchard for a review of transplant systems on farms throughout the Upper Midwest.

Chris will also be available at the new "Ask the Expert" sessions on Friday from 8am - 9am, and Saturday from 4pm - 5pm.

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2013 Ohio Ecological Food and Farming Conference

2/15/2013

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Friday, February 15
Columbus, Ohio

Event Links:www.oeffa.org/conference2013.php

Organizer By: oeffa.org

Chris' Presentations:

"I attended three of your workshops at the OEFFA conference this month.  All were great, informative, and inspiring."

Post-Harvest Handling, Food Safety, and GAPs: Making It Work on a Real Farm - (Pre-Conference session) As local and organic food demand has grown, so has the expectation for clean and safe produce. Institutions and even some farmers’ markets are demanding food safety certifications, and the Food Safety Modernization Act opens the door for Food and Drug Administration regulation of fresh produce production and handling. In this pre-conference workshop, farmer and food safety expert Chris Blanchard of Rock Spring Farm in Iowa will teach participants how to establish or improve food safety practices. Chris will review post-harvest handling practices and share methods for meeting Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) documentation and record-keeping requirements in a way that flows with the work on the farm, rather than existing as a separate set of tasks and requirements.

Saving Labor on the Market Farm - Market farming is all about moving stuff around, whether you're moving vegetables from the soil to the packing house, water from the well to your transplants, or seeds from their packet to the soil. This session will explore systems for seeding crops in the field and greenhouses, transplanting sets, pruning and greenhouse crop maintenance, weeding tools, harvesters, post-harvest handling, materials handling, and record keeping.

Transplant Production Systems - Greenhouse-grown vegetable transplants are an important part of a successful vegetable farm, and the systems you use for everything from transplant trays and benches to the transplanter you use to set your crop in the field have a significant impact on the quality of your transplants and the cost of producing them. Join Rock Spring Farm’s Chris Blanchard for a review of transplant systems on farms throughout the Upper Midwest.

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2013 Indiana Horticultural Congress

1/22/2013

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Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Indianapolis, Indiana

Event Link: 2013 Indiana Horticultural Congress

Organized By: Indiana Horticultural Congress

Chris' Presentations:

Capturing and Organizing Data for Organic Certification, GAPs Compliance, and Other Endeavors - Paperwork can be the bane of the certified-organic, GAPs-audited, and financially-aware farmer. Learn how to capture information, get on top of your paperwork, and wow your inspector, auditor, and banker. Rock Spring Farm’s Chris Blanchard will provide an overview of the basic techniques he and his crew use to gather information and keep it organized for easy access with a minimum of effort.

Post Harvest Handling Tools and Techniques - As the demand for local and organic food has exploded in the last five years, so has the expectation on the part of consumers and institutional buyers for clean produce that lasts on the shelf and in the refrigerator. Join Rock Spring Farm's Chris Blanchard on a journey through packing houses in the Upper Midwest and beyond, with a look at the washing and packing facilities and tools used by farmers large and small.

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2013 Fearless Farm Finances at the Practical Farmers of Iowa Annual Conference

1/10/2013

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Thursday, January 10, 2013
Ames, Iowa

Event Link: 2013 Practical Farmers of Iowa Annual Conference

Organized By: Practical Farmers of Iowa

Chris' Presentations:

Chris Blanchard and Craig Chase lead this pre-conference short course designed to take the fear out of handling these essential topics. Farmers from all enterprises and any experience level can look forward to a better understanding of farm financial information as well as how to use that information to make short and long-term business decisions.

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