Tuesday, November 19, 2013 

Online

Event Link: http://practicalfarmers.org/farminar/index.html 
Organized By: Practicalfarmers.org 

Chris' Presentations:

Explore systems and tools to help you improve your organic transplant production in this online session.

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.

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.

Thursday, January 5, 2012 

St. Joseph, Missouri 

Event Link: 2012 Great Plains Growers Conference
Organized By: Great Plains Growers

Chris' Presentations:


Thursday full-day seminar: 


Post-Harvest Handling, Food Safety, and GAPs: Making It Work on a Real Farm - 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. At the same time, institutions have begun demanding food safety assurances, and now the Food Safety Modernization Act has opened the door for FDA regulation of the production and handling of fresh vegetables and produce. Join Rock Spring Farm's Chris Blanchard for a review of post-harvest handling practices, and the methods developed at Rock Spring Farm for meeting the documentation and record-keeping requirements of the GAPs audit process in a way that flows with the work on the farm, rather than existing as a separate set of tasks and requirements

Buy My Rutabagas: Marketing Horticultural Crops for Retail Sales - To market your produce to food stores, you need to understand the world of retail produce. Chris Blanchard will share Rock Spring Farm’s approach to marketing to produce buyers, including communication, branding, how to determine your price, and how stores determine their prices.

Ten Things to Think about about Getting Started in Market Farming - Getting started in market farming means more than just growing vegetables. It means taking on the responsibilities of owning a business, managing markets, grappling with philosophies, and managing a labor force. Join Rock Spring Farm’s Chris Blanchard for a look at ten things to think about as you prepare the ground for starting your market farm, or as you seek to expand your market farm into a significant income-generator for yourself and your family.


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.