Thursday, February 26 - Saturday 28, 2015
La Crosse, Wisconsin

Event Link: MOSES Organic Farming Conference
Organized By: Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES)

The MOSES Conference is the largest event in the U.S. about organic and sustainable farming. Every February this event draws more than 3,000 farmers, advocates, educators, students, and others to the La Crosse Center in La Crosse, Wis., for educational workshops, inspiring keynote speakers, and a two-floor Exhibit Hall open exclusively to conference attendees.

Chris' Presentations:

Too Many Rutabagas: Time and Productivity Management for Farmers
Friday, February 27, 10:30 AM
There’s always something to do on the farm, and it can be overwhelming. We’ll look at ways to overcome the overload of information, tasks, and projects. This workshop combines simple yet elegant principles of time and information management with practical examples of their application to life on the modern farm.  You’ll come away with tools to get on top of your game, improve your business, and maximize your quality of life.

Productive Packing House
Saturday, February 28, 11:00 AM
On a vegetable farm, the magic happens in the packing house. And the best magic happens when your packing house works smoothly and provides a food-safe environment. We’ll look at the principles and practices that you can use to make the most of your current packing facility, as well as what to consider if you have the opportunity to start from scratch. Covered topics include workflow, ergonomics, storage considerations, and food safety.

Monday, February 23, 2015
Kannapolis, North Carolina

Event Link: Piedmont Grown Conference
Organized By: Piedmont Grown

Presentation Summary
Chris will be giving the keynote address at the 2015 Piedmont Grown Annual Conference.  This year's topic is "Growing Your Farm and Food Business: Increasing Profitability."

Friday, February 20, 2015
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Event Link: Costs, Pricing, and Wholesale Marketing
Organized By: Iowa Valley Resource Conservation & Development

Presentation Summary
Being a sustainable farmer is more than the farming methods you use, it also means ensuring you can stay in business regardless of your marketing outlet. Veteran farmer and consultant Chris Blanchard will help you navigate pricing strategies to meet your customer needs and your farm's bottom line, and discuss strategies and techniques for reaching out to - and retaining - buyers from stores, restaurants, and wholesale distributors.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015 (Middlebury)
Wednesday, February 4, 2015 (Norwich)
Middlebury & Norwich, Vermont

Event Links: Labor Management for Farmers, Session II (Middlebury); Labor Management for Farmers, Session II (Norwich)
Organized By: Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont

Presentation Summary
Employees make it possible to get more done, but managing workers and their work takes dedicated time, energy and processes. Whether you manage one seasonal worker or a large year-round crew, good management can make the difference between making headway on your farm's work or just creating headaches. Join veteran farmer and educator Chris Blanchard to learn how to create a productive, positive work environment by communicating clear expectations and implementing systems for efficiency and accountability.

This workshop will cover systems for removing emotion from management decisions and actions, implementing effective leadership, practical tools to increase employee satisfaction and productivity, employee recruitment and dismissal, and how to collect and use labor information to make operational and investment decisions.

Topics include:

• What are employees for?
  
• Leadership through inspiration, accountability, authority & support
  
• Using systems to remove emotion from management
  
• Creating pathways to accountability and efficiency
  
• Specific tools to achieve workplace satisfaction and productivity for all

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.

Wednesday, January 14 - Saturday, 17, 2015
Mobile, Alabama

Event Link: Practical Tools and Solutions for Sustaining Family Farms Conference
Organized By: Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SAWG)

The 24th annual Southern SAWG conference is for serious organic and sustainable producers, farm to school participants, urban farmers or those interested in creating more vibrant community food systems. The event offers informative pre-conference courses and field trips, practical conference sessions, networking, trade show, Taste of Alabama event and more. Each year, participants go home with information to use immediately to improve their operations. Click here for more information.

Chris' Presentations:

Making Your Market Farm Work for You
Thursday, January 15, 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Your market farm should work for you, in addition to you working for your farm — and that requires taking 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. Consultant, educator and farmer Chris Blanchard will help you understand and control the factors that lead to a profitable market farm without driving you and your family crazy. Chris will draw on 25 years of farming experience to provide both big ideas and practical examples in this engaging session.

(Please note, this pre-conference mini-course requires pre-registration.)

Saving Labor (Saving Money!) on the Market Farm
Friday, January 16, 9:00 AM
Market farming is all about moving stuff around, whether you're moving vegetables from the field to the packing house, water from the well to your transplants, or seeds from packets to the soil. We'll explore efficient systems and practical tools used by successful market farms for seeding crops in the field and greenhouses, transplanting sets, pruning and greenhouse crop maintenance, weeding, harvesting, post-harvest handling, materials handling, and record-keeping.

Ten Things to Think About When Starting a Market Farm
Friday, January 16, 1:30 PM
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 Chris Blanchard, who has over 20 years experience in managing and owning a market farm, for a look at ten things to think about as you prepare the ground for starting your farm, or as you seek to expand your market farm into a significant income-generator for yourself and your family.

Wednesday, November 12 - Friday, 14, 2014
Halifax, Nova Scotia

Event Links: Atlantic Canadian Organic Regional Network (ACORN) Annual Conference
Organizer By: Atlantic Canadian Organic Regional Network (ACORN)

ACORN’s conference is a fun, three-day event that brings together organic and sustainable farmers, processors and businesses from across the region—and beyond!

Chris' Presentations:

Panel: Pricing
Wednesday, November 12, 1:20 PM
This panel featuring Michelle Summer Fike, Chris Blanchard and regional farmers participating in ACORN's Organic Price Tracker initiative, will delve into some tough questions about pricing your organic products, from considerations about direct sales at the Farmers' Market, through your CSA or Farm Stand, or selling to retailers, restaurants or caterers, this workshop will discuss it all, with an interactive panel approach to generate discussion and hear ideas from participants.

Systems for Accountability and Efficiency for Direct Marketers
Wednesday, November 12, 3:40 PM
Whether you manage one seasonal worker or a large year-round crew, good management can make the difference between making headway on your farm's work, or just creating headaches. Consultant and veteran farmer Chris Blanchard has worked throughout the Midwest to develop systems that make it easy to achieve reliable results throughout your operation.

Ten Things to Think About When Getting Started in Market Farming
Thursday, November 13, 9:00 AM
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 Flying Rutabaga Works' 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.

Fresh Culinary Herb Production on the Organic Farm
Thursday, November 13, 1:00 PM
Fresh-cut herbs can provide an attractive addition to the farmers market, CSA, or wholesale market farm, but they have unique requirements for production, post-harvest handling, and marketing. Join Chris Blanchard for this overview of propagation, field production, harvest strategies and techniques, and marketing.