Purple Pitchfork - Topics

Farm Labor: Systems for Efficiency and Accountability

12/1/2014

Title
Systems for Accountability and Efficiency on the Market Farm

Overview
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. Chris Blanchard has worked with farmers throughout the Midwest to develop systems that make it easy to achieve reliable results throughout your farming operation. He'll share what he’s learned about making it easy for employees to get the right things done at the right time and in the right way, without needing a manager looking over their shoulders all the time.

Series
On The Farm

Topics
Labor, Management, Systems

Audience
All Farmers

Length
45 - 90 minutes

Farm Labor: Tools for Motivating Employees

11/30/2014

Title
Run Your Team: Tools for Managing and Motivating Employees on the Farm

Overview
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. Chris Blanchard will discuss 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.

Outline
1. What are employees for?
2. Leadership through inspiration, accountability, authority & support
3. Using systems to remove emotion from management
4. Creating pathways to accountability and efficiency
5. Specific tools to achieve workplace satisfaction and productivity for all

Series
On The Farm

Topics
Labor, Management, Systems

Audience
All Farmers

Length
120 - 240 minutes

Farm Systems: Designing a Productive Packing House

11/29/2014

Title
Productive Packing House

Overview
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.

Series
On The Farm

Topics
Food Safety, Production, Systems

Audience
All Farmers

Length
45 - 90 minutes

Farm Finances: Evaluating Investments and Operational Changes

11/28/2014

Title
Evaluating Investments and Operational Changes

Overview
Want to purchase new equipment? Thinking of expanding your operation? This workshop shows 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.

Series
On The Farm

Topics
Business, Finances, Risk Management, Scaling Up

Audience
All Farmers

Length
45 - 90 minutes

Scaling Up: Is It Right For You?

11/27/2014

Title
Bigger Isn’t Always Better: Is Scaling Up Right For Your Farm?

Overview
With all of the talk about "scaling up", it's easy to lose sight of the fundamental question: is growing on more acres right for you and your farm? This session explores the impacts of getting bigger, from risks and investment to business development and lifestyle consequences, and looks at other ways to increase farm income and sustainability.

Outline
I. Scale
2. Markets
3. Anticipating Impacts
4. Assessing Resources
5. Investment and Growth

Series
In The Market

Topics
Business, Risk Management, Scaling Up

Audience
Beginning Farmers (<10yrs)

Length
45 - 90 minutes

Market Farming: Making Your Farm Work For You

11/26/2014

Title
Making Your Market Farm Work For You

Overview
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.

Outline
1. Context
2. Market Farming Fundamentals
3. Management
4. Managing Yourself
5. Managing the Farm
6. Managing the Money
7. Managing the Employees
8. Wrapping Up

Series
On The Farm

Topics
Business, Finances, Management, Marketing, Production, Scaling Up

Audience
Beginning Farmers

Length
4 - 6 hours

Food Safety: Twelve Simple Steps

11/25/2014

Title
Twelve Simple Steps to Food Safety

Overview
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. Chris Blanchard guides you through twelve simple steps you can take to put you and your farm on the way to safe food production.

Outline
1. Food safety overview
2. Hand-washing
3. Illnesses
4. Excluding animals
5. Cleaning and sanitizing
6. Water quality and management
7. Clothing selections
8. Manure management
9. Keeping functions separate
10. Equipment and facilities selections
11. Keeping produce cool to prevent pathogen growth
12. Recall systems

Series
In The Field

Topics
Food Safety, Risk Management

Audience
All Farmers

Length
45 - 90 minutes

Marketing: Selling Crops to Food Stores

11/24/2014

Title
Buy My Rutabagas: Marketing Horticultural Crops to Food Stores

Overview
To market your produce to food stores, you need to understand the world of retail produce. Chris Blanchard will share his approach to marketing to produce buyers, including communication, branding, how to determine your price, and how stores determine their prices.

Outline
1. The Number One Rule
2. Understanding the World of Produce
3. Quality
4. Marketing
5. Pricing Principles
6. Pricing Rules of Thumb
7. Margins in Different Markets
8. Rock Spring Farm’s Four Priceless Practices for Sales Success

The longer versions of this workshop include:
9. Determining Cost of Production and Marketing
10. Production Expenses
11. Ownership Costs
12. Valuing Labor
13. QuickBooks Classes for Tracking Production and Marketing Expenses

Series
In The Market

Topics
Business, Marketing, Pricing, Scaling Up

Audience
All Farmers

Length
60 - 180 minutes

Farm Systems: Designing an Effective Irrigation System

11/23/2014

Title
Vegetable Irrigation: Basics for Beginning Farmers

Overview
On the market farm, a dry year shouldn’t keep you from producing a crop – and even in a normal year your farm will benefit from a well thought-out irrigation system. Learn the essential components to set up and maintain a system of irrigation for field-scale vegetable production. Chris Blanchard will address topics including source considerations (wells, rural water, or surface streams and ponds), pumps (gasoline, electric, and PTO-powered), flow rates, particulate filters, supply pipe (layflat, poly, and aluminum), application methods (sprinklers, stand pipe, traveling irrigation guns, and drip tape), as well as tips and tricks, and resources for more information. Learn how to calculate the volume of water you will need, and how to get it to you crops, so that you can grow a bountiful crop of veggies even in a dry year.

Outline
1. Water Amounts
2. Critical Irrigation Phases
3. When to Water
4. Use Enough Water
5. Application Methods
6. Supply Lines
7. Pumps
8. Sources

Series
In The Field

Topics
Irrigation, Production, Systems

Audience
All Farmers

Length
45 - 90 minutes

Farm Systems: Designing an Effective Transplant System

11/22/2014

Title
Transplant Production Systems

Overview
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. Chris Blanchard will present a review of transplant systems on farms throughout the Upper Midwest.

Outline
1. Growing Trays
2. Seeding
3. Germination
4. Benches
5. Irrigation
6. Fertilization
7. Hardening Off
8. Setting Out
9. Three Cool Things

Series
In The Field

Topics
Production, Systems, Transplants

Audience
All Farmers

Length
45 - 90 minutes

Farm Records: Practical GAPs Compliance Techniques

11/21/2014

Title
Practical GAPs Compliance for Organic Farmers

Overview
From restaurants to college dining halls, wholesale buyers 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. Chris Blanchard will present a review of post-harvest handling practices, and the methods developed at Rock Spring Farm for meeting the documentation and records management 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.

Outline
1. Easy Steps to Safer Produce
2. Understanding the GAPs Audit Verification System
3. Writing Your Food Safety Plan
4. Record Keeping
5. Trace back
6. More Paperwork (or not)
7. Where Does the Info Go?
8. Wrapping Up

Series
On The Farm

Topics
Business, Food Safety, Records Management, Risk Management

Audience
All Farmers

Length
45 - 90 minutes

Farm Finances: Setting Up and Managing Your Financials

11/20/2014

Title
Fearless Farm Finances

Overview
Chris Blanchard provides insights into developing a robust business model for your farming operation. Chris will review the financial and management systems you need to grow a profitable farm, with information about making and monitoring a budget, creating and understanding financial statements, improving profitability, and avoiding financial train wrecks.

Outline
1. Goals
2. Think (about getting) Big
3. Capacity
4. Invest in Systems
5. Invest in People
6. Budgeting
7. Monitoring
8. Financial Statements
9. Balance Sheet
10. Income Statement
11. Statement of Cash Flows
12. Ratios and Analysis
13. Solvency
14. Am I Making Money?
15. Improving Profitability

Series
On The Farm

Topics
Business, Finances, Records Management, Risk Management, Systems

Audience
All Farmers

Length
180 minutes

Pricing: How to Price Produce for Profit

11/19/2014

Title
What It’s Worth: Pricing Produce for Profit

Overview
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. Chris Blanchard will help you navigate pricing strategies to meet your customer needs and your farm's bottom line.

Outline
1. Pricing Rules of Thumb
2. Margins in Different Markets
3. Establishing Costs of Production
4. Production Expenses
5. Marketing Expenses
6. Ownership Costs
7. Valuing Labor
8. Quickbooks Classes

Series
In The Market

Topics
Business, Marketing, Pricing

Audience
All Farmers

Length
45 - 90 minutes

Post-Harvest Handling: A to Z

11/18/2014

Title
Post-Harvest Handling, Food Safety and GAPs Compliance

Overview
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. Chris Blanchard, who has been through the audit process and helped others through it as well, will present a review of practical food safety, how to develop a written food safety plan, and how to set up records management systems that support business processes rather than existing outside of the system.

Outline
1. Simple Steps to Safer Produce
2. Post-Harvest Handling Systems and Principles
3. Snoop the Poop Interactive Session
4. Understanding the Audit Verification System
5. Creating Your Food Safety Plan
6. Automatic Failures
7. Rock Spring Farm’s Plan and Implementation
8. General Questions
9. Worker Health and Hygiene
10. Farm Review
11. Field Harvest and Field Packing
12. House Packing Facility
13. Storage and Transportation
14. Inspections
15. Traceability and Record Keeping

Series
In The Field

Topics
Food Safety, Post-Harvest Handling, Production, Records Management, Risk Management

Audience
All Farmers

Length
4 - 8 hours

Scaling Up: Smart Growth for Local Foods

11/17/2014

Title
Values and Scale in Local Foods Marketplace

Overview
Balancing the reasons we choose to farm with the economic realities of the modern food system can challenge even the most-experienced grower, and while beginning growers wash up on the rocks of scaling-up, questions about size and values creates conflict within the local foods movement. Chris Blanchard will discuss how we can root our growth in good business, while not losing sight of the fertile values in which that growth occurs.

Outline
1. Defining Goals for a Local Food System
2. A Feel for the Land
3. Thinking (about getting) Big
4. Local Food Lies
5. Food is Worth More than the Sum of its Parts

Series
In The Market

Topics
Business, Scaling Up

Audience
All Farmers, Local Foods Advocates

Length
45 - 90 minutes

Farm Records: Capturing and Organizing Data

11/16/2014

Title
Capturing and Organizing Data for GAPs, Organic Certification, and Other Endeavors

Overview
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. Chris Blanchard will provide an overview of the basic techniques he and his crew used to gather information and keep it organized for easy access with a minimum of effort.

Outline
1. Best Practices
2. What We Track
3. Outflows
4. Inflows
5. Money
6. Accounts
7. Class
8. Items
9. Customers
10. Collect
11. Process
12. Data Entry and Storage
13. Actions and Time
14. Where Does the Info Go?

Series
On The Farm

Topics
Business, Finance, Food Safety, Records Management, Risk Management

Audience
All Farmers

Length
60 - 180 minutes

Marketing: Options & Approaches

11/15/2014

Title
Direct Marketing Options and Approaches

Overview
Market farmers have a number of options for selling their vegetables. Chris Blanchard will discuss the options and considerations for a variety of marketing options, and some common themes to help you succeed no matter which you choose.

Outline
1. Business Philosophy
2. Marketing Philosophy
3. Market Locations
4. Market Segments
5. Deciding Where to Market
6. Farmers Markets
7. Wholesale
8. CSA
9. Organic
10. Priceless Practices for Sales Success

Series
In The Market

Topics
Marketing

Audience
All Farmers

Length
45 - 90 minutes

Farm Labor: Systems and Tools

11/14/2014

Title
Systems and Tools for Managing Employees on the Farm

Overview
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. Chris Blanchard will show you how to create a productive, positive work environment by communicating clear expectations and implementing systems for efficiency and accountability.

Outline
1. Thoughts on Labor
2. Capacity
3. Invest in People
4. Strength in the Workplace
5. Employee Manuals
6. Hiring and Firing
7. Timekeeping and Payroll
8. Systems for Accountability and Efficiency
9. Invest in Systems
10. Safe and Healthy
11. Automation

Series
On The Farm

Topics
Labor, Management, Systems

Audience
All Farmers

Length
120 - 300 minutes

Market Farming: Ten Things to Consider Before You Start

11/13/2014

Title
Ten Things to Consider About Starting a Market Farm

Overview
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. Chris Blanchard will discuss 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

Outline
1. Goals
2. Scale
3. Local Food Lies
4. Capacity
5. Invest in Systems
6. Invest in People
7. Regulations and Image
8. Plan for Change
9. Keep Perspective

Series
On The Farm

Topics
Business, Finances

Audience
Beginning Farmers

Length
45 - 90 minutes

Season Extension: Autumn Vegetables

11/12/2014

Title
Extending Your Autumn Vegetable Season

Overview
You can extend your autumn vegetable season for months, even without a high tunnel. Chris Blanchard will discuss succession planting, storage crops, and other low-cost season-extending options.

Outline
1. Fall Planting for Outdoor Harvest
2. Storage Crops
3. Packing and Storage
4. High and Low Tunnels
5. Winter Production
6. Going Mobile

Series
In The Field

Topics
Production, Season Extension

Audience
All Farmers

Length
45 - 90 minutes

Food Safety: The Basics and Beyond

11/11/2014

Title
Food Safety Basics Expanded Training

Overview
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. Chris Blanchard will guide you through twelve simple steps you can take to put you and your farm on the way to safe food production, including practical food safety, and the steps you can take to put you and your farm on the path to safe food production.

Outline
1. Twelve Simple Steps to Food Safety
2. Snoop the Poop
3. Audits and Plans
4. Creating Your Food Safety Plan
5. Worker Health and Hygiene
6. Farm Review
7. Field Harvest and Field Packing Audit Requirements
8. Storage Audit Requirements
9. Audit and Inspection

Series
In The Field

Topics
Food Safety, Risk Management

Audience
All Farmers

Length
180 - 240 minutes

Market Farming: Growing and Adapting to Change

11/10/2014

Title
Growing and Adapting to a Changing Market: 15 Years of Organic Vegetable Farming

Overview
After fifteen years of organic vegetable farming in Iowa, Chris Blanchard paused to reflect on his experiences growing a market farm and what he had learned. From developing a market and riding the crest of the local foods wave to employee management and the growing pains of a small business, Chris Blanchard shares the joys and the pain of owning and operating a small organic market farm.

Outline
1. More Rutabagas Than You Think
2. Go Big or Go Home
3. Business School of Hard Knocks
4. Scale and Systems
5. CSA Scales
6. What I Learned From the Drought
7. What I Know

Series
On The Farm

Topics
Business, Management

Audience
All Farmers

Length
45 - 90 minutes

Value Added: Fresh Culinary Herbs

11/9/2014

Title
Fresh Culinary Herb Production on the Organic Farm

Overview
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. Chris Blanchard will provide an overview of propagation, field production, harvest strategies and techniques, and marketing.

Outline
1. Variety Selection
2. Propagation
3. Field Production
4. Harvest
5. Marketing

Series
In The Field

Topics
Production, Marketing, Value Added

Audience
All Farmers

Length
45 - 90 minutes

Marketing: Selling You and Your Farm

11/8/2014

Title
Marketing Me and My Rutabagas

Overview
Growing vegetables is only the first part of the market farmer’s job. Chris Blanchard will offer perspectives on managing the business and marketing side of your farming operation and life. This look at the basics of marketing, information management, and business relationships will provide both a theoretical framework and practical tips for improving your farming business.

Outline
1. Marketing Mindset
2. Marketing Expectations
3. Let ‘Em Know What You’ve Got, Let ‘Em Know What They’ve Bought
4. Getting People to Buy From You
5. Get Out There
6. Don’t Be at PITA
7. Have Some Sympathy
8. Rock Spring Farm’s 6 Priceless Practices for Sales Success
9. Three Things to Remember

Series
In The Market

Topics
Marketing

Audience
All Farmers

Length
45 - 90 minutes

Season Extension: Hoophouses

11/7/2014

Title
Organic Under Glass and Plastic

Overview
Hoophouses can provide a competitive advantage, a more-certain crop, and a way to spread income and work over a longer growing season. Chris Blanchard will give you a look at construction options, cropping techniques, and how to extend the growing season for warm-season crops as well as produce greens through the winter.

Outline
1. Summer Production
2. Winter Production
3. Hoophouse Troubles
4. Construction Styles and Options
5. Going Mobile
6. A Final Thought

Series
In The Field

Topics
Production, Season Extension

Audience
All Farmers

Length
45 - 90 minutes