The North Coast Small Business Development Center and the North Coast Growers’ Association are proudly partnered in 2021 to offer special programs for Farmers, Ranchers, Dairy folk and other agricultural businesses on the North Coast to enhance their business skills.
Email admin@northcoastsbdc.org to get added to the Farming Program email list to be notified when registrations open up or to suggest a different topic.
Email ivy@northcoastgrowersassociation.org for questions about workshop planning and content.
4/19/2021
State of the Industry for Humboldt Farmers & Info Session for the upcoming Small Farm Business Workshop Series
Farmers of Humboldt County were invited to attend a virtual panel where we will explore the "state of our industry" in 2021. We heard from a select panel of experienced and upcoming Humboldt farmers who considered the many complex challenges we face with Covid-19 while keeping our eye on local impacts of climate change and our ever-changing economy. Together we aimed to develop a more diverse understanding of the health of our food system and gain insights into lucrative business pivots as we all move forward into 2021. A Q&A will follow the panel discussion.
This panel marked the beginning of an exciting season-long series of workshops put on in collaboration between North Coast SBDC and the North Coast Growers' Association. Information about the upcoming series was be provided.
This panel was moderated by: Melanie Cunningham, Regenerative Farmer at Shakefork Community Farm
& Ivy North, Director of Programs for the North Coast Growers’ Association
Panelists: Sarah Brunner, Cody Nicholson Stratton, Adam Pickett & Amy Neukom
State of the Industry for Humboldt Farmers & Info Session for the upcoming Small Farm Business Workshop Series
Farmers of Humboldt County were invited to attend a virtual panel where we will explore the "state of our industry" in 2021. We heard from a select panel of experienced and upcoming Humboldt farmers who considered the many complex challenges we face with Covid-19 while keeping our eye on local impacts of climate change and our ever-changing economy. Together we aimed to develop a more diverse understanding of the health of our food system and gain insights into lucrative business pivots as we all move forward into 2021. A Q&A will follow the panel discussion.
This panel marked the beginning of an exciting season-long series of workshops put on in collaboration between North Coast SBDC and the North Coast Growers' Association. Information about the upcoming series was be provided.
This panel was moderated by: Melanie Cunningham, Regenerative Farmer at Shakefork Community Farm
& Ivy North, Director of Programs for the North Coast Growers’ Association
Panelists: Sarah Brunner, Cody Nicholson Stratton, Adam Pickett & Amy Neukom
5/31/2021
Integrated Pest Management
How do we avoid crop damage from pests & diseases on the farm? Farmers use a range of practices to keep our crops thriving, yet sometimes pests & diseases come anyway. What level of damage is worth taking action on? What can we do to preempt these problems, or react once they arrive. This workshop will discussed the practices known as Integrated Pest Management and the broad range of techniques we use to manage plant health, taking examples from our own experiences as farmers.
Eddie Tanner is the owner of Deepseeded Farm, a 9 acre vegetable and fruit farm focused on CSA memberships. He has been farming for over 20 years, and is the author of "The Humboldt Kitchen Gardener". He holds a B.S. in Soil Science from Humboldt State University and a M.S. in Ag - Plant Health Management from Washington State University. He lives in Arcata with his wife and two sons.
Featured Guest: Amy Neukom, co-owner of Neukom Family Farm in Willow Creek.
Integrated Pest Management
How do we avoid crop damage from pests & diseases on the farm? Farmers use a range of practices to keep our crops thriving, yet sometimes pests & diseases come anyway. What level of damage is worth taking action on? What can we do to preempt these problems, or react once they arrive. This workshop will discussed the practices known as Integrated Pest Management and the broad range of techniques we use to manage plant health, taking examples from our own experiences as farmers.
Eddie Tanner is the owner of Deepseeded Farm, a 9 acre vegetable and fruit farm focused on CSA memberships. He has been farming for over 20 years, and is the author of "The Humboldt Kitchen Gardener". He holds a B.S. in Soil Science from Humboldt State University and a M.S. in Ag - Plant Health Management from Washington State University. He lives in Arcata with his wife and two sons.
Featured Guest: Amy Neukom, co-owner of Neukom Family Farm in Willow Creek.
6/7/2021
Cutting Edge Small Farm Tech - Ecommerce trends to help you broaden your e-toolbox
Learn about cutting edge farm-specific ecommerce platforms to modernize your operation and reach new customers.
Experts from The California Alliance of Family Farmers Tech Hub provided insights into ecommerce trends to help you broaden your e-toolbox to establish or improve on your CSA management, integrate platforms for agrotourism and farmstays, and develop or improve on online sales systems and learn how to smoothly integrate your existing social media accounts and website into your ecommerce site(s). Featured local and non-local farmers andf other experts shared lessons about technology-based solutions that have solved their direct marketing challenges. This workshop welcomed all types of food farmers, ranchers, and dairy-folk from the North Coast.
Presented by:
Elizabeth Vaughan, CAFF Farm to Market Tech Hub Specialist.
& Alicia Baddorf is a Contractor with the Small Farm Tech Program at CAFF.
Featured Guests included: Chris Moore, Kelly Smith and Misty West Grey
Cutting Edge Small Farm Tech - Ecommerce trends to help you broaden your e-toolbox
Learn about cutting edge farm-specific ecommerce platforms to modernize your operation and reach new customers.
Experts from The California Alliance of Family Farmers Tech Hub provided insights into ecommerce trends to help you broaden your e-toolbox to establish or improve on your CSA management, integrate platforms for agrotourism and farmstays, and develop or improve on online sales systems and learn how to smoothly integrate your existing social media accounts and website into your ecommerce site(s). Featured local and non-local farmers andf other experts shared lessons about technology-based solutions that have solved their direct marketing challenges. This workshop welcomed all types of food farmers, ranchers, and dairy-folk from the North Coast.
Presented by:
Elizabeth Vaughan, CAFF Farm to Market Tech Hub Specialist.
& Alicia Baddorf is a Contractor with the Small Farm Tech Program at CAFF.
Featured Guests included: Chris Moore, Kelly Smith and Misty West Grey
8/2/2021
Regenerative Farming
“Carbon farming (aka regenerative farming) is agriculture’s answer to climate change. Simply put, the goal is to take excess carbon out of the atmosphere, where the element causes global warming, and store it in the soil, where carbon aids the growth of plants. The principle is pretty straightforward – the practice, not so much.” (Modernfarmer.com)
We heard from Jeff Borum (The East Stanislaus Resource Conservation District) who covered the science and soil benefits of carbon farming regenerative practices. Local farmers Chris Moore, Kevin Cunningham and Hannah Eisloeffel shared their real life experiences in regenerative farming practices including the use of cover crops, no till or reduced till, crop diversity, incorporating animals, and compost. Doreen Hansen from the Humboldt County Resource Conservation District shared information about financial resources for regenerative farming.
Regenerative Farming
“Carbon farming (aka regenerative farming) is agriculture’s answer to climate change. Simply put, the goal is to take excess carbon out of the atmosphere, where the element causes global warming, and store it in the soil, where carbon aids the growth of plants. The principle is pretty straightforward – the practice, not so much.” (Modernfarmer.com)
We heard from Jeff Borum (The East Stanislaus Resource Conservation District) who covered the science and soil benefits of carbon farming regenerative practices. Local farmers Chris Moore, Kevin Cunningham and Hannah Eisloeffel shared their real life experiences in regenerative farming practices including the use of cover crops, no till or reduced till, crop diversity, incorporating animals, and compost. Doreen Hansen from the Humboldt County Resource Conservation District shared information about financial resources for regenerative farming.
10/4/2021
Financial Resources for Farmers & Access to Land
Financial Resources for Farmers & Access to Land