Resources & Recap – Columbia Basin Mixer 2021

Thank you to everyone who has been participating in the Columbia Basin Mixer! We’ve had some incredible workshops so far and we can’t wait to share all the great learning with everyone. On this page, you’ll find the needs and opportunities that people wish to share, many farming resources to help you bring your farming to the next level, and a recap of all the workshops (including recordings where possible) from the Mixer. Enjoy the resources and recap for the Columbia Basin Mixer!

Don’t forget to check out the full schedule for the Columbia Basin Mixer and to register for the workshops in January 2021!

NEEDS & OPPORTUNITIES

To support networking in this virtual space, we’re posting the needs and opportunities that some participants have shared in the registration form. We encourage you to take a look and reach out to your fellow farmers!

Contact Alex at alex@youngagrarians.org if you’d like to be included in this list.

RESOURCES

Are you itching to learn more about farming? Then check out these amazing resources from farmers in the Columbia Basin and beyond!

Winter Crop Storage (KBFA Virtual Field Day)

Wild Flight Organic Farm grows a range of winter storage crops including carrots, cabbage, onions, potatoes and squash that are sold through the winter at farmers’ markets and wholesale channels. This field day provides a virtual tour of winter storage and packing areas and address questions of humidity, air circulation and temperature for specific vegetables. Check out the full recording of the winter crop storage field day.

Mechanization for Harvesting and Cultivating Field Crops (KBFA Virtual Field Day)

Hermann and Louise Bruns of Wild Flight Farm lead us through a virtual field day demonstrating his favourite equipment for weeding and cultivating field crops. This was a live ‘in field’ demonstration and Q & A. Equipment highlights included: basket weeder, under cutter, potato digger and hiller. Check out the full recording of the virtual field day.

Crimping Cover Crops (KBFA)

Erin and Wayne Harris of Kootenay Meadows Farm, Creston, BC, take us along as they experiment with crimping a fall rye cover crop to reseed a field to an alfalfa-sainfoin-legume-grass forage blend. Check out this video to learn more about how crimping cover crops can help with replenishing a field to improve the grazing capacity!

ECommerce Tips, Tricks & Tools

Are you looking to move your business online, transition from what you’re currently using, or integrate Point of Sale with your online sales for your farm or food business? This article will provide a toolkit for farmers and food producers who would like to build or manage their own online business, or be better equipped to work with a web or marketing professional. Read the full ecommerce for farmers article.

Do you have another great farming resources you’d like the Young Agrarians community to know about? Email the content to Alex at alex@youngagrarians.org

MIXER RECAP

Check back throughout January as we post workshop recaps and recordings!

Yoga for the Farm-Bod

Join Shazad for two sessions of stretching designed to ease the demands that farming put on your body!

CSA Planning

Frédéric Thériault of Tourne-Sol Co-operative, introduced us to the first two steps in planning a CSA. “Setting Your Financial Goals” and “Develop a Marketing Plan” covers the backbone of planning a profitable farm; from calculations of sales and revenue and what it looks like on a per foot bed plot, to how the produce is sold in various sales outlets (farmers markets and CSA). Frédéric demonstrated the planning through input-output calculations, spreadsheets, and how new farmers should plan harvest-revenue calculations.

In the second part of this two day workshop we further explored crop planning and planting & harvesting schedules. This planning involved inputting data – such as days to maturity and average yields – into spreadsheets to determine staggered planting, harvesting and greenhouse schedule. During the workshop we also determined many outputs, including seed quantity needed for planting with ‘safety factors’ built into the entire process. Through giving us a brief overview of the 11 step process in his co-authored book “Crop Planning for Vegetable Growers”, we got a glimpse into what it takes to plan a successful CSA.

Note: the recording is not publicly available but has been sent out to all participants. 

Online Sales & Product Handling

The evening began with Jessica Piccinin, farmer extraordinaire at Roots and Vine Acre in Creston BC, where she told us about the packaging, labeling, and distribution of their meat, and the hurdles that they have faced including recalls, tracking, and working with abattoirs and butchers. After a short break we were joined by Hailey Troock and Nyree Marsh as they introduced us to the basics of online sales platforms and the elements that we need to consider when moving a farm business online. We learned about ‘Google my business’, hashtags (#), the relationship between cellulars and desktop/laptop purchasing and more.

Download Ecommerce and Online Marketing Slides

Small-Scale Agroforesty

Kim Watt of Thimblehill Nursery introduced us to the joys and importance of perennials. From creating sanctuaries for beneficial animals to what successional growing could look like with alley planting of perennials and the associated carbon sinking and season extension that can occur. We learned from her lived experiences of working difficult land, and planning for long term growth, and seeing how she planned around the topography of her land was invaluable. Ending the workshop we learned about the layers of the canopy and the benefits of working with mixed annual/perennial land.

Building Diversified & Resilient Markets in Start-up

Tonight we had a chance to hear from three panelists, each with a unique story. Nyree Marsh from the Basin Business Advisory, introduced us to the foundation of planning a farm followed by Matt Carr from Linden Farms who took us through the history of his farm, and the places he built resilience throughout the years. Alys Ford from Raven Creek Farms shared important lessons and the valuable understanding around technical versus existential problems. Questions to the panelists followed their introduction, which covered topics such as providing food to grocers, e-sales platforms, pivoting CSA and what the future looks like for their farms.

On Farm Water Planning

Andrew Bennett introduced us to planning for water management on the farm. From providing adequate systems maintenance, to using the right size pipes to limit excessive flow pressure friction and hammering, Andrew went through some of the mechanical needs for on-farm water provisions. After that, we nerded out on formulas to calculate evapotranspiration of plants in order to understand how much water is needed at peak growing season. Ending the presentation, Andrew answered questions from the participants and went through some valuable websites for water planning.

Slide Deck – On Farming Water Planning

Additional Links – On Farm Water Planning

Typical Water Management Issues – On Farm Water Planning

Growing the Farm: Hiring and Paying Farm Workers

Tonight we had the opportunity to learn about the steps and procedures needed for adding employees to your farm. Lydia Ryall spoke about her 10+ years of experience with hiring, training, and compensating employees. She talked about the value of retaining employees and highlighted the importance of supporting staff through remuneration and learning opportunities. We also heard from Rita Kim who provided great links and sites to budget and report employee payroll, calculate payroll deductions. Her perspective highlights the elements that farmers need to consider from a financial point of view when hiring staff.

Sacred Relationship: Navigating Indigenous Approaches to Holistic Stewardship

On this Friday evening we connected with two amazing Indigenous land and food stewards: Julian Napoleon (Dane-zaa, Cree) and Tiffany Traverse (Secwépemc). As storytellers, they wove narratives of their journey in food sovereignty through revitalization of land and community, and spoke of the historic and current issues around commodification and colonization. The two hours went by quickly and they were full of emotions, experiences, and created a beautiful foundation for future discussion.

Know Your Cost of Production

Chris Bondar introduced us to two ways in which we can look at how to calculate the cost of production. We were introduced to the importance of understanding fixed versus variable costs, and the value of connecting with peers to share information. In the Rough Unity Cost, Chris explained how to do a general calculation of the production cost for a certain crop. With the Enterprise Budget, Chris really honed in on a more detailed look at the production cost of a specific product. We also looked at how to collect needed information on spreadsheets and how to use it to make decisions that will increase profitability for the products from our farm.

YA Basin Mixer 2021 Cost of Production Analysis

Identify your biggest money-making crops – Growing for Market – Print

If you want to make a profit know your cost of production – Growing for Market – Print

The magic of breakeven and how it can help set sales goals – Growing for Market – Print

Wholesale with confidence by calculating your unit cost – Growing for Market – Print

Cost of Production Example

Regenerative Grazing Panel

This evening we heard from three panelists excited about the work of rebuilding soil on their farms. From the importance for rotational grazing to different types of fencing, questions from the participants covered many issues faced by new and long time farmers who raise livestock. We got to hear how different animals could be used to manage invasive weeds, how to rest and replenish the land between grazing periods and the importance of timing and observation when practicing regenerative grazing.

Financial Management Basics for Farms

This evening Chris Bondar introduced us to the importance of recordkeeping on the farm. We reviewed the different types of farm records that can be kept and its relationship to the management process of controlling, planning, organizing and directing. Chris spoke about the difference between bookkeeping versus accounting and the key factors of recordkeeping, including ability to automate, manageability, usefulness and accuracy. To end the session he answered questions from participants, which focused around data migration and useful programs for data collection.