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December 9, 2021

Southwest Iowa Food & Farm Initiative Updates

Presentations and handouts from last month's Farm to School and Food Inspections trainings are now available to download at goldenhillsrcd.org/swiffi.


If you have any events or news you'd like included in upcoming SWIFFI updates, please email me. You can also follow the SWIFFI Facebook page for updates.

Upcoming Golden Hills/SWIFFI Events

Golden Hills is partnering with Dan Filius, Field Specialist, Commercial Vegetables and Specialty Crops with Iowa State University Extension & Outreach, on two virtual programs in January. Registration required. $5 fee. Registered participants will receive Zoom information on the day of the event.


Tools for Growing Vegetables on 140 Acres

Monday, January 24

7:00pm-8:30pm

​Virtual program

Ever wonder what it would take to grow vegetables on a large scale? Learn about the tools and practices that Dan Fillius used while farming 140 acres of vegetables at Featherstone Farm in Southeastern MN. Tools and techniques covered include harvest conveyors, cultivation techniques, seeders, coolers and people management tools.

Click here to register!

Facebook event.

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Cool-season Crops, and Growing Crops in the Cold

Monday, January 31

7:00pm-8:30pm

​Virtual program

From leafy greens to root crops and herbs, growing cool season crops can stretch harvest to well past the first frost. Best practices for growing cool-season crops will be covered. Learn also about the 48-week CSA season that Dan Fillius utilized while at the Michigan State University Organic Farm, which promised members 3 fresh crops every week throughout the winter.

Click here to register!

Facebook event.

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Plant Identification Virtual Classes

Golden Hills is working with Dr. Tom Rosburg on a series of plant identification & conservation virtual classes for winter-spring 2022. The weeds & invasive species class is probably of greatest interest to most producers. All will be on Thursday evenings from 7:00-8:00pm. Each class has a $10 registration fee and pre-registration is required.

• February 3 - Plant Family Identification

• February 10 - Common Fabaceae (Pea family) Identification

• February 24 - Plant Evolution & Diversity

• March 3 - Salix (Willow) Identification

• March 10 - Designing Native Seed Mixes

• March 24 - Common Rosaceae (Rose) Identification

• March 31 - Cirsium (Thistle) Identification

• April 7 - Common Weeds & Invasive Species of Iowa

Details and registration.

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We are currently planning farmer meetups and field days for 2022. If you are interested in hosting or have suggestions for topics or presenters, please complete this form. 

Other Upcoming Events

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  • Iowa Learning Farms, in partnership with the Iowa Nutrient Research Center, and Conservation Learning Group, will present a virtual cover crop field day on Thursday, Dec. 16 at 1 p.m. 

Funding Opportunities

  • Choose Iowa Marketing & Promotion grants are due at 5:00pm next Wednesday, December 15. The Choose Iowa Marketing and Promotion Grant Program exists to identify, evaluate, and financially support programs and services that add value to agricultural products, enable new technologies, and support alternative marketing strategies. Grants of up to $25,000 are available with a 1:1 match for projects that Increase sales of Iowa agricultural products by increasing production capacity or expanding market access for value-added projects.
  • FACT awards competitive grants of up to $3,000 to working, independent farmers located in the U.S. who raise beef cattle, bison, broiler chickens, dairy cows, ducks, geese, goats, laying hens, pigs, sheep and/or turkeys. Before submitting your online application, please read the complete set of eligibility guidelines below. Applications must be submitted online by 11:59pm CT on January 20, 2022 to be considered for this round of funding. Grants will be awarded in March 2022.
  • NRCS released a list of deadlines for funding programs. Iowa's upcoming dates include: CSP, April 1, 2022; CSP Renewals; April 8, 2022; EQIP, April 1, 2022

Other Updates, News & Resources

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Visit the SWIFFI website

Contact: Lance Brisbois | Golden Hills RC&D | lance@goldenhillsrcd.org

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