June 13, 2022

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.

Thanks to everyone who joined us, and thanks to Rosmanns for hosting the film screening of Livestock on the Land with Practical Farmers of Iowa last month! If you missed it, you can watch the documentary on PFI's YouTube channel.

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. 

• Practical Farmers of Iowa's Field Day Guide is now available. Events in southwest Iowa in June include: 
• June 26: A Little of Everything: Hydroponic Tomatoes, Farmers Markets & Agritourism. Hosts: Mike & Donna Brahms & family | 3 Bee Farms | Griswold
• July 16: Precision Farming With Cover Crops for Soil Health and Conservation. Hosts: Wisecup Family | Wisecup Family Farm and Museum | Missouri Valley
• August 2: Weed Control Strategies in Organic Corn and Soybeans With Buffalo Cultivators and Planters. Hosts: The Rosmann Family & Eric Madsen | Rosmann Family Farms & Madsen Stock Farm | Harlan.
• Free webinar on June 14: Funding your School Food Garden. School food gardens need funding to get started and continue from year to year, and what better way to secure support than through your local community? The people and organizations nearby can be the perfect fit for your garden program. In this webinar, a panel of garden experts will discuss ways to fundraise. From crowdfunding, to securing donations, learn what makes your program attractive to local supporters. There are many organizations in your community ready to donate seeds, soil, tools, and even food for educational classes. Join to learn how to fundraise and secure donations locally.
• The Iowa Learning Farms conservation webinar taking place June 15 at noon CDT will feature Matt Ruark, professor and extension state specialist in soil biology and fertility at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Abigail Augarten, research assistant in the Nutrient Cycling and Agroecosystems Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ruark’s research program focuses on nitrogen, manure and cover crop management. Augarten is currently conducting on-farm research connecting pasture management to soil health.
• The FREE, one-day, Iowa Farm to School and Early Care Virtual Conference is this Friday, June 17. It will offer attendees engaging virtual sessions to support beginning or expanding farm to school and early care and education efforts. Join teachers, early care professionals, farmers, food service staff, school garden coordinators and other network members across Iowa as we share ideas, resources, and successes to grow Farm to School and Early Care in Iowa.
• This year's virtual Edible Schoolyard Summer Training will be June 21-24. This training is for educators, gardeners, chefs, and advocates from all over the world to seed and grow edible education in their schools, cafeterias, and communities.
• Understanding the Nutrition-Health-Agriculture Nexus to Improve Resiliency of Iowa Communities (free) webinar: Learn about the nutrition-health-agriculture Nexus, how it impacts the resiliency of Iowans’ health, and to ideate ways multidisciplinary professionals can collaborate to improve vibrancy across Iowa communities & landscape. June 29th, 10-11:30a CST. Audience: Dietitians, Nutrition professionals, Public Health practitioners, and Food Systems professionals; (students also welcome!).
• The Armstrong Memorial Research and Demonstration Farm will hold a field day June 29 with crop management and soil health demonstrations hosted by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, the Wallace Foundation and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. The event is being offered in collaboration with a group of soil health driven producers and professionals in southwest Iowa known as the SWISH team. The day begins at 10 a.m. and concludes with a presentation at 2 p.m. The field day will be held at the Wallace Learning Center and Iowa State University Armstrong Research and Development Farm, 53020 Hitchcock Ave., Lewis.

• Applications to the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Sustainable Agricultural Systems (SAS) Request for Applications (RFA) must focus on approaches that promote transformational changes in the U.S. food and agriculture system. NIFA seeks creative and visionary applications that take a systems approach for projects are expected to significantly improve the supply of affordable, safe, nutritious, and accessible agricultural products, while fostering economic development and rural prosperity in America. The outcomes of the work being proposed should result in societal benefits, including promotion of rural prosperity and enhancement of quality of life for all those involved in food and agricultural value chains from production to utilization and consumption.
• The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service is establishing the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS). With funding made available through USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation, USDA will help states deal with the challenges of supply chain disruptions brought on by the pandemic. Through the LFS program, USDA will award up to $200 million to states for food assistance purchases of domestic local foods for distribution to schools. This program will strengthen the food system for schools by helping to build a fair, competitive, and resilient local food chain, and expand local and regional markets with an emphasis on purchasing from historically underserved producers and processors.
• The primary goal and objective of the GusNIP Produce Prescription Program is to demonstrate and evaluate the impact of projects on (1) the improvement of dietary health through increased consumption of fruits and vegetables; (2) the reduction of individual and household food insecurity; and (3) the reduction in healthcare use and associated costs. Applications due June 30.
• The Midwest Cover Crop Initiative is a public-private partnership that accelerates large-scale, voluntary adoption of cover crops across several midwestern states. The initiative awards grants to provide outreach and technical assistance and to facilitate multi-year financial assistance contracts with farmers. Through this support, the initiative aims to enhance soil health, reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases, and improve water and wildlife resources while providing economic benefits to participating farmers. will award $2.6 million in grants to plant cover crops on half a million acres in the Midwest this year. The foundation, a private conservation grant maker created by Congress, partnered with ADM and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service for the funds.

• A new publication by the Soil Health Institute includes the development of new pedotransfer function equations, available for use by other researchers, that enable more precise measurement of the correlation between carbon levels, water retention and various soil types. The new equations will allow scientists to better predict how much water farmers can provide to their crops through soil health – specifically, by raising their soil carbon.
• The Soil Health Matrix Decision Tool is a free tool that was recently developed by the Soil Health Nexus and a regional advisory team along with extension colleagues from across the region and with support from North Central SARE. It is designed as a 101 tool to assess the effects of current and future management practices on soil health. Producers who are looking to implement a new soil health practice on their operation can use this comparative tool to get an overall feel for practices that benefit soil health and which management decisions may be the best fit for their operation.
• Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship encourages producers of pesticide-sensitive crops to renew their field and beehive entries on the Iowa Sensitive Crops Registry. The registry is an effective tool to support communication between producers of specialty crops, beekeepers and pesticide applicators – all important aspects of Iowa agriculture. 
• The 2020 Local Food Marketing Practices Survey is the second Local Food Marketing Practices Survey conducted by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. The purpose of this survey is to produce benchmark data about local food marketing practices. This 2017 Census of Agriculture special study provides data on the marketing of locally and regionally produced agricultural food products.
• The Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability (CFDAS) is taking a monthly pulse on what consumers are thinking, what they can afford and what food attributes are most important to them to better guide farmers and retailers along the supply chain. Check out the Consumer Foods Insight Volume 1 here.

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