Programs
Our Farmer-Chef Market Collaborative was a resounding success! Hosted at Metro Community College's Institute of Culinary Arts, the event brought together farmers, chefs, and organizations for a night of meaningful connections. Highlights included presentations from NSAS member Chloe Digel of Robinette Farms who shared insights on her organic microgreens. Duane Wolff of Woff Farms shared his story of the 40 years he's been growing organic speciality crops. Special guests included MCC horticulture and culinary students, who engaged with farmers and showed interest in future organic farm internships. Meaningful conversations and connections filled MCC’s welcoming space—thank you to all who joined us!
Roundtable Discussions
Certified organic farmers will meet to discuss the challenges they faced while transitioning to organic farming, sharing their experiences and insights to help others. This event is open to the community, especially those considering organic production, providing a platform for learning and support. Scheduled for various dates in 2024 and 2025, these roundtable discussions aim to reduce isolation among new and transitioning farmers and encourage the adoption of organic practices through knowledge-sharing and community building.
Check out our last Roundtable Discussion here!
And contact us if you’re interested in hosting one in your area.
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Farmer-Chef: Market Collaborative
Connecting transitioning organic farmers with local chefs creates sales outlets for organic products. Producers showcase their goods to chefs, who develop menus featuring these items. The event concludes with Food Tasting Tables, Chef + Producer demonstrations, a 3-course meal, and time to create marketing opportunities for farmers, students, and local businesses.
Dates: October 29, 2024 and January 30, 2025
Sites: Omaha, NE and Lincoln, NE
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Grow Together - Farmer Connect
Farmers and gardeners often work in isolation, so creating informal meeting spaces, both online and in-person, allows them to share successes and challenges. These connections are crucial for beginning and transitioning farmers who lack access to formal mentoring programs, offering practical idea exchanges and support. Attendees will gain contacts for troubleshooting and exploring options, with dates set for June, August, and October 2024, and February, April, and July 2025, across Central, Eastern, and Western Nebraska.
Organic Excellence-Cultivating Success
Beginning and transitioning organic farmers can present their organic practices and progress at the Annual Conference and online in February and December 2025. These presentations will showcase their projects, highlight successes and challenges, and offer guidance for others exploring organic farming. Sharing knowledge provides invaluable insights for local farmers on what works best in our region.
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For more information and to apply, click here.
Planned Approach to Organic Transition
Cyclical planning phases help new and transitioning organic farmers using the Organic Transition Planned Approach, bolstered by community input. With endless resources like books, conferences, and online research, beginners can feel overwhelmed. Connecting them with mentors and providing a structured plan for organic transition is key. This two-year program pairs farmers with mentors: Year 1 is for planning, and Year 2 is for implementing the steps to organic certification. For more details, click on this link for more information.
Farm Tours Onsite
Farm tours bring transitioning and certified organic farmers together to offer direct avenues for technical assistance and training exchange. This collaborative platform enables transitioning farmers to acquire practical insights and guidance from their certified counterparts, expediting their learning curve and promoting successful organic practices. A farm tour’s interactive nature enhances the effectiveness of technical support fostering a community-driven approach to sustainable and certified organic farming. Check out the Events page for upcoming tours.
Farm Tours Online
Online Farm Tours allow for a similar experience as in-person tours, but from the comfort of your home/office/farm. Most importantly, this activity facilitates engagement with organic farmers in rural and remote areas of Nebraska, offering an opportunity to highlight their less- accessible farms.
Organic farmers will be invited to share best practices online with farmers interested in transitioning to organic.
Focusing on organic production practices in far-reaching rural areas, the priority of online farm tours is to share knowledge of organic farming to interested transitioning farmers. Check out the Events page for upcoming online tours.