Practical Farmers of Iowa’s Free Farminar Web Series Begins January 4th

AMES, Iowa—Practical Farmers of Iowa’s 2022 winter webinar series, referred to as “farminars,” will start on Tuesday, Jan. 4, with a presentation by Virginia-based farmer and consultant Eliza Greenman on how to integrate livestock, agroforestry and horticulture.

The event is one of 11 farminars offered through March 29 on issues relevant to beginning and experienced row crop, livestock and horticulture farmers, as well as landowners.

All farminars run weekly on Tuesdays from 7-8:30 p.m. CST, are free to attend and anyone with an internet connection is invited to participate. Each presentation focuses on a unique production or business management topic, and is led by a farmer or subject-matter expert. Attendees are able to ask questions in real-time using a chat box while during the presentations.

To participate: Go to practicalfarmers.org/farminars, click the “Register to Join” button, follow the prompts and click the URL to join. A schedule of all upcoming farminars – plus recordings of archived farminars – is also available at that link.

Other topics in the 2022 series will explore organic no-till in row crops; on-farm research on cover crops, manure and nitrogen; organic seed production; day-neutral organic strawberries; integrating prairie strips into farm fields; grass-fed beef marketing; estate planning; online direct marketing; and working lands conservation programs.

The 2022 series will also feature a Spanish-language farminar on March 15 exploring ways to manage weeds and pollinators with mesotunnel production of crops like cucumbers, melons and squash. For full event and speaker details, visit practicalfarmers.org/farminars.

Farminars in the 2022 series include:

4: “Fruit & Fodder” – Eliza Greenman
18: “High-Producing Organic No-Till” – Brett Israel
1: “On-Farm Research Explores Cover Crops, Manure, Nitrogen & Returns” – Woody Van Arkel & Cameron Ogilvie
8: “Mysteries Revealed: Organic Seed Production and How Growers Can Play a Part” – Adrienne Shelton
15: “Organic Day-Neutral Strawberry Production in the Upper Midwest” – Aaron Wills
22: “Prairie Strips & Conservation Programs” – Paul Mugge & Tim Youngquist
March 1: “Grass-Fed Beef Marketing at Grand View Beef” – Amanda Severson
March 8: “Estate and Succession Planning” – Beverly Jones
March 15: (Presented in Spanish only) “Optimización de polinización y manejo de malezas bajo mesotuneles” / “Pollination & Weed Management Optimization Under Mesotunnels” – Sharon Badilla-Arias
March 22: “Online Marketing for Pastured Products” – Hannah Bernhardt
March 29: “Working Lands Conservation Programs: Resources & Strategies for Success” – Kalee Olson & Kayla Bergman

Practical Farmers’ 2022 winter farminars are made possible with funding from the Cedar Tree Foundation; Center for Rural Affairs; Ceres Trust; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture; and USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.