6th Bi-Annual Permaculture Design Certification Course (Lawrence, KS) - STARTS WEDNESDAY, Feb 8, 2012

Dear Friends of Sustainable Agriculture,

The start date of the Kaw Permaculture Collaborative's 6th bi-annual Permaculture Design Certification Course is next Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012.  This course is a 15 week extended presentation of the 72 hour curriculum established by Bill Mollison the co-founder of Permaculture.


The Kansas Permaculture Institute is co-sponsoring this course, which will be taught by Steve Moring of Vajra Farm/Kaw Permaculture and Michael Almon of Forest Floor Permaculture.  Our lecture sessions will be held from 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm at the Dreher 4-H Building, Douglas County Co-op Extension, 2110 Harper St., Lawrence KS

Students who complete this 72 hour course will receive a Permaculture Design Certificate from the Kansas Permaculture Institute.  The course will include ten 3-hour class sessions, six field trips, four practicum sessions, and a student project presentation.  The fee of this course is a bargain at $700, a price 1/2 that of the most PDC Intensives offer in the US.  The Course Syllabus and registration form are available at from our website,  http://kawpermaculture.org/category/training/.  


For more info contact Steve Moring at (785)691-7305 
or moringse (a) gmail .com  


See also:
http://www.kawpermaculture.org/events/

FROM: NSAC Weekly Roundup - LOCAL FOOD LENDING

http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/local-food-lending/


EXCERPT:


With the next Farm Bill on the horizon, there are new opportunities for Congress to support local and regional food systems.  The Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act, introduced in November 2011 by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME-1), contains several provisions to bolster funding for local food infrastructure and markets.  One provision, for instance, would increase Business and Industry (B&I) federal loan guarantees  for local and regional food enterprises.   Another would require Farm Credit System lenders to implement a program for providing credit to farmers producing for the local market and to undertake initiatives to improve local food infrastructure.


READ ALL AT:
http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/local-food-lending/

SEE ALSO: 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/National-Sustainable-Agriculture-Coalition/154052595576

HOG FARM EXPANSION IN KANSAS

http://www.kansasruralcenter.org/archive2.html#120127

FROM: The KRC E-Reports Archive
http://www.kansasruralcenter.org/archive2.html#120127

January 27 E-Report 
by Paul Johnson

In This Edition:
More CAFOs For Western Kansas?
Wind Energy Update
Water Legislation
Fracking Update
2012 Farm Bill: Beginning Farmers and Local Food a Focus in New Bill


THE FUTURE OF KANSAS AGRICULTURE:
More Corporate Swine and Dairy 

Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Dale Rodman is very clear. Kansas is now open for large-scale, industrial agriculture with special emphasis to recruit swine, dairy and poultry operations.

The plan is to double Kansas' agriculture over the next decade. With a world population headed for 9 billion persons by 2050 and hundreds of millions of Chinese and Indians moving into the middle class, the demand for more protein can only skyrocket. While Kansas is predominantly a beef state, the size of the cattle herd is at a 70 year low so it will take several years to rebuild. In the meantime, large confined animal feeding operations (CAFO's) for swine and dairy can be constructed in the next few years. For certain Kansas lawmakers, the battle over saving the independent family farmer is lost and the corporate, vertically integrated model is inevitable.

Poultry was the first agribusiness to vertically integrate by corporations shortly after WW II. Today there are just a handful of poultry processors. The chicken farmer does not own the birds but is merely paid to raise the birds to a certain size for minimal returns at best. Today, 98+% of all hogs are either owned by the packers or contracted to particular packers. There is no independent, free market left. In 1980, Kansas had 13,500 hog farms while today Kansas has less than 1,500 hog farms with 310 of these farms accounting for 95% of all hog sales in Kansas.

Kansas had 5,600 dairies in 1980 while today Kansas has just 420 dairies with 20 of these dairies having 65% of the 120,000 dairy cows in Kansas. In the beef industry, 70% of processed cattle are either packer owned or contracted to a certain packer. Four beef packers now account for 80% of all processed cattle. While lawmakers praise the essential role of small businesses in job creation, corporate agriculture continues on concentrating and consolidating.

The corporate agriculture welcome wagon is on the move. HB 2502, introduced early this past week, will ease the process to allow corporate swine facilities. Present law mandates that a county must hold a referendum to allow corporate swine facilities within the county. This bill will force voters to circulate a petition - within 60 days - to 10% of the voters in the last general election to reverse a resolution by the County Commissioners allowing these corporate swine confined animal feeding operations (CAFO's). A county vote would than be scheduled. (Note: independent hog farmers or family farm corporations are not impacted by this restriction on corporate CAFO's.)

HB 2502 was introduced last Monday (January 23), referred to the Kansas House Agriculture & Natural Resources committee on Tuesday the 24th, the public hearing was held on Wednesday the 25th, and probably passed out of committee today - the very definition of fast tracking. If and when passed out of Committee, the bill will go the House floor and if passe, go to the Senate Agriculture Committee. According to supporters, a depopulated Western Kansas will be a perfect sacrifice zone given the wide-open space, low humidity, adequate groundwater and a docile, controllable 'guest worker' work force.

Read the full Kansas Rural Center E-Report at:

http://www.kansasruralcenter.org/archive2.html#120127

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

SEE ALSO - KC Star Article - COMMENTS:

 http://www.kansascity.com/2012/02/04/3409414/measure-would-aid-hog-farm-expansion.html

~~~~~~ AS COVERED BY MCT ~~~~~~

http://www.mctdirect.com/preview.php?id=201202040411MCT_____REG_NEWS7194850_0

Measure would aid hog farm expansion efforts

By Mary Clarkin

The Hutchinson News, Kan.

(MCT)

Feb. 04--It will be easier for corporate swine production facilities to expand into rural counties, under a Kansas bill that passed the House Friday morning on a 106-8 vote.

Currently, establishing corporate swine production in a county requires an election in the county. The House bill would give county commissioners the authority by resolution to permit or deny. A 60-day protest period would allow citizens to circulate a petition for signatures, to require a vote at the next county, state or special countywide election. The number of signatures needed would be equal to 5 percent of the voters in the county who voted for the office of secretary of state in the...

This story has been re-posted by the KC Star and other newspaper services.

YOU CAN PAY FOR and read the full MCT article... 

http://www.mctdirect.com/preview.php?id=201202040411MCT_____REG_NEWS7194850_0

~~~

MU Extension - Local Food Project Targets Food Marketing for Rural Farmers

http://localfoodlinkages.wordpress.com/
Project Summary

Local/regional food systems are a promising entrepreneurial solution for rural development and may enhance the prosperity of at-risk small and medium sized farms and improve the health and well-being of consumers. Our bi-state research project examines these questions: What are the impacts of local/regional food systems on rural communities? How do they impact the prosperity of small and medium-sized farms? Are consumers in both rural and urban areas likely to participate?

See the project page at
 http://localfoodlinkages.wordpress.com/

The long-term goal of this project is to fully realize the potential of regional food systems as a strategy for rural development. The objectives are:

- To develop research-based profiles of small and medium sized farmers who market their products in local/regional food systems.
- To calibrate an economic impact model that enables researchers to quantify farm profitability and local economic impact that come from regional food sales.
- To specify the factors differentiating food buyers in rural and urban areas, and those buying directly from farmers from those who do not.
- To examine the opportunities and challenges for linking farmers (producers) and consumers together in local/regional food systems.

This project has three parts.

1. Producer Survey

2. Input/Output Interviews

3. Consumer Focus Groups

Our research will be taking place in three areas in Missouri and Nebraska: Northern Ozarks, Old Trails Region, and Southeast Nebraska. If you are a farmer located in one of these areas and currently or formerly sold your food or food products direct to consumers, we are interested in having you participate in our study.

This project is funded by USDA-National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Agriculture and Food Research Initiative.

blue bird bistro's VALENTINE'S WEEK SPECIALS 2012

Valentine's frisky Friday, sexy Saturday, moaning Monday and tempting Tuesday - 4pm til 10pm our full menu plus these specials and a Valentine prix fixe plump and earthy saffron tomato soup  $8 roasted oyster orgasm $17 for the daring Campo Lindo Farm chicken hearts, battered, fried and   kissed with organic raspberry vinaigrette    $13 vegan cherry embedded potato pasta smothered in rich thick mole dusted with sesame seed $21 exposed tail Idaho rainbow trout coiled with blue bird bistro garden fresh herbs and organic lemon on a bed of Arkansan rice entwined with rainbow chard lubricated with beurre blanc $25 New Grass Bison filet mignon with a heart butternut squash, broccoli buds and   whipped chestynut potatoes $37 bronzed bodied Campo Lindo Farm chicken roulade stuffed with organic walnuts and Missouri goat cheese in a pool of cherry sauce $27   lush lavender sorbet with a hard chocolate stick $11 Green Hills Harvest Dairy milk ricotta cakes with cherries and chocolate Prix Fixe - $55       Wine Pairing - $20 first course     roasted oyster orgasm vegetarian option-roasted oyster mushroom orgasm second course   slinkyspinach tossed in anamble apple vinaigrette with crispy Rain's Farm Tamworth bacon and roasted garlic third course   all natural filet mignon with a heart butternut squash, broccoli buds and whipped chestnut potatoes vegetarian option- marinated Central Soy tempeh with a heart butternut, broccoli buds and whipped chestynut potatoes fourth course   Oddly Correct coffee-infused ice cream with a hard chocolate stick  wednesday night table 'a communal dining experience' every Wednesday menu posted to http://wednesdaynight.bluebirdbistro.com also at http://bluebirdbistro.com 816-221-7559 blue bird bistro thanks you for all your support through the years!!! Happy New Year - may 2012 be your best follow our year of farmers' tables at http://farmerstable.bluebirdbistro.com ...and LIKE us on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kansas-City-MO/blue-bird-bistro/73291406623