Traverse City Record-Eagle
---- — Indoor farming
BELLAIRE — A program on Winter Indoor Farming will be held Thursday, Feb. 28, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Bellaire Community Hall, 202 North Bridge Street.
Paul Murray has been farming wheatgrass and other sprouts indoors for more than five years and is a familiar face at farmers markets around Northern Michigan. He’ll lead the workshop, providing instruction in the materials you’ll need, where to get them and how to plant, grow and harvest your crops. Incorporating your harvest into your diet will be discussed and demonstrated. Suggested donation is $5-$10.
The workshop is offered in partnership with ISLAND and the Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference. For more information, call 622-5252 or email yvonne@artmeetsearth.org.
Market conference
EAST LANSING — The second annual Michigan Farmers’ Market Conference is slated from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 5-6 during Agriculture and Natural Resources Week at Michigan State University.
The conference, sponsored by the Michigan Farmers Market Association, will take place in the Plant and Soil Sciences Building, 1066 Bogue Street on the MSU campus.
The conference will offer three tracks:
n Market manager “boot camp,” designed to provide essential basic information for beginning market managers.
n Advanced manager track for those who have attended previous training sessions and are looking for specialized information.
n Farmer track, designed especially for small and mid-sized farmers who direct market through farmers’ markets.
If you are a manager looking to build your market’s Web presence, a farmer who needs to understand meat and poultry processing and labeling requirements or someone working to include farmers markets in regional food hub development, this conference will provide valuable information and networking opportunities.
Conference rates for MIFMA members for the full conference are $75 or $50 per day; rates for non-members are $125 (full conference) or $85 per day. MIFMA student members are $50 (full conference) or $25 a day.
For more information, registration and details on specific sessions in each track, visit http://mifma.org/events/michigan-farmers-market-conference/.
Specialty corn
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Risk Management Agency recently expanded insurance coverage for specialty corn in select counties in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.
Producers may now choose to insure their blue corn in 60 counties in the three states under either their contract price or the price set by RMA.
Director Brian Frieden suggests producers of specialty corn contact their insurance agent to see if these changes apply to their area. This expansion applies only to the Yield Protection and Revenue Protection insurance plans. All types of corn must be insured under the same insurance plan. Producers have until March 15 to buy specialty corn insurance.
RMA is the part of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the federal crop insurance program. A list of crop insurance agents is available at all USDA Service Centers or on the RMA web site at http://www.rma.usda.gov/tools/agent.html.
