The Kansas local meat marketing workshops will help small-scale meat, poultry and egg producers expand into new markets and grow their customer base. Attend to learn key marketing strategies best practices and regulations from the experts, including fellow producers. Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Weights and Measures program will also offer free scale certification with paid registration.

The cost is $20 per attendee, which includes a local foods lunch. Each workshop will cover the same content and will be held from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The workshops will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on each date in their respective Kansas towns: Feb. 3 in Wichita; Feb. 24 in Olathe and March 3, in Parsons. Register at tinyurl.com/LocalMeatKSU. For questions about these workshops or to become a sponsor, contact Erica Blair at [email protected].

Women Managing the Farm set for Feb. 15-17

Keynote topics and speakers have been announced for the 2023 Women Managing the Farm Conference, set for Feb. 15 to 17 in Manhattan, Kan.

The 2023 conference will open with keynote speaker Brandi Buzzard presenting “Small Talk, Meaningful Conversations.” Other general session presenters will include Antonina Broyaka, a candidate of economic science in economics and management of the national economy at a university in Ukraine, and an Extension associate at the Kansas State University Department of Agriculture Economics, who will discuss “War in Ukraine and Global Food Security.” The two-day conference will wrap up with Adrienne DeSutter, an agricultural mental health specialist. View the full agenda for the 2023 conference and register at womenmanagingthefarm.com.

Online safety curriculum available for farmworkers

Young farm workers are more susceptible to harm, says Roger Tormoehlen, a professor of agricultural and biological engineering at Purdue University. For more than two decades, he and his colleague, William Field, also a professor of agricultural and biological engineering, have addressed this vital issue with their Gearing Up for Safety curriculum.

Completely accessible online and free to download, the comprehensive safety and health training program targets young and beginning agricultural workers from ages 12 to 20. It has recently been expanded with funding from the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture.

The program seeks to enhance the quality of life for farm families and those working in agriculture by reducing farm injuries and occupational health risks. The entire “Gearing Up for Safety” curriculum, including all supporting materials, is available for free download at gearingup.info.

NIFA grant to teach vertical gardening in Kansas schools

The Kansas State University College of Education’s Rural Education Center and the Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom have received a $150,000 grant from the National Institutes of Food and Agriculture for a pilot project that will use vertical gardening curriculum to attract high school students to ag sciences careers.

The Career Awareness for Rural Agricultural Sciences Through Tower Gardening — Project CARAT — will start at USD 108 Washington County Schools, which is a member of the center’s Rural Professional Development Schools Network. KFAC explains that while Project CARAT will begin in a rural district, there are plans to share the curriculum online for any school to be able to access it. Once this pilot program is finished, researchers will provide training to schools and teachers interested in implementing the curriculum as soon as fall 2023.

To learn more, contact Nancy Zenger-Beneda, lead principal investigator and KFAC executive director, at [email protected] or 785-320-4350.

USCP swears in new director, elects officers

At the annual board of directors meeting in December, the United Sorghum Checkoff Program swore in a new director, Zack Rendel of Miami, Okla., who was appointed by USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack. The board also elected officers, selecting Adam Schindler of Reliance, S.D., as its new chairman.

In addition to Rendel, Jeffry Zortman of Fowler, Kan.; Kendall Hodgson of Little, River, Kan.; and Joshua Birdwell of Malone, Texas, were reappointed to serve a second three-year term starting this month. Additional officers elected include Hodgson as vice chairman; Ethan Miller of Columbia, Mo., as secretary, and Zortman as treasurer.