It’s that time of year again where our Solid Ground Trainings are starting to get their gears rolling! Kicking it off this season, we’re bringing back the ever popular Chainsaw Skills and Safety program directed toward women, our Beginning Welders Workshops, and an Intro to Carpentry! Each workshop cost $25 and includes lunch. See more info below!
Note: These trainings are intended for production farmers in Connecticut, if you have a hobby farm or are gardening, please reference this other wonderful UConn Extension program here: https://homegarden.cahnr.uconn.edu/
Title of class: Chainsaw Class Directed toward Women
Date: Saturday, November 18th
Time: 8:30-4:30
Location: Long Table Farm, 256 Beaver Brook Rd, Lyme, CT
Max Number of participants: 10
Description of class:
Chainsaw Skills and Safety directed toward Women: Intro to safe chainsaw operation. Students will learn about PPE, work area safety, basic saw maintenance, chain sharpening, and how to develop a felling plan. Each student will have a chance to fell their own tree. You may bring your own saw or use one that will be provided by the instructor.
Location: Rockville High School, 70 Loveland Hill Rd, Vernon
Max Number of participants: 10
Description of class:
Intro to the basics of welding. Learn the proper personal protective equipment required and safety protocols to know before getting started. Instructor will go over the fundamentals of MIG and stick welding, teaching you techniques to get welds done safely and efficiently.
Title of class: Power Tool Safety & Carpentry Basics Training
Date: Saturday, December 16th
Time: 9am – 3pm
Location: WorkspaceCT, 16 Trowbridge Dr, Bethel
Max Number of participants: 10
Description of class:
Get familiar with the power tools and carpentry skills that you’ll need on your farm. Learn how to use an impact driver, drill, skill saw, table saw and more. You will work with your new skills to complete a project to take home.
Please contact us 2 weeks in advance with special needs (dietary, translation, accessibility, etc.) We’ll do our best to accommodate you.
FOR ALL WORKSHOPS THAT INCLUDE TRAVEL: If the cost is prohibitive, Travel Stipends will be made available to participants at any event where travel is required to attend
Please do not attend if you are not feeling well – you will receive a refund.
If you’re thinking about growing in a small footprint, or want to look at different ways folks are growing in their small space in CT, this is the video series for you!
We visited with farmers throughout the state that were growing on a quarter acre or less and took a look at some of the DIY projects they did in order to get the most out of their spaces. Each farm has different approaches to their growing including hydroponics, growing in containers, in ground growing, raised beds, etc. Take a look through and get some ideas for how you can utilize your small spaces without spending a lot of money.
To see all the videos in one place, including our other DIY videos, click the link here:
UConn Extension’s Solid Ground Program team is looking for a new project coordinator this winter to help lead training programs for new and beginning farmers.
Responsibilities: As a team project, the right candidate will be able to support existing staff in implementing an aggressive schedule of events. After shadowing our existing staff, the Coordinator will be able to serve as the UConn Extension staff member on-site for select training. The Coordinator will often serve as project representative at public events (farmer conferences, webinars, state agency meetings). Responsibilities will also include working closely with some of our program partners to successfully craft and co-host learning opportunities. Although this is a 6 month position, we are looking for someone with the potential to work steadily year round — including summer months — at 15 hours/week.
Compensation – $26.25/hour. Timesheets are submitted every two weeks. This is a temporary,
project-based position without benefits. Renewal of position is based on need and performance. Funding is currently in place for 3 project years. This position is funded by a grant from USDA.
Looking for a new suite of tools and resources for you to use on your farms to help you make good decisions about the climate needs you are undoubtedly facing. We want to tell you about them!
So JOIN US for an introduction to UConn Extension’s newest project to support beginning farmers as they shift toward climate smart farming strategies. The project includes a new online course, one-on-one consultations, expert analysis of soil tests, plus a microgrant opportunity!
It’s that time of year again where the Solid Ground Trainings are starting to get their gears rolling! Kicking off this season, is the popular Chainsaw Skills and Safety program directed toward women, our Beginning Welders Workshops, and an Intro to Carpentry! Each workshop cost $25 and includes lunch. See more info below!
Title of class: Chainsaw Class Directed toward Women
Date: Saturday, November 18th
Time: 8:30-4:30
Location: Long Table Farm, 256 Beaver Brook Rd, Lyme, CT
Max Number of participants: 10
Description of class:
Chainsaw Skills and Safety directed toward Women: Intro to safe chainsaw operation. Students will learn about PPE, work area safety, basic saw maintenance, chain sharpening, and how to develop a felling plan. Each student will have a chance to fell their own tree. You may bring your own saw or use one that will be provided by the instructor.
Location: Rockville High School, 70 Loveland Hill Rd, Vernon
Max Number of participants: 10
Description of class:
Intro to the basics of welding. Learn the proper personal protective equipment required and safety protocols to know before getting started. Instructor will go over the fundamentals of MIG and stick welding, teaching you techniques to get welds done safely and efficiently.
Title of class: Power Tool Safety & Carpentry Basics Training
Date: Saturday, December 16th
Time: 9am – 3pm
Location: WorkspaceCT, 16 Trowbridge Dr, Bethel
Max Number of participants: 10
Description of class:
Get familiar with the power tools and carpentry skills that you’ll need on your farm. Learn how to use an impact driver, drill, skill saw, table saw and more. You will work with your new skills to complete a project to take home.
Please contact us 2 weeks in advance with special needs (dietary, translation, accessibility, etc.) We’ll do our best to accommodate you.
FOR ALL WORKSHOPS THAT INCLUDE TRAVEL: If the cost is prohibitive, Travel Stipends will be made available to participants at any event where travel is required to attend
Please do not attend if you are not feeling well – you will receive a refund.
Note: These trainings are intended for production farmers in Connecticut, if you have a hobby farm or are gardening, please reference this other wonderful UConn Extension program here: https://homegarden.cahnr.uconn.edu/
In 2022 we kicked off a new video series with the goal of raising the visibility of some of the many entrepreneurs among the new farmer community. Last year we learned about Cut Flower Farming at Eddy Farm and Niche Livestock Farming at BOTL farm. These videos as well as the farmer panels we recorded are available at: https://newfarms.uconn.edu/video-series/
In 2023, we are pleased to add two new videos. Join us in watching the release of our next two releases focused on:
1) Ethnic & Specialty Crops at Mahara Farm via zoom @ noon on 3/9
Attention all farmers! Are you interested in learning more about welding and chainsaw skills and safety? The Solid Ground Farmer training program is having two in-person trainings this month.
Yoko Takemura and Alex Cooper from Assawaga farm enjoy showing off the fruits of their labor. (Photos courtesy of Assawaga farm).
Beginning farmers in Connecticut are changing the face of agriculture. With their values driven, sustainable-minded farming practices, they are filling the direct-to-consumer marketplace with high quality food grown intensively on small parcels. Since 2012, UConn Extension, part of the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, and its partners have responded to the growing number of beginning farmers with core training in production and business management. In recent years, it was clear that advanced-level beginning farmers (with 6-10 years of experience) were facing more complex challenges as they grappled with decisions about scale, diversification, infrastructure, and risk.
Starting this winter, UConn Extension and partners will respond to this emerging need with a new grant funded by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The grant is Solid Ground 2: Weaving Together Expert Trainings and Peer Networks for Sustained Beginner and Advanced-Beginner Farmer Success in Connecticut. It is a three-year project funded at $525,000 that builds upon the accomplishments of the existing Solid Ground Training Program to deliver increasingly relevant, high quality trainings that respond to beginning farmer skill gaps at the appropriate level.
“The new grant leverages the capacity, talent, and integrity of partner organizations to meet the needs of beginning farmers that were unmet through our Solid Ground trainings in previous years,” says Jiff Martin, the Extension Educator leading the project. “We also intend to help address the very real barrier of finding farmland for new and beginning farmers, including the unique challenges created by structural racism when farmers of color seek farmland.”
While there are many excellent opportunities in agriculture, beginning farmers and ranchers have unique needs for education, training, and technical assistance. For those within their first 10 years of operation, it’s vital they have access to capital, land, and knowledge and information to help improve their operations’ profitability and sustainability.
“Beginning farmers can be divided into two groups – early-stage and advanced-level beginning farmers,” says Charlotte Ross, one of the project co-coordinators. “Slightly more than half (52%) of beginning farmer operators have been operating a farm for six to 10 years, and the remainder (48%) have been farming for five years or less.”
Beginning farmers comprise 28% of the principal operators on Connecticut farms, and there are 2,132 beginning farmers in total. The Solid Ground program is targeting 700 farms that earn between $2,500 and $50,000 individually. The average age of Connecticut’s beginning farmers is 47.9, only slightly higher than the national average of 46.3.
“While beginning farmer owned farm businesses are generating $97 million in product sales, only 32% can farm as a primary occupation, and most (79%) depend on off farm-income at varying levels. This is the reality of small farming enterprises in Connecticut—they are often part-time, seasonal businesses that generate tremendous value to our communities in terms of land stewardship and local food markets but are typically not at a scale to support multiple employees with fair wages and benefits.” Martin states. The next three years of the Solid Ground Program will help beginning farmers build critical peer networks with each other, gain insight on entrepreneurial models, discover cost-saving DIY infrastructure projects for the farm, and improve their skills in agroecology, agriculture mechanics, urban agriculture, and soil health.
UConn Extension and its partners will work together to deliver exceptional training and networking opportunities that are practical, convenient, and accessible. UConn Extension will serve as the administrative and communications foundation on the project. Two school-based agricultural education organizations will host Agriculture Mechanic trainings for beginning farmers. Front-line community-based organizations led by people of color will plan and deliver urban farming training in the cities of Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven. Two statewide non-government organizations with a strong base of beginning farmer members will work together to implement peer networking. A regional non-government organization will coordinate matchmaking events for farmland seekers. The structure of decision-making embedded throughout this project ensures that voices of color are empowered to steer training priorities.
Project leaders will strive to deliver services in a manner that ensures equitable access to learning opportunities. The project’s overall approach recognizes the integrity and new knowledge that the beginning farmer community, and the organizations they belong to, can offer to the broader agriculture sector in our state.
UConn Extension team members include Nancy Barrett, Matt DeBacco, Kip Kolesinskas, Charlotte Ross, Rebecca Toms, and MacKenzie White. Partner organizations on the project are Connecticut Northeast Organic Farming Association, Land For Good, Love Fed Initiative, the New Connecticut Farmer Alliance, Connecticut Farmland Trust, American Farmland Trust, the Connecticut Department of Agriculture, Green Village Initiative, the Keney Park Sustainability Project, Park City Harvest, the Nonnewaug High School Agri-Science program, the Rockville High School Agri-Science program, and the Connecticut Farm Bureau Young Farmers Committee.
UConn CAHNR Extension has more than 100 years’ experience strengthening communities in Connecticut and beyond. Extension programs address the full range of issues set forth in CAHNR’s strategic initiatives:
Ensuring a vibrant and sustainable agricultural industry and food supply
Enhancing health and well-being locally, nationally, and globally
Designing sustainable landscapes across urban-rural interfaces
Advancing adaptation and resilience in a changing climate.
Programs delivered by Extension reach individuals, communities, and businesses in each of Connecticut’s 169 municipalities.