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Event
Soil Health Field Day at Red Shirt Farm Online Event
Join us for a virtual tour of Red Shirt Farm in Lanesboro, MA to learn from farm manager Jim Schultz and guest presenter Dan Kittredge of the Bionutrient Food Association to learn how their no-till farming practices are improving soil health and the nutritional density of their produce. We will have video clips of Red Shirt Farm that show Jim discussing certain aspects of the farm, including: BCS tillage reduction equipment set up and systems, Johnson-Su Bioreactor, and permanent bed systems. Jim will give a demonstration of his BCS-powered transferred mulch system, including mower, rake and mini-baler. This system is used to convert cover crops to mulch that can be used elsewhere on the farm. Dan will talk about the results of the Real Food Campaign work so far and how they are collecting data to link the value of healthy soils and nutritious food to overall human health. Dan will share his insight into how management practices affect nutrient density in crops. We will show how the Bionutrient Meter can be used in the field to assess the crops in real time.
We will close out the day by teaching you a few soil health assessment techniques you can use on your farm to track how your management practices are impacting soil biology, structure, root vigor and more.
Agenda:
7:00pm:Welcome and Introductions
7:10pm Virtual Tour of Red Shirt Farm
8:00pm Q&A
8:30pm wrap up
About Red Shirt Farm:
Red Shirt Farm spans 13 hilly acres in Lanesborough, MA, with the goal to raise vegetables without the use of pesticides or herbicides using regenerative practices that enhance the life of the soil and the nutrient density of the plants. They believe that their pasture-raised heritage breeds of livestock are integral to the vitality of their farm.
About the Instructors:
Jim Schultz has wanted to farm since he graduated high school and has had a plethora of experiences on small farms across the United States. At Evergreen State College in Washington, Jim helped run the student organic farm and double-majored in Ecological Agriculture and Education. The latter led him back to the East Coast to complete a Masters in Education at UMass Amherst and then into the public school classroom. Jim continually expanded his knowledge of farming from attending conferences and consuming every piece of farm-related literature he could get his hands on. Upon retiring from 26 years of teaching, coaching, and administration, in 2016 Jim and Annie decided to finally start Red Shirt Farm.
Dan Kittredge has been an organic farmer for more than 30 years, and is the Founder and Executive Director of the Bionutrient Food Association, a 10 year old non-profit educational organization whose mission is to Increase quality in the food supply. Known as one of the leading proponents of nutrient density, Dan has worked to demonstrate the connections between plant health, soil health, carbon sequestration, crop nutritional value, flavor and human health. Out of these efforts was born the Real Food Campaign, which has engineered the prototype of a hand-held consumer spectrometer designed to test nutrient density at point of purchase. Via this tool, the deeper goal is to connect the economic incentives of consumers to growers to drive full system regeneration.
About the Conservation Innovation Grant Project:
This event is part of the NOFA Conservation Innovation Grant Project, funded by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which is developing a learning community of northeast organic farmers who are integrating reduced and no-till methods on their farms, to refine and educate about organic tillage reduction methods.
For questions contact Doug Cook, Education Events Coordinator, at Doug@nofamass.org or 603-969-8195
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Timezone: America/New_York Online Access Information Event access will be sent in the event confirmation email.
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