Seriously, I had a visit today by Debra K. Walchuk, State Outreach Coordinator for the US Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service. She is based out of Bemidji and took time her regional schedule to stop by.
With Debra, came Jeffery L. Koster, RC&D coordinator for the Hiawatha Valley region also of the same agency. We reviewed basic components of the Latinos in Agriculture Program that we have been working with, what it will take to put together a training center for new farmers in our region, and how to convert our current experiences into a regional opportunity for promoting the outreach for their agency to Latino farmers.
Jeffery has a wealth of networks with resources for Latino farmers, among those resources are pasture raised pork and other livestock, opportunities to work with him on specific issues such as documentation of our current experimentation with medicinal plants to improve our poultry’s immune system and how it may translate into better quality meat, etc.
I see possibilities working with the USDA, given their size and scope though, I know that we must concentrate our relationship on one project that we can start and complete effectively. Building an enterprise training center based on sustainable farming systems on the Manor’s farm by 35W and Hwy 1 in Dundas (next to Northfield), seems like the project that may put us in a path to a partnership. To this partnership we have brought a larger network of organizations working with small and emerging farmers in the state. This visit goes a long way in continuing to build the support infrastructure to successfully launch Latino/a farmers in the state.
I believe that Jeff and Debra’s outreach program and conservation can directly participate in our plan to engage Paula Manor and her Husband and their 35 acre farm that they have offered to us. To meet our and their (farm owners’) goals, we are designing a farming center that would reflect a diversity of people, cultures, and diversified and sustainable farming systems. We are now coming together with a solid proposal if we combine all of the experiences that we are accumulating in our region plus the support that this agency may be able to provide through the statewide office and through Jeff in our region.
As usual, I will keep you all posted on what gets accomplished as things happen.

