National Incubator Farm Training Initiative Field School

9:15-9:30: Introduction to NIFTI and event schedule

9:30-10:30: Attendee introductions

10:30-12:00: Workshop Session 1, choice of two workshops:

Teaching Financial Literacy and Business Planning to Farmers (with a focus on non-native English speakers): presentation description to come

OR 

Fostering Farmer Independence: The support of an incubator farm is key to putting many new farmers on the road to success. This workshop will address the process of transitioning farmers to independence. How long should a farmer be in a training program? What type of continued support should be available after graduating from the incubator? What does the transition from incubator to independence look like? We will discuss these questions and more along with innovative solutions and ideas.   

12:00-1:00: Lunch at Ecotrust provided

1:15-2:45: Workshop Session 2, choice of two workshops:

Teaching Financial Literacy and Business Planning to Farmers (advanced, and native English speakers): We will discuss sustainable money management, and how to encourage farms to make the most of thier farm financial future. This includes how money affects what you do, cash flow analysis, planning for money reserves, risk management, succession planning, and tax concepts.

OR 

Best Practices for Food Hubs and Collective Marketing: presentation description to come

3:00-3:20: Snack AND Open Space Meeting facilitation (see more details below)

3:20-3:30: Open Space discussion logistics (who, what, and where)

3:30-4:30: Open Space Session 1: choice of 3 discussions

4:45-5:45: Open Space Session 2: choice of 3 discussions

6:30 Join us for dinner in Portland! (included in registration)

8:00-9:00: Breakfast at Ecotrust

9:15-10:45: Thursday Workshop Session 1, choice of two workshops:

Adult Education, Part I, Theory: Teaching farming without a clear theory for adult learning as a guide is like planning and managing soil fertility without a grasp of the nitrogen cycle. Learn fundamental  principles for designing a range of instructional and curricular programming. A number of successful farmer education projects will be case studied, from a theoretical perspective. Lets pop the hood and see what makes them tick, not just how they work, by why they work as well as they do.

OR

Program Funding, Challenges and Solutions: Running an incubator farm is fun and rewarding, yet funding the start up, infrastructure development, staffing, and ongoing maintenance of the incubator farm and related programming can be challenging.  Learn tips and tricks from four programs using unique funding strategies including government and foundation grants, business partnerships, program revenue, social enterprise models, fee-for-service, local and county tax incentives, crowd funding, and more.  Strategies for developing start up budgets, how to balance limited staff time effectively for development activities, and other topics will be discussed.  Join us in conversation about how to leverage the NIFTI network to advocate for additional resources for farm incubators.

11:00-12:30 Thursday Workshop Session 2, choice of two workshops:

Adult Education, Part II, Practices for U.S. born Farmers: Putting educational theory to work. Just as a tractor needs the right implements for effective and efficient field work, applying best practices of adult education helps equip educators with the right tools for the job of educating farmers. Learn practical applications of educational theory that will inspire you and your students. Bring opportunities and challenges from your workplace to the workshop (Ideally, participants in the Practice workshop will have taken the 'Adult education: Theory' workshop).

OR

Adult Education, Part II, Practices for Refugee and Immigrant Farmers: Effectively teaching adult immigrant and refugee farmers can be a very different process than teaching farmers who were born and raised in the United States. This workshop will address teaching to mixed culture/literacy/experience classes, working with interpreters, classroom vs in-field teaching, practical tools and approaches, and evaluation of teaching. 

12:30-1:30: Lunch at Ecotrust provided

1:30-1:45: Open Space Meeting facilitation revisited

2:00-3:00: Open Space Session 3: choice of 3 discussions 

3:00-3:15: Snack

3:15-4:15: Open Space Session 4: choice of 3 discussions

4:30-5:00: Farm tour logistics

8:15: Bus pick-up at Portland City Center Courtyard Marriott

9:30-10:30: Farm tour at Mercy Corps Northwest's Refuge Gardens

10:45 - 11:00 Transport to Headwaters Incubator Farm