GrassWorks

FEED Summit
2024-10-28 08:00 - 2024-10-29 18:30 UTC | Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, West Walnut Street 325, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53212, United States
What is the FEED Initiative?

The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Division of Extension, Community Food Systems Program’s Food Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Development (FEED) Initiative is a statewide program that promotes food entrepreneurship training and network development for value-added producers and individuals facing structural barriers to food entrepreneurship.

What is the FEED Summit?

Taking place on October 28-29 in Milwaukee, WI, and the FEED Summit is a collaboration between business support organizations across Wisconsin to foster supportive learning opportunities for early-stage food and farming entrepreneurs. The FEED Summit is a two day event, held in-person, and full of learning, networking, and marketing opportunities for Wisconsin food and farming entrepreneurs. The schedule includes a keynote address, 24 break-out sessions, 8 networking sessions, legal office hours, business consulting, exhibition hall sessions, amazing local food, and local food tours.

FEED Summit is the only statewide conference in Wisconsin for early-stage Food and Farming Businesses.The FEED Summit is on October 28-29, 2024, at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center (325 W Walnut St, Milwaukee, WI 53212).

Join us for business workshops, networking sessions, great local food, and field trips to Milwaukee food businesses!

Investing Wisely: Farm Loans, Balance Sheets & Investment Analysis
2025-03-12 14:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago) | Golden Sands RC&D Office, 1100 Main St, Suite 140, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, 54481
Managing Your Green – A Farm Finance Series for Graziers

Session #5: Investing Wisely

Join Golden Sands and GrassWorks Wednesday 3/12/25 in-person or virtually at 2PM to hear from Paul Dietmann of Compeer Financial on how to prepare for lending. This is session no. 5 of our winter series Managing Your Green: A Farm Finance Series for Graziers.

Paul Dietmann is Senior Focused Lending Specialist at Compeer Financial, a member-owned Farm Credit System cooperative in the upper Midwest. He co-leads Compeer’s Emerging Markets program, providing loans and business planning assistance to farmers who market their products directly to consumers or who are engaged in value-added production, processing, or marketing. He is based in Prairie du Sac, WI.

Dietmann has been helping family farmers with farm financial management issues since the mid-1990s, first as a county agricultural agent, then as director of the Wisconsin Farm Center, as Wisconsin’s Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, and now with the Farm Credit System. He is co-author of the book Fearless Farm Finances: Farm Financial Management Demystified and author of Turning Grain Into Dough: Farm Financial Management for Organic Grain and Crop Rotation. He teaches dozens of workshops each year on a variety of topics related to farm finances.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85899119902

Meeting ID: 858 9911 9902

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• +1 309 205 3325 US

• +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

Pursuing Profitability: Recordkeeping, Enterprise Budgeting & Pricing for Profit
2025-03-18 15:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
Managing Your Green – A Farm Finance Series for Graziers

Session #6: Pursuing Profitability

Join Golden Sands and GrassWorks ONLINE on Tuesday 3/18/25 to hear from Andy Larson of the Food Finance Institute on recordkeeping, enterprise budgeting & pricing to improve farm profitability.

Andy has expertise in strategic farm business and marketing planning, farm financial statements and projections, agricultural credit and loan structure, loan guarantees and credit enhancements, farm succession and intergenerational transition, and grantsmanship.

Before joining FFI, Andy worked as an Agriculture and Commercial Loan Officer at German American State Bank, where he had the opportunity to provide commercial credit to scores of local farmers and family businesses in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. Prior to his time at the bank, Andy spent a decade working in Extension for Iowa State University and the University of Illinois, focusing his educational programming on the business and marketing side of small farms, local foods, and sustainable agriculture. Concurrently, Andy also held the role of state coordinator for North Central SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education), where he gained experience in grantsmanship and professional development for outreach educators in sustainable ag.

Andy formed his work ethic and his land ethic growing up on a dairy farm in northernmost Illinois. Andy returned to his roots in late 2013, relocating his young family to the acreage where his grandparents retired, just over the hill from the home farm. Andy and his wife grew their backyard chicken hobby into a free-range egg business, now selling brown eggs to local retail stores, restaurants, and farmers markets.

RSVP encouraged but not required. This is session #6 of our winter series Managing Your Green: A Farm Finance Series for Graziers.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81973017616

Meeting ID: 819 7301 7616

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• +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

No-till Drill Demonstration
2025-04-23 13:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago)
This event, hosted by Golden Sands with support from GrassWorks, will focus on tips for success with no-till drills including:

Establishing and interseeding pastures, hayfields, and native plantings
Seed mix design and rates
Calibration and operation of seed drills

GrassWorks + Ranching for Profit Workshop – CHIPPEWA FALLS
2026-03-13 08:30 - 16:00 (America/Chicago)
GrassWorks is excited to welcome nationally respected RFP instructor and facilitator, John Locke, for two one-day workshops. Join us at one of these events to

Learn why economics should precede finance

Discover three key strategies to increase profits and identify the weak link to build a plan for growth

Discuss 5 key principles of grazing

Explore ecological processes and strategies to boost productivity, reduce workload, and increase profits

About the Instructor:John Locke is a 6th generation rancher from the Texas Gulf Coast and Instructor for The Ranching For Profit School. In this interactive workshop John will share principles that have the potential to help you build the farm or ranch you have always dreamed of!

$40 per person for non members, $30 per person for GrassWorks members*

Sign up to be a member here!

This workshop is brought to you at a reduced cost by GrassWorks with the support of a USDA GLCI grant and from generous donations from Wisconsin Farmers Union.

*GrassWorks members should use the code GWMEMBER at checkout to receive your discounted tickets!

Register Here

GrassWorks + Ranching for Profit Workshop – MAUSTON
2026-03-14 08:30 - 16:00 (America/Chicago) | The Lodge at Mauston, 104 Lodge Lane, Mauston, Wisconsin, 53948, United States
