In addition to the annual Business of Farming Conference, ASAP offers workshops and training opportunities for farmers, farmers market managers, educators, and other community members. Recordings from many of those workshops are archived below. We also partner with regional agencies to provide educational opportunities. Find upcoming workshops in our community events calendar.
Upcoming Workshops
Farmer to Farmer Webinar: Navigating Federal Farm Recovery Programs Offered by FSA and NRCS
Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024 | 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. | virtual
ASAP is facilitating a farmer learning cohort to focus on Helene recovery. This series of webinars will allow farmers to share experiences, learn from one another about navigating recovery resources, and document learnings for fellow farmers and future needs. The first webinar will focus on programs offered by Farm Services Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Farmer presenters:
Mary Carroll Dodd, Red Scout Farm, Black Mountain, NC
Danielle Hutchison, TendWell Farm, Old Fort, NC
Participation in the webinars are free. Appalachian Grown certified farms will be paid for their time to attend.
Webinars & Recorded Workshops
Selling to Schools: Challenges and Opportunities
May 2022. Join ASAP and child nutrition professionals from the region to learn more about how procurement works in NC K-12 schools, as well as area preschools. This workshop will include an overview of models for local procurement, as well as address opportunities and challenges for selling to schools in your community. managing CSA burnout.
CSA Farmer to Farmer Roundtable
January 2022. Holly Whitesides of Against the Grain and Nathan Vannette of Growing Green Family Farms kick off a discussion on Community Supported Agriculture by sharing some lessons learned from their last CSA season and how they’re preparing for this upcoming season. A farmer-led roundtable covers topics from CSA management systems to managing CSA burnout.
CSA Farmer to Farmer Roundtable: CSA Accessibility
April 2022. Holly Whitesides of Against the Grain and Mark McDonagh of Mighty Gnome Market Garden kick off a discussion on CSA Accessibility. CSA farmers share experiences, lessons learned, and new approaches to increasing CSA accessibility. From CSA cost-share models to pickup and delivery accommodations to creative partnerships, we explore all the ways we can innovate to bring local food to more people in our community!
How to Accept SNAP/EBT at Your Own Farm or Market
November 2020. This webinar, presented by ASAP and MarketLink, covers what you need to complete an FNS application; tips and tricks for completing this application; free expert assistance available to complete this application; details on MarketLink’s free SNAP/EBT terminal (card reader) program; future developments such as eWIC, online SNAP, and electronic FMNP benefits.
Promotional Photography for Farmers’ Markets
September 2020. In this webinar Sarah Jones Decker of Root Bottom Farm reviews basic lighting and composition tools that will take your photography skills to the next level (even with just your cell phone).
Social Media for Farms Part 1: Getting Started on Social Media
April 2020. This webinar series helps farmers learn how to leverage social media as a tool for connecting with customers during COVID-19’s stay home precautions. Part 1 includes: Why is social media important? How to create a Facebook business account (step-by-step tutorial). How to create an Instagram business account (step-by-step tutorial).
Social Media for Farms Part 2: Engaging and Building Your Audience on Social Media
May 2020. This webinar series helps farmers learn how to leverage social media as a tool for connecting with customers during COVID-19’s stay home precautions. Part 2 includes: Content 101; Tips for memorable posts; Posting strategy & scheduling (social media for sanity); Strategies for building your audience; Paid advertising 101: How to boost a Facebook post (step-by-step tutorial).
Social Media for Farms Part 3: Communicating with the Public Through COVID-19
May 2020. This webinar series helps farmers learn how to leverage social media as a tool for connecting with customers during COVID-19’s stay home precautions. Part 3 includes: Leveraging the call to action; Instagram Stories 101; Hosting or co-hosting events; Local Facebook groups to consider joining; Facebook Live 101 (step-by-step tutorial).
A Decade of Farming and the Legal Issues You’ll Face Along the Way
February 2020. No matter how you started your farm, or how many employees you have, you are bound to have questions regarding entity formation, estate planning, and labor and employment. Join attorneys from Ward and Smith, P.A. for an interactive session as they walk through real-life legal issues North Carolina agribusinesses face. This is a filmed session from ASAP’s 2020 Business of Farming Conference.
The webinars below are viewable on Zoom, but require a free Zoom account.
Farm Recordkeeping Webinar
2018. Webinar begins at 18 minutes 12 seconds into the recording.
Where does your money go? Every farm and business needs accurate record keeping to be able to keep up with tax requirements and serve as a guide for planning. This workshop is an overview to the world of record keeping, bookkeeping and accounting for farm business owners designed to demystify the subject and serve as a guide to getting started or improving the systems you have in place. Included will be examples of record keeping practices and strategies in place by Jason Roehrig of Tumbling Shoals Farm that they use to gather important information about profitability of crops and enterprises. Led by Barry Gupton of Mountain BizWorks, Jason Roehrig of Tumbling Shoals Farm, and Gary Guinn of FSA.
Farm Business Financials
Financial success in business rarely comes by accident. This session focuses on introducing basic business financial planning and analysis techniques that are vital in creating profitability for farming enterprises. Topics include determining your cost structure, evaluating revenue streams, and creating break-even analysis.
Part A (begins at 1 hr. 50 minutes): General overview of farm business financial management principles and practice.
Part B: Specific examples of methods in place at Tumbling Shoals Farms to glean important financial information such as sales by product classes