Oct. 4th Notes
Regenerative Farming and Grazing Alliance of Boulder County
Wednesday Oct. 4th Meeting minutes
In attendance:
Elvira
Turie Norman
Karel of Golden Hoof Farm
Alice of Golden Hoof Farm
Clark Harshbarger
New attendees and introductions:
Jon McDonnell a CU student who has helped Marc Guttridge organize the Carbon Sequestration Festival
Ken who has worked and helped Marc Guttridge for over 10 years
Elizabeth Black who owns Your Neighborhood Christmas Tree Farm on less than an acre in Boulder City Limits. She has worked tirelessly to get Boulder City and County to include soil sequestration in their comprehensive plan. She points out that farm land is only 12% of the land, forest is 50%, and grasslands 30% of Boulder County lands.
Walter Pounds who recently bought 60 acres north of Longmont and plans to have an organic farm and pastures with mobile coups. He is involved in Slow Money.
It was decided that our name, mission and vision needs further cohesion and probable change to become more inclusive to the community. Jon and Turie will work on possible new names for the group. Next meeting Turie will lead the group through the Savory method to form an Holistic Plan which reflects our vision and mission.
All this can be transposed to a website and FB page that Turie has already payed someone to help implement and design.
Of the following objectives that were identified from our first meeting these are the action we decided to take:
1. Boulder County Brand – soil regeneration brand, possibly including animal welfare. Rodel institute has come up with a soil regeneration brand. Action: none for now.
2. Change Colorado Regulatory Laws for Small Farmers to resemble the Wyoming Freedom Act. Action: Karel, Alice and Elvira will start work on this. Ken will try to get a hold of documents that came out of the Land Use meetings with the local farmers.
3. Carbon Incentives: Action: Clark will come up with cost, benefit and measurements. Elizabeth suggested we get Google or Amazon to pay for it. Australia has coal subsidize farmers $23/acre for carbon sequestration.
4. Community Garden and Food Share- Action: none for now
5. Education: Educating adults and children about building soil. Action: Ken will get email contact list of all farmers at farmers market. Jon offered table space at Ollin Farms Farmer’s Market booth for our group. The group does want to participate by getting a table at the Soil Revolution Conference Dec 14th. It costs $250. Ideas for funding this event are everyone give $20, Farmer’s Market participants give 2% of proceeds, charge dues for out group. Jon will be our representative at Ollin Farms Fall Festival this Sunday Oct. 8th. Idea to get exemplary land owners to show best practices. There are two brothers in Wiggins who own a very large farm who are successfully incorporating Gabe Brown’s ideas. How do we use them as example to incentivize others to farm that way?
6. Phone app that tells you where your food comes from and how nutritious it is. Action: none
7. Volunteer Core to help farmers. Action: none
8. Change laws over Colorado biosolids. Action: none
9. Have county buy no till machinery and employ someone to run and maintain the machinery. Action: Clark says he’s already working on this.
Continuing Education within the group:
Plan to view a 20 minute video on Consumer Revolution at next meeting. Pam can tell us what she’s been up to. Turie met with 63rd St. Farm and reported her best practices. Clark wants to do a field trip and visit a farm and show us soil testing. Who wants to go to Soil Range Management in Pueblo Oct 31 and Nov 1st? I can go Oct 31st.
Thanks everyone see you Nov 1st at 7856 Baseline Rd, Boulder, CO 80303 for our next meeting.