It’s time for the annual Local Food Producer Workshops! Dates and locations have been set. We are still finalizing schedules and registration.
Mark you calendars now and look for announcements to register soon!
Tag: Kansas Local Foods
Local Foods Town Hall
Photo: Canva.com
Join the Kansas Local Foods quarterly town hall! These virtual events are for anyone in Kansas interested in learning more about local food projects, organizations, and opportunities happening in Kansas.
The town halls are held at 11:00AM the last Wednesday of January, April, July, and October. The next session is scheduled for October 29, 2026.
Register now to receive the Zoom link.
Recordings of past quarterly town halls are also available.
Sign up for the Kansas Local Foods newsletter to stay informed.
Kansas Seasonal Local Food
While many foods are in season year round, there are many others that are available for limited times. Here’s what to expect at your local farmers market, U-pick or other local source.
This poster is available to purchase from the K-State Research and Extension Bookstore.
Kansas Local Foods Summit
The Kansas Local Food Summit will be held July 29-30, 2025 in Salina, co-hosted by the Community Resilience Hub at Kansas Wesleyan University. The Summit will begin with a day of optional workshops and tours on Tuesday, followed by a full day of speakers, interactive learning sessions, and more opportunities to connect with people from across the state on Wednesday.
Still Time to Sign Up for Local Foods Regional Workshops
Six locations will be host workshops for local foods entrepreneurs to learn about food safety, business practices, sales tax and more. This is a brought to you by K-State Research and Extension, Kansas Department of Agriculture, and the Kansas Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Alternative Crops.
Local Food Producer Workshops
Once again, K-State Research and Extension and the Kansas Department of Agriculture will be offering in-person workshops for Kansas Local Food Producers. See the information below and save the date now for the location and date that fits your schedule. More information and registration will be announced soon.
2025 Women Managing the Farm Conference
The 2025 Women Managing the Farm Conference will be held in Manhattan, KS on February 12-14, 2025. The theme is Forging the Future.
This conference is for women to gain resources and training for todays farm or ag business. It is a great opportunity to make connections with like minded farm women.
Learn more and sign up for email updates at https://womenmanagingthefarm.com/.
Local Food Fellows Program
With funding provided by a Regional Food Systems Partnership Grant through the Agricultural Marketing Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, K-State Research and Extension Local Food Systems offers the Kansas Local Food Fellows Program. Food system partners across the state of Kansas can apply to host a fellow to work on a site-specific local food system project. Projects may be related to, but are not restricted to research, education, marketing, or community engagement of local food system participants including producers, processors, distributors, retailers, and/or consumers.
Applications are now being accepted through September 30, 2024 to become a local food fellow host. Organizations outline a project and the role of the fellow for that project. The fellow position must be able to complete the project in 320 hours.
Learn more and how to apply at https://www.ksre.k-state.edu/kansaslocalfoods/get-involved/fellows/.
Business Builder Grant Opportunity
The Heartland Regional Food Business Center will provide financial assistance through Business Builder (BB) Subawards of $5,000 to $50,000 each to support projects focused on meeting regional needs and increasing capacity among food and farm businesses working toward expansion in local and regional food markets.
Eligible to apply are small food and farm businesses or nonprofit organizations either located in or serving the five-state Heartland Center region (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska) and/or nine counties in northwest Arkansas (Benton, Carrol, Boone, Washington, Madison, Newton, Crawford, Franklin, Johnson).
Applications will be accepted through October 15, 2024.
Details and application can be found at https://heartlandfoodbusiness.org/business-builder/.
Business Builder Grant Opportunity
A new grant opportunity called the Business Builder grant was recently announced by the USDA through the Heartland Regional Food Business Center. The grant will support local and regional food enterprises across the supply chain, from suppliers to buyers.
This program is designed to promote business expansion, job creation, business capacity building, and increase local products in the local market throughout the Heartland Region, including Kansas. Please share this opportunity with partners, entrepreneurs, and others across Kansas who may benefit.
The grant provides the chance to be awarded $5,000 to $50,000 that can be used for consultants, staffing for projects, supplies, equipment and more! The deadline for applying for this grant is Oct 15, 2024, and estimated awards will be announced in early 2025.
Business Builder Grant
Get More Information About the Grant
There is an informational webinar on applying for the Business Builder grant on August 28, 2024, 12 – 1 pm, Central Time. A recording will be available after the meeting, just in case you miss it!
Through the grant, recipients can also gain one-on-one counseling offered by Heartland Regional Food Business Center partners and collaborators right here in Kansas!
About the Heartland Regional Food Business Center
The Heartland Heartland Regional Food Business Center, led by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and rural Missouri community development corporation New Growth, focuses on expanding the local and regional food system in Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and northwest Arkansas. It conducts this work as a regional team with 14 Key Partners and 20 Collaborators across the five states. K-State Research and Extension and Kansas Rural Center are two of 14 key partners implementing the Heartland Regional Food Business Center. Click here to learn more about the HRFBC’s Kansas offerings.
Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity to support the growth of your community!
Questions? Complete the contact form at heartlandfoodbusiness.org/contact/ or email heartlandrfbc@ksu.edu. For more about this grant and other opportunities, join the Heartland Regional Food Business Center Newsletter for all the updates to come.