[View the 2021 Winter Conference HERE.]

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​Join The Livestock Institute of Southern New England (TLI) for its Virtual Winter Livestock Conference, Wednesday November 3rd, 2021.
This one-day event will address the marketing and profitability of locally raised proteins by small and mid-size farms in Southern New England. Experts on pricing, sourcing, online marketing, institutional sales and retail sales will offer insights and experiences working with livestock farms.

Workshop Schedule (more descriptions coming soon):
9:00am - Cian Dalzell, The Carrot Project - Finding your Costs of Production
10:00am - Travis Perry, Meatworks - Profitable Cut Sheets. Travis will show us how to use Meatworks' cut sheets to get the most profitable cuts from your animal.
11:00am - Matt Leroux, Cornell - Profitable Meat Marketing and the New Cornell Pricing Calculator. You are raising and selling local meat, but are you making a profit? Learn to use the new and improved Cornell Meat Price Calculator to develop prices that deliver a profit in every channel. We’ll demo the new tool and discuss our approach to setting meat cut prices for each sales channel you use.
12:00pm - Institutional Sales (Panel Discussion) - UMass Amherst Dining, Farm Fresh Rhode Island, Chef Chris Cronin

Additional resources:
TLI's Virtual Training - Beef Evaluation
New England Grazing Network & TLI's Fencing Videos

PAST EVENTS

January 26, 2019
​Bristol County Agricultural High School

Keynote Speakers:
 Derek Wagner of Nick's on Broadway & The Chef's Collaborative 
with Jake Rojas of Tallulah's Taqueria & The Chef's Collaborative

Thank you to our lead sponsor
Schedule:
8:00 – 8:30      Registration (check out the expo)
8:30 – 8:45      Welcome & Introductions
8:45 – 9:45      Keynote Address
9:45 – 10:00    Coffee Break & Expo
10:00 – 11:30  Seminar 1
11:30 – 12:30 Catered Lunch
12:30 – 2:00    Seminar 2
2:00 – 3:30      Seminar 3
3:30 – 5:00      Seminar 4
 
Keynote: 8:45 – 9:45
Chef’s Collaborative: Working with Farmers to Make a Positive Impact on the Local Food System
Derek Wagner, Chefs Collaborative & Nicks on Broadway
Derek will talk about the Chefs Collaborative & his own mission to make a positive impact on the food system through his work with local farmers. He will speak about the farmer support driven methods he has implemented at Nicks on Broadway, focusing on his own experiences with meat sourcing, production, education & better meat practices. He will talk about what he’s learned, the challenges he & many chefs & farmers face, and how it has shaped the way he sources, cooks, writes his menus & thinks about food. 
Keynote Panel Discussion: Jake Rojas, David Dadekian, James Wayman, Annemarie Bouthiete (Blackbird Farm), & Ben Coerper (Wild Harmony Farms)
David Dadekian, a passionate food & farm advocate and the founder of Eat/Drink RI, one of the top media, marketing and event production companies in Southern New England will moderate this panel of experienced chefs and farmers. These discussions will focus on how they support our local food system, some of the farmer/chef obstacles they currently face, why we want & need more local meat, and share their strategies on what they look for, why, and how they’re getting what they’ve harvested to restaurants and retails outlets. The audience will be able to ask questions to the chefs & farmers, this session should be interactive & action packed!
 
 
SEMINAR 1: 10:00 – 11:30
Chef’s Collaborative: Continuing the Conversation, Derek Wagner of Nick’s on Broadway, Jake Rojas of Tallulah’s Taqueria
Decoding Labels, Katie Amos, Animal Welfare Approved
Meatworks Q & A: Cut sheets, Protocols & the VistaTrac System, Amado Baeza and Barry Gross
Sheep 101, Dr. Maria Hoffman, University of Rhode Island
Eggs 101, Chuck Currie, Freedom Food Farm
Genetic Selection in your Herd, Morgan Hartman, 


SEMINAR 2: 12:30 – 2:00
Marketing Basics, Myrna Greenfield of Good Egg MarketinG
Whole Animal Breakdown of a Goat, Jake Levin, The Roving Butcher
Selling to Potential Buyers, Erik Kunz, City Fresh
What’s Your Place in the Beef Industry? Part 1, Kevin Woolham, KDW Livestock
Advanced Pastured Poultry Production – Focus on Improving System Design for Broiler Production, Jennifer Hashley, New Entry Sustainable Farming Project & Pete Lowy, Codman Community Farms with Pete & Jen’s Backyard Birds
Sheep 201, Dr. Maria Hoffman


SEMINAR 3: 2:00 – 3:30
Applying Sales Models to Your Farm, Kira Bennett Hamilton (The Carrot Project), Rachael Slattery (Wild Harmony Farm), and Chef Chris Cronin
Quickbooks Open Tutorial, Patrick Kirby, Farm Credit East
Meatworks: Value Added Products, Amado Baeza and Stan Dzengelewski
Pasture, Hay Fields, Managed Intensive Grazing and Crop Insurance, Putting it all together on a grass based farm, Kevin McCarthy, Signal Rock Farm
Pigs 101, Chuck Currie, Freedom Food Farm
What’s Your Place in the Beef Industry? Part 2, Kevin Woolham, KDW Livestock
 
 
SEMINAR 4: 3:30 – 5:00
Sales! Martin Beck, New England Grassfed
Meatworks Update and Path Forward, TLI Board of Directors
Practical silvopasture systems in the Northeastern United States, Joseph Orefice, Ph.D. 
LEAN Farming, Pat McNiff

Keynote Speakers:

Derek Wagner takes the work of a chef to another level. He’s not just a courier of flavor, delivering bold, seasonal messages to palates, but he also makes it his business to reach diners on a deeper level. And it’s been that way since Wagner took over Nicks on Broadway in 2002, when he was just 24 years old. From its modest 18-seat beginning to its current tripled capacity, Nicks has evolved into a Providence institution, and Wagner uses that platform to foster good food, community, and consciousness in tandem.
An early and eager proponent of forging close relationships with farmers and producers, Wagner also planted his own herb and vegetable gardens and fruit trees. A two-time James Beard nominee, with Nicks named “One of the World’s Best Restaurants” by Fodor’s three years in a row, Wagner doesn’t rest on his laurels. In 2010, he was a featured chef at the James Beard House in conjuction with his contribution to the Harvest to Heat cookbook (Taunton Press). Wagner was also a featured chef in the Philip Johnson Glass House dinner and benefit, as well as in the film associated with the event. In February 2014, he took his message all the way to Congress, where he advocated for small and responsible fisheries. Wagner sits on the board of Chefs Collaborative and is the only chef on the board of the Rhode Island Seafood and Marketing Collaborative. In 2014, he won the StarChefs.com Coastal New England Sustainability Award.

Jake Rojas first encountered classical French cookery while in vocational school after an early run-in with the law. Working with food, though, helped the El Paso, Texas native realize his own potential––both personally and professionally. After graduating with a culinary degree from The Art Institute of Dallas, Rojas went on to progress in esteemed kitchens across the country, including The Sunset Restaurant, L’Atelier De Joël Robuchon, and Alain Ducasse’s Mix. In 2010, Rojas headed for Newport, Rhode Island, to open Tallulah on Thames. As head chef and co-owner with his wife Kelly Ann, Rojas pushed boundaries with aggressively flavorful and composed fine dining dishes served in a casual seaside atmosphere. Rojas also launched Tallulah’s Taco Truck, followed by Tallulah’s Taqueria in Providence, inspired by the Chicano flavors of his childhood. In 2016, Rojas closed the fine dining Tallulah to focus on the casual concepts. He has been noted as one of the best chefs in New England by Food & Wine and earned a StarChefs Rising Stars Award in 2014. 
Thank you to all of our sponsors.

2019 SNE Livestock Conference Workshops

This year, our conference is including additional focus on sales as we bring in more industry professionals to help us learn some of the best ways to access certain markets and grow our businesses. We will have seven tracks of programming, with several sessions in each track and providing a range of topics and learning opportunities.  Click on the tracks below to learn more about each one.  More sessions will be added as the conference gets closer, so check back frequently!

Track 1: Marketing & Management Skills
Marketing Basics, Myrna Greenfield of Good Egg Marketing 
Want to increase sales for your farm? Do you have a plan for how to achieve your goals? A marketing plan works like a GPS to keep you headed in the right direction. Learn the four steps for creating a plan in just a few hours. This interactive workshop will help you outline your plan and get feedback from other farmers and food entrepreneurs.

Myrna Greenfield is the “Top Egg” at Good Egg Marketing, a Boston-based marketing agency that helps farms and food-related businesses increase sales and build customer loyalty. Good Egg provides market research, brand development, sales and marketing strategies, websites, and social media. Greenfield is a frequent speaker at conferences, events, and workshops. She holds an MBA from Simmons School of Management and lives in Jamaica Plain, Mass.

Decoding Labels, Katie Amos, Animal Welfare Approved
Looking for ways to distinguish your sustainable, pasture-based products in the marketplace? Learn how third-party 
certification and use of trusted food labels reflects and protects your practices—all while giving current (and new) customers a label they can trust.

Katie Amos, Lead Farmer and Market Outreach Coordinator for A Greener World (AGW), is passionate about communicating the benefits of high-welfare animal agriculture and has traveled throughout the country to speak about transparency, understanding food labels, and to support AGW’s high welfare, pasture-based farmers. Katie is responsible for leading AGW’s outreach team, assists with new programs and initiatives within the organization–including AGW’s labeling support and membership programs, and is responsible for farmer and consumer services in the Northeast region. 

Applying Sales Models to Your Farm, Kira Bennett Hamilton (The Carrot Project), Rachael Slattery (Wild Harmony Farm), and Chef Chris Cronin
The goal of this talk is to provide examples of three different livestock operations as a foundation for participants to compare and contrast with their own operation. Utilizing the recently released Producer - Business Models, we will examine some of the local sales avenues for meat and discuss the advantages and drawbacks of each sales model for various farms. This workshop will discuss decision making strategy, accessing new markets, and tips to consider as you choose to diversify your sales streams. 
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Sales! Martin Beck, New England Grassfed
This interactive session will explore strategies for identifying and communicating shared value systems in an open discussion/dialogue format. Martin will share his proven networking techniques to (1) build trust and transparency with potential customers (2) demonstrate value proposition with tasty, nutrient dense meat that honors the animals' natural inclinations and the land's carrying capacity and (3) transform customers into passionate advocates and brand ambassadors through relational marketing and creation of lasting connections. 
 
Martin Beck is the founder and owner of New England Grassfed and has been raising grass-fed beef on coastal RI pastures LOCALLY, NATURALLY & HUMANELY since 2011 when an unremarkable career in landscape architecture (Cornell '88) took a hard left turn. Sales for a local farm turned into rotational grazing of 40 head stocker herd focused on building soil and growing thick high-value forage at his Cloverbud Ranch property in Portsmouth, RI.

Quickbooks Open Tutorial, Patrick Kirby, Farm Credit East
Bring your computer or digital device and get your burning Quickbooks questions answered! Quickbooks is not just a software program to record your revenue and expenses, but a powerful tool to examine the health of your business. Learn how to use Quickbooks to your advantage. Patrick will answer your questions and help you through some of the common mistakes people make with Quickbooks.
 
Patrick Kirby is a certified public accountant with non-profit accounting experience in both the public and private sectors.  Currently, he works for Farm Credit East, providing tax, record-keeping and general business advice for a variety of agricultural operations in Southeastern MA.  He is also a veteran and a proud father of two with a strong desire to see local agriculture succeed.

Track 2: Butchering & Meatworks
Whole Animal Breakdown of a Goat, Jake Levin, The Roving Butcher
Jake will guide you through a whole animal breakdown of a goat. He will describe basic butchers' anatomy, how the animal’s life affects the various cuts, and how to best utilize those cuts. During the demo he will discuss various value-added techniques that can be applied to the different cuts including smoking and dry curing. 
 
Jake Levin lives in the southern Berkshires with his wife- Silka- on the land where he grew up. He is a whole-animal-butcher and artist. When Jake is not cooking in his outdoor kitchen, he is making cured-meats at Jacuterie; or on the road teaching people how to slaughter, butcher and cure meats as the Roving Butcher. Jake is the author of the forthcoming book The Smokehouse Handbook published by Storey Publishing (coming April 2019)

Meatworks Update and Path Forward, TLI Board of Directors
Come meet The Livestock Institute’s Board of Directors. Find out what we have been working on and our vision going forward for Meatworks and TLI. We will open up the discussion to include different methods of operating the retail store, which is now open. Help us to build better relationships between meatworks and producers, how to expand the value-added products line, and more. We will also be discussing the potential for additional board member positions.
 
Meatworks: Value Added Products, Amado Baeza and Stan Dzengelewski
We will discuss some of the cuts that are part of Meatworks standard cutting options that producers/customers may not be familiar with. These cuts include Beef Shoulder Flatiron Steak, Beef Shoulder Tender, Beef Plate Outside Skirt, Beef Flanken Style Ribs, Top Sirloin Cap Roast/Steaks, Bottom Sirloin Ball-Tip and Tri-Tip Steaks/Roasts. We will provide cooking recommendations, share some recipes and marketing tips. 
 
Amado Baeza is the chief operating office for the Meatworks facility. He oversees and operates the slaughterhouse and processing facility. Amado has over 31 years of experience in the slaughtering and meat cutting industry. In addition to his expertise in meat cutting, Amado has extensive management experience and has worked as a plant manager, director of operations and in other high-level management positions for more than 15 years. Amado has experience in all aspects of facility management, including developing food safety plans, working with USDA inspectors, sales, scheduling, operations and quality control, employee safety, and has helped in plant start up including helping with the planning, designing, set-up, and operating of a new facility.
 
Stan Dzengelewski has been involved in the New England food scene for over ten years. A chef by trade, he has trained in French and Japanese cuisines with a focus on seasonal, whole animal, and farm to table cooking. He has worked in notable Portland, ME restaurants Miyake, Back Bay Grill, The Portland Hunt and Alpine Club, and hosted a charity dinner at the James Beard House in New York City. During a year at Little Moss restaurant in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, he was impressed with the abundance and quality of local meat & produce. He joined the Meatworks opening team in July to focus on the processing side of the local food scene.
 
 
Meatworks Q & A: Cut sheets, Protocols & the VistaTrac System, Amado Baeza and Barry Gross
We will hold a Q&A about Meatworks services, cutting and further processing options. Product descriptions and cutting instructions will be explained in detail. I would like to have an open dialog about some of our opportunities we have encountered during the startup and the importance of constructive communication between processor and producer. We will also provide a thorough explanation on the capabilities of our tracking system and how it can benefit producers.
 
Amado Baeza is the chief operating office for the Meatworks facility. He oversees and operates the slaughterhouse and processing facility. Amado has over 31 years of experience in the slaughtering and meat cutting industry. In addition to his expertise in meat cutting, Amado has extensive management experience and has worked as a plant manager, director of operations and in other high-level management positions for more than 15 years. Amado has experience in all aspects of facility management, including developing food safety plans, working with USDA inspectors, sales, scheduling, operations and quality control, employee safety, and has helped in plant start up including helping with the planning, designing, set-up, and operating of a new facility.
 
Barry Gross has been involved in the local agricultural community for several years, including raising livestock. He currently distributes local produce to many of the finest restaurants in Boston. He is the co-chair of the processing subcommittee of the Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation Livestock Committee.  Barry also spends his time playing music around the region, doing art and architectural photography locally and abroad, working with the Mass Audubon Society, and enjoying the waters of Buzzards Bay.
Track 3: Soil & Pasture Health

Silvopasture, Joseph Orefice, Ph.D.
Dr. Orefice will describe practical silvopasture systems that have  potential for implementation in the Northeastern Unites States. He will also differentiate these systems from common unsustainable woodland grazing practices. He  will draw on regional farm examples of silvopasture accrued from his decade of work practicing and studying silvopasture in New York and New England.  

Joe serves as Director of Forest and Agricultural Operations at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. He teaches courses in agroforestry and forest management and he also oversees forestry operations and applied educational opportunities on the 10,880 acre Yale School Forests system.Joe’s research focus is in temperate agroforestry and applied forest management Additionally, he owns and operates Hidden Blossom Farm in Union, CT where he raises grass-fed beef and implements agroforestry systems (www.hiddenblossomfarm.com).

Pasture, Hay Fields, Managed Intensive Grazing and Crop Insurance, Putting it all together on a grass based farm, Kevin McCarthy, Signal Rock Farm
Kevin McCarthy and his wife Marianne run Signal Rock Farm, a 245 acre APR farm in Charlton MA.  They have 50 ewes and raise 100 lambs that are grass raised and grass finished and direct marketed.  They also produce 12,500 bales of hay annually from 100 acres of hay fields.  They use a haying/grazing rotation with electrified netting on the hay fields to control parasites, get maximum growth in the lambs and increase fertility of the fields.  Kevin is also a crop insurance agent and they use crop insurance to mitigate the losses caused by drought.

Soil as a Carbon Sponge, Didi Pershouse 
Talk description coming soon.
Track 4: Insight into Buyers
Understanding the Market for Culturally Connected Meats, Nicola Williams
Nicola will discuss how to access the thriving markets for goat meat, oxtail, and other less-common cuts.

Relationship Building with Chefs, Irene Li, Mei Mei
Irene Li operates Mei Mei Street Kitchen & Mei Mei Restaurant in Boston, where her work centers around ethical sourcing and fair employment practices. The award-winning food businesses merge modern techniques and multicultural cuisine with local foods and sustainable business practices. Mei Meiʼs creative, farm-driven, Chinese American food has been featured in Food & Wine, Eater Boston & Eater National, The New York Times, Restaurant Hospitality, People, Bon Appetit, The Boston Globe, and more. Ireneʼs life experiences range from organic farming to prison education and many things in between, and while she never expected a life in the restaurant industry, her desire to create change and care for those around her remains constant. She is an Eater Young Gun winner, Zagat and Forbes 30 Under 30 Honoree, and a four-time James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef semi-finalist.

Selling to Distributors, Erik Kunz, City Fresh
Erik is the Chief Operating Officer at City Fresh Foods in Roxbury, MA. He has spent nearly 30 years working in food management, mostly with large Food Service companies like Sodexo and Compass Group, and is now proud to be working in the community with City Fresh. City Fresh Foods, in operation since 1994, serves more than 9000 meals a day to home-bound seniors, day care centers, adult day centers, charter schools and after-school programs in the Boston-area. Working in the challenging space of publicly-funded feeding and surrounded by Corporate competitors, City Fresh; a for-profit company, lives its values. City Fresh supports the Fight for 15 and currently has a $15/ hour minimum wage for all workers and plans to move toward employee-ownership in the coming years and months. They also are constantly striving to serve as much fresh and local food as possible, in spite of working in commodity-driven markets.
 
Chef’s Collaborative, Derek Wagner of Nick’s on Broadway and Jake Rojas of Tallulah’s Taqueria
Talk description coming soon

Track 5: Animal Basics
Sheep 101, Dr. Maria Hoffman, University of Rhode Island
An introduction to raising sheep. I will cover the basics of sheep care and management as well as purchase.

Dr. Hoffman is an Assistant Professor of Sustainable Animal Production at the University of Rhode Island. Her research area focuses on understanding how different factors such as poor maternal nutrition during gestation can affect the offspring in different livestock species. Maria has raised sheep for over 15 years and has experience raising cattle as well as pigs.

What’s Your Place in the Beef Industry? Part 1, Kevin Woolham
Are you currently involved in a beef enterprise or looking to the future? What are your goals for your beef project? We will look at the different aspects of the industry and where you might fit best.

Pigs 101, Chuck Currie, Freedom Food Farm
We will cover the basics of raising hogs for meat including sourcing piglets, breed selection, land considerations, housing, fencing, feed, care, as well as breeding, farrowing, and processing options. We will also work through a sample cost of production to help make economic and marketing decisions.
 
Chuck Currie runs Freedom Food Farm, a 90 acre, four-season diversified farm which sells certified organic produce, meat, grain and eggs from the farm in Raynham, MA and three farmers' markets in Somerville, MA and Pawtucket, RI. He started farming in 2003 after completing a B.S. in Plant and Soil Science from UMass Amherst and farmed in Western Mass., Vermont, and Rhode Island before starting Freedom Food Farm in 2012. 

Eggs 101, Chuck Currie, Freedom Food Farm
We will cover the basics of raising chickens for eggs including sourcing and raising chicks, land considerations, breed selection, housing, fencing, feed, care, predator protection, and processing hens and roosters. We will also work through a sample cost of production to help make economic and marketing decisions.
 
Chuck Currie runs Freedom Food Farm, a 90 acre, four-season diversified farm which sells certified organic produce, meat, grain and eggs from the farm in Raynham, MA and three farmers' markets in Somerville, MA and Pawtucket, RI. He started farming in 2003 after completing a B.S. in Plant and Soil Science from UMass Amherst and farmed in Western Mass., Vermont, and Rhode Island before starting Freedom Food Farm in 2012. 
Track 6: Advanced Animal Care
Genetic Selection in your Herd, Morgan Hartman
Talk description coming soon

LEAN Farming, Pat McNiff
Talk description coming soon
 
Advanced Pastured Poultry Production – Focus on Improving System Design for Broiler Production, Jennifer Hashley, New Entry Sustainable Farming Project & Pete Lowy, Codman Community Farms with Pete & Jen’s Backyard Birds
This advanced workshop will focus on raising pastured poultry at scale.  Learn about breed selection, brooding practices, coop design, feeder placement, pasture management, rotations, product quality assurance, health concerns, crating, preparing for slaughter and slaughter details.  Results from a recent SARE Farmer Grant will share results of feeding trials and growth rates.  Also new innovations in mobile feeding and livestock watering technology will be shared.
 
Pete and Jen’s Backyard Birds was started in 2003 and evolved to include diverse pasture-based enterprises including broilers, layers, pork, rabbit, turkey, grass-fed beef, occasional sheep and goats, and specialty vegetables and fruit.  In 2016, the operation transitioned to Codman Community Farms in Lincoln, MA.  Pete Lowy is the Farm Manager at Codman Community Farm in Lincoln, MA and manages the livestock operation on over 180 acres of land in pasture rotation and hay production.  Pete was formerly a vegetable farmer for over twelve years on several Northeast farms.  Jen Hashley is the Director for the New Entry Sustainable Farming project (http://www.nesfp.org), which assists new and beginning farmers to begin agricultural enterprises in Massachusetts. New Entry also owns and manages the MA Mobile Poultry Processing Unit and supports producers to secure a state-slaughter license to process poultry on farm.  They met while studying organic agriculture at the UCSC Farm and Garden Agroecology Apprenticeship program in Santa Cruz, CA. Jen is originally from Indiana and holds degrees in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Indiana University and a Masters in Agricultural Policy from Tufts University. Pete grew up in the suburbs of Long Island, NY and holds a degree in Psychology from Ithaca College.  They are both Returned Peace Corps Volunteers - Jen taught hillside farming in Honduras and Pete taught gardening and nutrition in the Federated States of Micronesia (western Pacific Islands). They have a son, Abraham who is five and loves to give farm tours.


What’s Your Place in the Beef Industry? Part 2, Kevin Woolham
We will expand on different model’s: feeder, stocker, cow/calf, finishers and the level and type of management needed to succeed in each one. We will look at nutritional, health, and genetic selection programs to help optimize performance and profitability.

Sheep 201, Dr. Maria Hoffman, University of Rhode Island
Dr. Hoffman will cover more advanced management practices and include information on parasite management and common diseases.
 
Dr. Hoffman is an Assistant Professor of Sustainable Animal Production at the University of Rhode Island. Her research area focuses on understanding how different factors such as poor maternal nutrition during gestation can affect the offspring in different livestock species. Maria has raised sheep for over 15 years and has experience raising cattle as well as pigs.

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