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Buy Local workshops offered in 2013

MADISON — A series of three Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin workshops will be held in early 2013 for local food producers. The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) encourages producers to register now for these technical assistance workshops taught by regional experts in-person and via webinar.

Intermediate QuickBooks allows participants to increase or refresh their skills with this software. Taught by the professionals of Wegner CPAs, the session will cover advanced topics including inventory, sales tax, payroll setup and processing. This workshop will only be offered one day on Tuesday, January 15 live in Madison or via webinar. Producers can participate in the webinar by coming to a classroom in Green Bay or from their personal computer. The workshop will run from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Registration to attend on-site is $19, which includes lunch. To participate remotely by webinar, there is a $10 registration fee. A current subscription to QuickBooks is required before participating in the webinar from home.

Post-Harvest Handling and On-Farm Food Safety features training by farmer and author Atina Diffley on the newly released manual, Wholesale Success: A Farmer's Guide to Selling Post-Harvest Handling and Packing Produce. Producers will receive a free copy of the 300-page manual, which includes crop-specific information on harvesting, cooling, storing and packing according to industry standards.

Training will be held on Tuesday, January 22 in Wisconsin Dells; Wednesday, January 23 in Rice Lake; Thursday, January 24 in Viroqua; and Friday, January 25 in Madison. Times vary. The cost to participate is $9 and includes lunch. The workshop on Friday in Madison will also be offered by live webinar for no cost.

Fearless Farm Finances will be taught in three parts and cover farm finances, pricing and enterprise budgets. Paul Dietmann of Badgerland Financial and Craig Chase of Iowa State University Extension and Outreach will teach three different 90-minute webinars. The cost per webinar is $10.

On Thursday, February 28, topics include balance sheets, income statements and statements of cash flow. On Thursday, March 7, the webinar will cover enterprise budget analysis including discussion on production changes, product mix and pricing. On Thursday, March 14, investment analysis, partial budgeting and other tools will be discussed.

To register, visit http://datcp.wi.gov/Business/Buy_Local_Buy_Wisconsin/BLBW_Workshops. For more information, contact DATCP's Callie LaPoint at 608-224-5112 or callie.lapoint@wisconsin.gov.