Minutes of Feburary 2, 2017

Loudon Agriculture Commission
Minutes of Feburary 2, 2017

Members:

Doug Towle: President
Chris Koufos: Vice-President
Bruce Dawson: Secretary
Cindy Shea: Treasurer

Attendees: Doug Towle, Bruce Dawson, Cindy Shea, Carole Soule, Kay Doyon, Bridget Aznive

Called to order at 7:02pm

Old Business

Carole will also apply to the NE Grass Roots Fund for money to redo the Loudon Farm Map.

1. Minutes from the January 5, 2017 meeting were accepted with (lots of) corrections.
2. Someone has to get the Ag Commission Box from Chris and give it to Doug
3. Workshops for 2017 - Carole drafted a NH Ag Promotion Mini-Grant which it was agreed would be used for soap making, and rabbit raising/processing workshop. The workshop specifics will be:
   1. Soap Making
   2. Rabbit Raising/Processing. This will be a two part workshop (raising, then optionally processing). $45/pp and $5 for each additional person. This will be held in the fall at the Doyon's. There will be a $5 charge for people attending the raising part of the workshop.
   3. The chicken processing workshop will be June 3 at the Doyon's. $45 pp and $5 for each additional person.
4. Grants and Fundraising. The above workshops hopefully will be paid for, in part, by the NH Ag Promotion Mini-Grant.
5. Website and Social Media. The mailing list did not receive much spam, so Bruce is going to hold off on doing anything about it for now.
6. Carole will continue to create the Newsletter to promote workshops only
7. Master Plan/Planning Board - no change, but a few people were interested in what Stanley Prescott, Loudon Planning Board, might share.
8. Loudon Ledger - The farm map was not included in the last issue because the Loudon Communication's Commission has to keep the paper small to stay within budget. We have to keep our contributions to the paper to less than a half page. The board discussed if we should include advertising in the Ledger in future grant funding.

New Business

1. Bridget Aznive was in the group to get the Aznive Farm on the map. Note that she's a recent graduate of Veterinary Medicine and will soon be working in Maine. The board told Bridget that we'll put the Aznive farm back on the map.

Action Items

1. Bruce Dawson will contact Osborn Farm about being on the Farm Map and participating in the Ag Commission.
2. Cindy Shea will talk to Dennis S. about:
   • Updating the map.
   • Brochures/flyers for the workshops.
3. Carole Soule will reach out to Stanley Prescott regarding the Loudon Master Plan.
4. Kay Doyon has agreed to host and present at the Rabbit Raising workshop.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:51pm.