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                 The University of Illinois Extension will be hosting two Farm 
				Commons webinars at the University of Illinois Extension office, 
				700 S. Airport Drive in Springfield, Ill. on January 5 and 6. 
				The webinars will include –Hosting Safe, Legally Secure Farm 
				Events; and Adding Value without Adding Legal Liability To Farm 
				Products. 
 The webinars are free, but you must register at
				
				http://farmcommons.org/webinars  to attend. You then 
				have two options: you can view the webinar at your own 
				home/office or you can attend at the University of Illinois 
				Extension office.
 
              
                
              
              
				 
              
				Each webinar will provide lots of time for questions, input from 
				farmers themselves, and true stories about folks who have been 
				there. In Springfield, we will have local experts at each of the 
				webinars including Wes King, Executive Director, Illinois 
				Stewardship Alliance and Rebecca Osland, an attorney in 
				Springfield, providing legal advice and planning services to 
				people involved in local food and local businesses.
				 
              
				The featured webinars will include:
 Hosting Safe, Legally Secure Farm Events
 Monday, January 5, 2:00-3:30 p.m.
 
 On-farm events are a great way to build support in the 
				community. And, they’re a lot of fun! But as the saying goes, 
				it’s only fun until someone loses an eye. Make sure your farm 
				isn’t left with the short end of the stick after a 
				good-intentioned event goes bad. From zoning compliance to guest 
				injuries and serving prepared food, we’ll work through a 
				checklist of things a farm should address before hosting an 
				event.
 
              
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               Adding Value without Adding Legal Liability to Farm Products Tuesday, January 6, 2:00-3:30 p.m.
 
 Although starting a processing operation, improving packaging, and 
			developing new products are great ways to make the farm more 
			profitable, these activities have a huge legal impact. Employment 
			laws, liability potential, state/federal regulations, and tax 
			factors all change when a farm begins to process product. Farms 
			relying on cottage food laws should make sure to attend- we’ll talk 
			about what these laws do not do to protect farms.
 
 For more information, contact Deborah Cavanaugh-Grant, Extension 
			Educator at 217-782-4617, cvnghgrn@illinois.edu
 
			[Deborah Cavanaugh-Grant, Extension 
			Educator, Local Food Systems and Small Farms, University of Illinois 
			Extension] 
			
			 
			
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