- 9:30-11:30am
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- Just Do It!
- (Joan Dye Gussow)
Join keynote speaker Joan Dye Gussow for a discussion about what it would require of farmers and eaters if Ohioans were to eat locally and seasonally throughout the year. What can't be produced in the region? What could be produced if there were a market? Can commodity producers switch to broccoli - or raspberries? What will you eat in January? Explore these and other questions affecting your livelihood and/or your dinner table.
- Home Charcuterie
- (Alex Baillieul & Rachel Tayse)
Using locally sourced meats and a few simple techniques, home cooks can make and enjoy their own cured meats. In a hands on workshop by homesteaders Alex Baillieul and Rachel Tayse, participants will create a hand formed pork breakfast sausage and a cased turkey grilling sausage. Samples of homemade bacon and dry cured sausage will also be offered along with recipes.
- Alternative and Local Food System Development: Answering Questions and Challenging
- Assumptions
- (Jeff Sharp)
As local and alternative food systems have developed, researchers have been critically examining them and their impact on the dominant food system. OSU Rural Sociology Professor Jeff Sharp will review this research and engage the audience in exploring questions such as whether local is better, what “local” means, and whether consumers are able to transform the dominant food system through their purchasing behaviors.
- Pasture for Profit 3: Nutrition and Organic Regulations
- (Bob Hendershot, Jeff McCutcheon, & Paul Dutter)
Join Bob Hendershot, 2010 Stinner Award Winner and Grazing Management Specialist for USDA NRCS, and Jeff McCutcheon, Morrow County Extension Educator, in their Pasture for Profit series to make your farm environmentally and economically sound. The third session will discuss the organic pasture rule and meeting the animals’ nutritional requirements on pasture.
- Green Building for Women in Agriculture
- (Annie & Jay Warmke)
Jay and Annie Warmke are pioneers in green living who have created a number of processes in building and farming that are particularly suitable for women. Take a virtual tour of Blue Rock Station, a sustainable living center they developed in rural Ohio, which uses passive and active solar energy, thermal mass, and clean garbage to make attractive useful buildings and has a successful intern program. Then learn tips and discuss how women specifically can safely and efficiently use basic tools, including power tools.
- 9:30-10:25am
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- An Ohio Seed-Starting Calendar: Beyond the Basics
- (Janell Baran)
Many popular garden crops are straightforward to start from seed or are locally available as starts. But what if you're interested in going beyond that limited selection? Many native flowers, heirloom varieties of vegetables and flowers, or unusual herbs have specialized requirements to start successfully from seed. Janell Baran will discuss advanced seed starting techniques and appropriate timing, and will present a prototype for a seed-starting calendar.
- Growing Nut Trees
- (Paul Hagen)
Nut trees are an excellent long-term investment. Paul Hagen will speak from his 20 years of experience as a member of the Ohio Nutgrowers Association. Learn which nut trees are best for Ohio and how to grow them from seed or grafts. In addition, find out how to harvest, process and store nuts as well as how to market them for the farmers market.
- Using IPM for Insect Pests in Organic Vegetable and Fruit Crops
- (Celeste Welty)
OSU Entomologist Dr. Celeste Welty will provide a brief overview of integrated pest management (IPM), followed by a description of several biological, cultural, and mechanical tactics that can be effectively used by organic growers to prevent, delay, or suppress pest populations in vegetable and fruit crops.
- Cover Crops in No-till Grain Production
- (Brad Suhr & Brother Nick Renner)
Brad Suhr and Brother Nick Renner are part of a team of farmers that received a SARE Grant to transition to sustainable agriculture using continuous no-till and cover crops. Their goal is to make no-till profitable and decrease input costs of fuel, fertilizer, and herbicides while improving yields, net profit, and environmental sustainability. They will share their experience with cover crops in a corn, soybean, wheat rotation plus explore the benefits of cover crops with manure applications.
- Successful Grass Fed Beef Farming: Production Tips
- (John Wiley)
John Wiley of Up the Lane Grass Fed Beef Farm produces quality meat using mob grazing, a technique recently popularized by Joel Salatin. He will describe how to face the primary challenges of sustaining a grass fed beef farm with his production methods, which are a departure from basic rotational grazing.
- Brand Yourself!
- (Kristen Pool)
Why do consumers choose one brand of a product over another? How do they choose between your produce and the produce at the stand next to you? Kristen Pool of Black Dog Acres will discuss how branding influences decision-making, and how you can create a brand for your farm that attracts customers to your product and keeps them coming back.
- Pricing for Profitability
- (Jackie LeBerth & J.B. King)
Selecting the right price for your farm goods is both art and science. This hands-on, interactive workshop from Jackie LeBerth of Bramble Creek Farms & J.B. King of King Family Farm will offer ideas for taking the guess work out of pricing, without requiring that you forge a permanent relationship with a spreadsheet. J.B. and Jackie guarantee that their workshop will help make your 2011 season the most enjoyable and profitable yet.
- Activism 101: Creating Positive Social Change Starts with You
- (Lauren Ketcham)
Join Lauren Ketcham, OEFFA's Communications Coordinator, to discover the power your voice has to change your world. She'll cover basic advocacy skills and why they are important to farmers, gardeners, and homesteaders. From letters to the editor, to contacting legislators, to getting your friends and neighbors involved, a little effort can make a real impact. Also, find out about opportunities to get involved with OEFFA to help build a sustainable agricultural future that nourishes our communities.
- 10:35-11:30am
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- Developing a SARE Farmer Grant for Your Farm or Market
- (Mike Hogan)
Learn the basics of identifying topics for USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Farmer Grant proposals, as well as the basics of developing those proposals. State Coordinator for USDA SARE in Ohio, Mike Hogan will provide an overview. Bring your project ideas for feedback.
- Growing Apples Organically
- (Charlie Fritsch)
Crisp, tasty, high quality apples can be grown following organic practices, even in Ohio if one starts with disease resistant varieties. Researcher and Windy Hill Apple Farm orchardist Charlie Fritsch will offer strategies for managing insects and fungal diseases as well as horticultural concerns for both commercial and backyard orcharding.
- Growing Organic Celery
- (Trish Mumme)
Commercial celery has one of the highest rates of pesticide residues among produce items. But although celery is not hard to grow organically and sells well at farmers markets, it is difficult to find. In a presentation suitable for both home and market gardeners, Trish Mumme of Garden Patch Produce will cover variety selection, seed starting, planting methods, harvesting, marketing and preserving tips for a July-November yield.
- Cover Crops in Organic Grain Production
- (Alan Sundermeier)
Cover crops can make a farm more productive and more profitable. Alan Sundermeier, Wood County Agricultural Extension Educator, will lead this session on how to best use cover crops in various systems of organic grain production. He will explain which cover crops provide particular benefits and how to include them in crop rotation for maximum soil enhancement.
- If We Knew Then What We Know Now: Looking Back at 10 Years of Beekeeping
- (Joe Loucek & Kristen Pool)
Ten years ago, Joe Loucek got his first beehives at Black Dog Acres. He initially learned beekeeping the way most new beekeepers do—by attending a course through the county beekeepers’ association. Over the years, he has learned that some of the traditional methods, especially the use of chemicals, are outdated. He will describe the evolution of his methods, what he wish he’d known when he started out, and what he continues to research and try.
- Successful Grass Fed Beef Farming: Marketing Tips
- (John Wiley)
Sustaining a grass fed beef farm offers challenges beyond simply producing a quality product. John Wiley of Up the Lane Grass Fed Beef Farm draws on his 30 year background in retail and branding to successfully market his product. John will explain his methods for offering his customers more than just food.
- Finding Great Interns!
- (Melinda O'Briant)
Based on her 12 years as garden manager of Turner Farm, Melinda O’Briant will offer her advice for finding the best interns. Learn where to post intern listings, how to describe your farm, and how to conduct the interview so that you can select the best intern and have a smooth, peaceful and profitable season.
- Ecological Parenting
- (Tim Tanner)
When you think of ecological farming, what words come to mind? Balance. Good timing. Intentional. Come discover how these and other principles of farm ecology readily lend themselves to raising eco-minded youth. Tim Tanner, who works in 4-H Youth Development, will direct this presentation toward parents, soon-to-be parents, and caregivers.
- 1:30-2:30pm
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- Soils and Climate Change
- (Ryan Hottle)
What is the correlation between global climate change and your local farm? Ryan Hottle, doctoral student at OSU, will explain his research on the role of soils in combating climate change. He will examine best management practices, including biochar production and agroforestry, and will discuss carbon credits for farmers and the impact global climate change will have on regional food production.
- The Diversity and Identification of Wild Mushrooms
- (Mark Steinmetz)
If you have wild areas on your farm, the chances are good that you have wild mushrooms. Mark Steinmetz, a professional photographer and member of the Ohio Mushroom Society, will offer a visual primer on the diversity of macrofungi, with an emphasis on basic identification approaches, wild edibles, and poisonous mushrooms.
- Growing Cut Flowers for Florists
- (Mike Brewster)
Producing cut flowers for florists can be a lucrative and enjoyable business on your farm. Mike Brewster of Barn Swallow Farm has been supplying Toledo area florists since 1996. He will discuss his environmentally friendly growing strategies, including fertility management and weed control.
- Tricks of the Trade: Improving Efficiency on Organic Vegetable Farms
- (Mick Luber & Doug Siebert)
Tools and production techniques can greatly improve the efficiency of planting, managing, harvesting and packing operations. Join Mick Luber of Bluebird Farm and Doug Siebert of Peach Mountain Organics, two experienced organic vegetable growers, in a panel discussion on time and labor saving techniques that can improve profitability on diverse specialty crop farms.
- Managing Soil Fertility in Organic Grain Production
- (Alan Sundermeier)
Understanding the fertility needs of your grain crops can greatly increase your harvest and your bottom line. Alan Sundermeier, Wood County Agricultural Extension Educator, will discuss how to manage soil fertility in organic grain systems, including sources and utilization of organic soil amendments.
- Multispecies Mob Grazing
- (Lisa & Bruce Rickard)
Considering transitioning from intensive grazing to mob grazing? Lisa and Bruce Rickard will describe their experience with grazing cattle and sheep on their 180 acres at Fox Hollow Farm. Having switched to mob grazing 2 years ago after 23 years of management intensive grazing, the Rickards will describe the pros and cons of their methods.
- Cooking with Whole Grains
- (Tricia Wheeler)
Cooking with whole grains adds a lot of flavor and health to your menu. Join Tricia Wheeler a classically studied chef and publisher of Edible Columbus to learn techniques and recipes for cooking with whole grains. Explore bulgur, barley, oats, farro, quinoa and wheat berries to add nutrition and variety to your meals.
- Lessons from Terra Madre
- (Mike & Laura Laughlin)
Terra Madre is an international network dedicated to global food sustainability with the goal of preserving taste and biodiversity. This workshop will provide an overview of the 2010 event held in Turin, Italy that brought 5,000 delegates together from all over the world. At Terra Madre and in their travel around Italy, Mike and Laura Laughlin learned much about European farm to school programs, and how rooted this part of the world is to local food. Join Mike, Laura, and other central Ohio delegates as they share what they’ve learned, and what we can do here.
- Tales and Tips on Farm Marketing in the Digital Age
- (Simon Huntley)
Farmers can use the Internet’s powerful tools to market their poducts, but can also become confused by ever-changing technologies. Simon Huntley of Small Farm Central has worked with hundreds of farmers on their web marketing plan, including utilizing websites, social media, ordering systems, and customer management tools. Learn tips that you can start using tomorrow!
- Pasture for Profit 4: Infrastructure
- (Bob Hendershot & Jeff McCutcheon)
Join Bob Hendershot, 2010 Stinner Award Winner and Grazing Management Specialist for USDA NRCS, and Jeff McCutcheon, Morrow County Extension Educator, in their Pasture for Profit series to make your farm environmentally and economically sound. This fourth session will cover designing and laying out paddocks for a grazing management system, including fencing and livestock pasture watering systems.
- Food Safety Policy: Current Events, Consequences and What We Can Do
- (Patty Lovera)
As salmonella, E. coli and other illnesses increase as a result of the industrial food production, policymakers are scrambling to update regulations to make our food safer. How that will impact organic and local farmers, value-added efforts and other innovations for a sustainable food system? Food and Water Watch's Patty Lovera will give an update on legislative initiatives such as S.B. 510 and the Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement, explore the potential impacts, and lead a discussion on what we can do to bring reason into process.
- Building a Local Organic Food Co-operative
- (Tom Rapini & Valerie Garrett)
An organic food co-operative can bring farmers and consumers together, forming a community of individuals who share a common vision, working to make organic food more affordable and accessible. Tom Rapini and Valerie Garrett will guide you through the successes and challenges of dealing with buying clubs, farmers markets, non-profit incorporation, zoning, and health department regulations. Learn how to create a vibrant, sustainable, low-overhead business that promotes healthy eating and lifestyle.
- Food with Integrity: Chipotle’s Vision of Sustainability
- (Emily Francis)
Join Emily Francis of Chipotle Mexican Grill to understand what it takes for a billion dollar company to set up the largest local sourcing program in the US. She will detail founder and classically trained Chef Steve Ells' unconventional journey to success and commitment to sustainable agriculture.
