2026 OEFFA Conference

The 2026 OEFFA Conference, Finding Common Ground, will be held Friday, February 13 through Sunday, February 15 at Cherry Valley Hotel in Newark, Ohio.

The OEFFA conference may look a little bit different this year, but it will still provide the learning and community components we know and appreciate! Staying together is an important part of facing challenges, and we hope by making this a smaller and more focused conference that it will be more affordable and valuable to our community. Learn more about this decision here.

Registration is restricted to 200 attendees due to space limitations. Registration closes Thursday, February 5, or when spots sell out.

Conference Schedule

Friday, February 13

11 a.m.	Registration/check-in opens, Lunch
Noon-5 p.m.	Food and Farm School
5:30-7:30 p.m.	Happy Hour, Dinner
7:30-10 p.m.	OEFFA Open Mic Night, Film Screening Common Ground

Saturday, February 14

7 a.m.	Registration/check-in opens
7-8:30 a.m.	Breakfast
8:30-9:30 a.m.	Workshop Session I
9:45-10:45 a.m.	Workshop Session II
11-Noon	Workshop Session III
Noon-1:30 p.m.	Lunch, OEFFA Chapter Meet Ups
2-5 p.m.	OEFFA Members' Meeting**, Seed Swap
5-6:30 p.m.	Happy Hour, Exhibitor Expo, Bright Ideas Reception
6:30-8 p.m.	Dinner, OEFFA Awards, Keynote Working Together for Organic
8-10 p.m.	Live Music and Dancing with Back Porch Swing Band

Sunday, February 15

8-10 a.m.	Breakfast, Roots of Practice: A History Panel
10-11:30 a.m.	Ask an Expert

This schedule is subject to change. All events will take place at Cherry Valley Hotel in Newark, Ohio. Registration will close on February 5, or when spots sell out. Workshops and the keynote will not be recorded this year. Read our Conference FAQ to learn more.

*Friday lunch and dinner is only included for paying FFS class attendees. Anyone who is not attending Fruit Tree Fundamentals or Grazing Strategies: People, Land, and Livestock must purchase Friday’s lunch and dinner separately when registering, if they intend to join. All meals on Saturday and Sunday breakfast are included in Saturday’s registration.

**OEFFA members are invited to attend the Members’ Meeting at no cost. All other conference events require paid registration.

Keynote

Working Together for Organic

Saturday, February 14 | 6:30 p.m.

Organic, sustainable, and regenerative farmers come from a wide range of political, cultural, racial, and religious backgrounds. This diversity has historically been a source of strength and resilience for the organic movement. But in today’s era of extreme polarization, there’s always the danger that we might focus so much on our differences that we lose sight of what brought us together in the first place.

When OEFFA was first founded in 1979, New Left hippies, conservative family farmers, and Catholic social justice advocates were able to work together to create an organization that has endured for 47 years. How did they do it? By finding common ground.

What brought OEFFA—and the organic movement in general—together was a common passion for soil health, strong communities, and social justice. Join historian and farmer Anneliese Abbott for a journey through the past, present, and future of organic farming.

Sponsor, Exhibitor, and Advertiser Opportunities

Want to be a part of the 2026 OEFFA Conference?

Our sponsors and exhibitors not only help make this event possible, but they also are supporting farmer-to-farmer learning. Reach the audience your business relies on by exploring these opportunities!

Explore the opportunities

Food and Farm School

Friday, February 13 | Noon – 5 p.m.

Coffee and snacks are provided. Lunch and dinner is included for Beekeeping Basics & Beeyond, Fruit Tree Fundamentals and Grazing Strategies: People, Land, and Livestock attendees. If you are an attendee of the other free classes and wish to join those meals, please purchase one or both meals when registering.

Beekeeping Basics & Beeyond

$130

Integrating honeybees into a farm or homestead can be a transformative journey that offers immense joy, increased crop yields, and the potential for a unique value-added enterprise. Successful beekeeping requires far more than a hive box and a protective suit; it is a profound craft that demands dedication, observation, and a willingness to navigate significant challenges. This intensive workshop covers fundamentals such as apiary placement, startup logistics, best practices for colony success, varroa mite management, and strategies for ensuring winter survival.

Fruit Tree Fundamentals

$130

Trees are creatively clear communicators, if you know how to read them. Sam Tannenbaum of Anyway Farm will be sharing the basics of tree physiology, IPM, grafting, pruning and variety/site selection. These building-block topics give you a conceptional foundation as you learn to read the language of fruit trees.

Grazing Strategies: People, Land, and Livestock

$130

Discover how intentional grazing can transform your land, your livestock, and your bottom line. This interactive workshop with Holistic Management International (HMI) invites Ohio producers to explore practical strategies that improve soil health, boost animal performance, and increase profitability—without sacrificing quality of life. Through real-world examples, group discussions, and peer-to-peer learning, gain tools to make informed grazing decisions, adapt to changing conditions, and strengthen both ecological and economic resilience.

Free

Organic System Plan
Help-Shop

Writing your first Organic System Plan (OSP) can be overwhelming. If you are planning to certify for the first time, OEFFA invites you to bring your draft OSP and your questions to this supported work session. Experienced OEFFA staff will address common stumbling blocks producers and handlers encounter in their first OSP, provide individualized assistance, and answer your questions so your first year of certification goes as smoothly as possible.

Saturday Workshops

Saturday, February 14

Workshop Session I: 8:30-9:30 a.m.

Perennial Nut Processing—Steve Larson, Route 9 Cooperative
While newly planted chestnut orchards grow to maturity over the next decade, the seven farm members of Route 9 Coop’s chestnut operation will add acorns and a coffee roaster to their system to help reach their full processing capacity, speed up the drying and roasting process, and increase revenue.

Trade Turmoil: Risks and Opportunities—Alexander Schultz, Argus Media
In a time of rising trade tensions and shifting global dynamics, organic producers and brokers face mounting uncertainty. Get a timely analysis of how new tariffs, port fees, and evolving organic regulations—particularly under the second Trump Administration—are reshaping U.S. organic trade flows. Unpack the implications of these changes, from disrupted supply chains to emerging export trends from Africa. Gain actionable insights into how these developments affect market risk and profitability, helping navigate the challenges and seize new opportunities in the organic sector.

Appalachia Ohio's Artisanal Meat Production—Leslie Schaller, Appalachian Center for Economic Networks
Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACEnet) will provide training and processing assistance to livestock farmers to expand product lines and increase sales for locally sourced, artisanal meats.

A Safety Net for Every Farm—Julia Barton, Organic Farmers Association, Scott Myers, Woodlyn Acres Farm
Every farm deserves a safety net. As extreme weather events and markets become more unpredictable, crop insurance becomes a key risk management tool for farmers. Gain basic information about crop insurance and related risk management tools for organic and transitioning producers. Members of the Organic Farmers Association's Crop Insurance Workgroup are uplifting farmer voices in this topic, and will offer insights, observations, and needs.

Partnerships to Scale Up Value-Added Local Food—Jeannine Seabrook, Glass Rooster Cannery

Workshop Session II: 9:45-10:45 a.m.

Flowers Under Cover—Dana Hilfinger, Johnny's Selected Seeds
Want to learn the basics for how to maximize your high and low tunnel space for flower production? Talk about what varieties and types of flowers would benefit from tunnel production, low cost ways to get started if you don’t have a high tunnel, and how to schedule your plantings so that you hit key sales windows.

More Bang for Your Buck(wheat)!—Jillian Horan, CSU
Buckwheat is more than just a fast-growing cover crop—it's a hidden gem for small-scale farmers looking to diversify and stand out. Explore how buckwheat bridges the gap between soil-building ally, pollinator magnet, and profitable niche crop. Learn how to grow, manage, and harvest buckwheat effectively, and how to build a simple, human-powered bicycle mill to turn seed into flour. With rising interest in regional grains and on-farm specialty products, buckwheat offers a unique opportunity to add both ecological and economic value to your farm.

Revisiting Drum Silage—Jonathan Busse, Homestead Technologies
Forage independence is an elusive dream for many homesteaders and small producers. The cost of equipment and enough healthy land to produce a viable grazing system is difficult to acquire. The need for a modern guide with data to give confidence to small producers to branch out and try ensiling is needed. Ensiling could be a tool to help small producers to become forage independent, weather drought and long winters, all while taking advantage of the power of annual cover crops and abundant forage production.

From Policy to Plate: Can MAHA Deliver a Healthy Food System?—Angela Huffman, Joe Maxwell, Farm Action
The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement began with a bold promise: to put farmers at the center of the nation’s health. Its first reports named real problems—corporate consolidation, chemical dependence, and the loss of local food infrastructure—but recent actions have raised questions about whether those goals will be realized. At its best, MAHA creates a political opening to align food and farm policy with public health, shifting support away from chemical- and commodity-driven systems toward foods and farming that make Americans healthier. Explore where MAHA stands today, what it means for independent farmers and local food systems, and where grassroots advocacy can make the biggest impact over the next three years and beyond.

Soil and Crop Biology Testing—Alan Sundermeier, Conservation Action Project
Hear about the many options organic growers have for testing plants and soil. Learn about what they tell you and how test results can guide best management decisions on production.

Workshop Session III: 11-Noon

Herb Hubs: From Field and Forest to Market—Sara Sevy Tremayne, Andrea Miller, Rural Action
Ohio is home to some of the most valuable medicinal plants in the world, yet a long history of over-harvesting has threatened the populations of many wild botanicals. Meanwhile, the market for high quality herbal medicine is only increasing, and offers an opportunity for local landowners to earn supplemental income. Nonprofit project partners are growing a network of regional Herb Hubs that offer shared use equipment, certified processing space, training, and aggregation opportunities for growers to connect to high-paying bulk buyers. Get an overview of available equipment, an introduction to proper harvest and post-harvest handling, herb crop budgets, fresh to dry ratios, and certification opportunities.

2025 Organic Trials in OSU's eFields—Eric Richer, OSU
See the results of the 2025 (and 2024) organic grain research trials conducted with cooperating farmers through Ohio State's eFields program. The workshop is designed to share research being conducted at the field level, foster discussion for new research trials, and offer knowledge on conducting research on your own farm. Cooperating farmers will share their experiences and results. Each attend will receive a copy of OSU's eFields report.

Exploring Heritage Pig and Broiler Breeds—Leah Bartel, Greenacres Foundation
Heritage breeds of pigs and meat chickens often come with a reputation of having better flavored meat than conventional breeds. In 2025, Greenacres conducted a study to determine the veracity of this popular belief. They looked at five different breeds of hogs and five breeds of meat chickens, tracking factors that would determine a farmer's willingness to raise these breeds, including feed efficiency, cost of production, and general performance in a pasture-based system. The meat from each breed was flavor tested by a team, and these insights will be shared so farmers can make informed breed decisions.

Federal Agriculture Policy: Learning from 2025 and Looking Forward in 2026—Nick Rossi, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
Last September, the federal government shutdown for a record 43 days. The shutdown of government operations brought real impacts to farm country, adversely impacting countless farmers and ranchers who rely on county-level USDA offices. Get a brief overview of the current state of federal agriculture policy, explore some of the ways the USDA supports farmers and ranchers, and learn how NSAC is advocating for getting more funding in farmers' pockets. During the second half of the workshop, there will be an interactive discussion about how Congress can address on-the-ground funding needs.

The Nitrogen Paradox—Anneliese Abbott, Abbott Farms
Many scientists believe that it’s impossible to feed the world without synthetic nitrogen fixation. But is that true? Take an in-depth look at the paradoxical history of nitrogen fixation, how it was always intertwined with weapons production and geopolitics, and how modern agriculture became dependent on it. Discuss the basic chemistry of nitrogen fixation, the incredible complexity of the biological nitrogen cycle, and how organic farmers can use biological nitrogen management concepts to get good yields and healthy plants without synthetic nitrogen fertilizer.

Special Events

Exhibitor Expo

Throughout the conference, a number of exhibitor tables will be set up outside of the workshop rooms. Take a look around and learn about the number of services, products, and organizations in our community!

Growing Right Project

Visit the Library room for a moment of reflection away from the conference hubbub. Audio will be playing from the Growing Right Project, an oral history project documenting and amplifying the history of the organic farming movement in Ohio. Learn more about Growing Right at news.oeffa.org/growing-right.

Open Mic Night

Friday evening: 7:30-10 p.m.

Come and share your artistic side! This is a free time to share your songs, poems, stories, skits, and more—share whatever moves you.

Film Screening:
Common Ground

Friday evening: 7:30-10 p.m.

OEFFA’s Policy team will screen Common Ground, a 2023 follow-up to the film Kiss the Ground. Through personal stories, Common Ground explores the web of money, power, and politics behind our food system. The film profiles a hopeful and uplifting movement of diverse farmers who are using alternative regenerative models of agriculture that could balance the climate, save our health, and stabilize America’s economy—before it’s too late. Enjoy popcorn from Shagbark Seed & Mill while watching!

Chapter Meetups

Saturday afternoon Noon-1:30 p.m.

Sit down and eat with your community! Grab your lunch and join your OEFFA chapter at a designated table. Learn more about chapters at oeffa.org/chapters.

OEFFA Members’ Meeting

Saturday afternoon: 2-5 p.m.

Join us for OEFFA’s annual membership meeting to come together to hear the latest about OEFFA and share their thoughts. Members are encouraged to come listen, learn, and share. It will start with a year-in-review presentation before moving into focus groups to discuss ideas about the future of OEFFA. This event is free and does not require registration for OEFFA members.

Bright Ideas Reception

Saturday afternoon: 5-6:30 p.m.

Farmers are constantly trying new things, troubleshooting, and adapting. Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) grant funding can help you test your bright ideas, and share what you learn with your peers. Swing by during Saturday’s Happy Hour to talk with past grantees about what it’s like applying for SARE grants, how they tackled their projects (from side-by-side trials to developing new equipment to market development), or whatever you’re wondering.

Come for the special snacks, stay for casual Q and A with past grantees. The first 50 attendees receive a free copy of SARE’s “Managing Weeds On Your Farm“!

Live Music and Dancing with
Back Porch Swing Band

Saturday evening | 8-10 p.m.

If you’re looking for a swingin’ rhythm and a fun time, join us for a night of live music and dancing with Back Porch Swing Band! You may recognize them from OEFFA Conferences in the past, and we’re thrilled to welcome them back again.

Roots of Practice:
A History Panel

Sunday morning: 8-10 a.m.

Join this panel discussion with some of OEFFA’s long-time members for a conversation about the core values that informed decision making on their farms and how they helped (or hindered) their ability to overcome challenges. Together, we’ll explore ways to leverage this wisdom as a community and find opportunities to overcome today’s obstacles.

Ask an Expert

Sunday morning: 10-11:30 a.m.

Stick around for this informal session where OEFFA hosts an expert in legal, accounting, and solar for attendees to ask questions. This is an excellent opportunity to get your specific question answered! Groups can form organically at tables or conversations can be 1:1.

Registration

General Registration


Saturday (includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, Sunday breakfast)	$150

Food and Farm School


Beekeeping Basics & Beeyond (includes lunch and dinner)	$130
Fruit Tree Fundamentals (includes lunch and dinner)	$130
Grazing Strategies: People, Land, and Livestock (includes lunch and dinner)	$130
Organic System Plan Help Shop	free

Meals


Friday Lunch (included for Beekeeping Basics & Beeyond, Fruit Tree Fundamentals or Grazing Strategies: People, Land, and Livestock FFS class attendees)	$20
Friday Dinner (included for Beekeeping Basics & Beeyond, Fruit Tree Fundamentals or Grazing Strategies: People, Land, and Livestock FFS class attendees)	$40
All meals on Saturday and Sunday morning are included in Saturday registration

Conference Details

Changes in 2026

As a nonprofit organization, our intent with any educational programming is to keep costs as low as possible without compromising the quality of the experience. This year’s conference is a smaller and more focused event in order to ensure it remains affordable and valuable for everyone. A number of changes were made, including moving everything to one area of the venue. Read our Conference FAQ to learn more.

Accessibility Statement

OEFFA is committed to making this conference as accessible and welcoming as possible. All conference events will be held on Cherry Valley Hotel’s ground floor. The venue has ADA compliant bathrooms, multiple accessible entrances, and nearby parking. The hotel has two floors with elevators and ADA accessible rooms available; please contact Cherry Valley for more information.

Policy of Inclusiveness and Participation

All are welcome here. OEFFA values diversity within our organization and at our annual conference. Like in ecological agriculture, diversity plays an important role in cultivating symbiotic and sustainable relationships between both plants and humans. A community that embraces everyone regardless of race, nationality, creed, political belief, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, or ability braves the harshest season and bears the sweetest fruit. We ask that all participants exercise kindness, patience, and respect. OEFFA reserves the right to revoke conference access or remove content if community codes of conduct are broken.

Conference Meals

Friday Lunch

Friday Lunch

Grab a pre-made sandwich (includes vegan option) to go on your way to your Food and Farm School. It will come with a bag of chips and fresh fruit.

Location and Lodging

Cherry Valley Hotel and Ohio Event Center
2299 Cherry Valley Rd. SE, Newark, Ohio 43055
cherryvalleyhotel.com | (740) 788-1200

$140 per night
Visit oeffa.org/stay or call and ask for the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association room block rate. A limited number of rooms are available at this rate. Deadline: January 27, 2026.

With its renovated rooms and thousands of square feet of space, Cherry Valley Hotel is our home for the whole conference weekend. Parking is complimentary, and guests will enjoy their rooms being only a minute’s walk to all conference activities. There is an indoor pool, fitness center, and multiple places to eat and drink on site. For more places to stay and eat, visit explorelc.org/guides.