Food and Farm School

Thursday, February 13—10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Intentional Investment:
Maximizing Your Time and Dollars for Lasting Impact

In today’s fast-paced world, where every hour and every dollar counts, the choices we make on how to invest both are critical. But how do you decide where your next hour of work or your next dollar will have the most meaningful impact? Holistic Management International (HMI) will share a management framework to help make these decisions with greater clarity and confidence. This approach provides a powerful process for aligning your time and money with your personal goals, enabling you to improve the health of your land, boost profits, and enhance your quality of life. Walk away equipped with tools to intelligently balance and prioritize your investments, empowering you to cultivate long-term success, sustainability, and personal satisfaction.

Woodhull C

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Farm Succession School:
Planning for the Future of Your Farm

Robert Moore, OSU Extension, Kali Lucey, Land for Good

Succession planning can be challenging for landowners. From vision and goal setting to management transfer planning, dive into the key components of a farm succession plan. Discuss strategies for identifying a successor for farms operating without an heir, resources for better family communication, and how to build a team of advisors to turn a succession plan into reality. Facilitators from Land For Good and OSU will provide an overview of the process, a detailed workbook, key resources, and help to create an outline for your farm’s succession. Attendees are encouraged to come with family members and partners so you can work as a team right from the start.

Woodhull B

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Wholesale for All Scales

Beth Knorr, Robyn Calvey, Tony Whitefeather, Michael Bartunek, Chuck Dilbone, Stephen Mackell, Martha Gaffney, Anna Haas, Marc Amante, Michelle Wallace

Whether you’re scaling up or honing your skills to serve current customers, learning from your peers can help improve production systems to work better for you and your farm needs. Take a deep dive into organic vegetable production on two crops—tomatoes and peppers—as three farmers of varying scales share the details of their systems. Hear from a regional buyer about opportunities for sales outlets, and learn about food safety practices.

This project was financed in part or totally through a grant from the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the State of Ohio, and the United States Department of Agriculture under the provisions of the Specialty Crop Block Grant. This project was supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service through grant 23SCBPOHI204. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USDA.

Woodhull A

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Organic Farmer Researcher Network DIY Research

Farmers, educators, and researchers are invited to work together in small, facilitated groups to generate specific farmer-led research ideas. First, participants will focus on generating research ideas specifically for livestock farms, then network leaders will be available to assist with further proposal and project development—either with those research ideas or from previous events. Leave with new partnerships, ideas, and resources to address specific on-farm questions.

The Organic Farmer Researcher Network is a collaboration of Ohio organic and regenerative farmers, Central State University Extension, OEFFA, and Ohio State’s OFFER organic program. The workshop is supported by a USDA OREI (Organic Research Education Initiative) grant.

Exhibit Hall Lunch Area

Organic System Plan Help-Shop

Writing your first Organic Systems Plan (OSP) can be overwhelming. If you are planning to certify for the first time in 2025, OEFFA invites you to bring your draft OSP and your questions to this supported work session. Experienced OEFFA staff will address common stumbling blocks farmers encounter in their first OSP, provide individualized assistance, and answer your questions so your first year of certification goes as smoothly as possible.

O&E Public House
(across from Barrel Room)

# This session was not recorded.
* This session was not recorded due to its conversational aspect.
t This session's recording had technical issues.