Food and Farm School

Thursday, February 16—10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Holistic Planned Grazing:

Balancing Work, Business, and Ecosystem Improvement for Optimal Results

Through covering the value of clarifying goals and objectives, this class explores the importance of enterprise economic analysis and unlocking biological capital in wealth generation. Wayne Knight of Holistic Management International (HMI) will introduce tools to plan and monitor that will improve your day-to-day management decisions, helping you make incremental improvements to your vision of a preferred future.

Due to technical difficulties, this session was not recorded.
We apologize for the inconvenience.

No-Till Vegetable Culture

The non-disturbance of soil in vegetable production has greatly improved crop quality, yield, and profitability on many farms recently. In this workshop, organic grower and author Bryan O’Hara will dive into the details of moving into and setting up a no-till system. You’ll learn the nitty gritty details of preparing the land, specific tools and equipment modifications, seeding and planting, weed control, and many other aspects of a no-till system.

Recordings
10 am | 1 pm | 2:30 pm

Organic Systems Plan

Help-Shop for Transitioning Producers

Writing your first Organic Systems Plan (OSP) can be overwhelming. If you are planning to certify for the first time in 2023, OEFFA invites you to bring your draft OSP and your questions to this supported work session. OEFFA’s Sustainable Agriculture Educator Johnnie Speicher, along with several experienced OEFFA certification specialists, 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.

This session was not recorded due to its interactive nature.

Our Future, Our Farm Bill

This day-long session facilitated by Erik Peterson of Bending the Arc Strategies and staff from OEFFA’s policy program will provide a mix of information, ideas, and action focused on demystifying the 2023 Farm Bill, moving toward understanding narrative, how it has been used against organic and sustainable farmers, and the OEFFA narrative for change. Jesse Womack of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition will share relevant details for the bill with a focus on the issues we care most about. You will learn some tricks of the trade for successful advocacy, and weigh in on one of these issue priorities:

Support for beginning and BIPOC farmers;
Reversing consolidation;
Supporting local/regional food systems;
Investing in organic and sustainable research; and
Promoting soil health and climate resilience through conservation policy.

River Birch B

Zoom

Planting Fairness:

Tools for Building a Positive Farm Team with Fair Labor Practices

Farms can only be truly sustainable if they provide healthy, dignified working conditions for owners and workers alike. In this workshop, Elizabeth Henderson and Jon Magee of the Agricultural Justice Project (AJP) and Emily Jackle of Mile Creek Farm will help you examine fair employment practices, adapt an employee handbook, and write a holistic farm health and safety plan. Learn how to move from merely complying with labor laws to offering fair working conditions, adapt the AJP employee handbook, and write fair policies on conflict resolution, discipline, evaluations, and more. A farm health and safety plan will be created that addresses all the hazards in a farm workplace, including personal well-being and workplace relationships. Bring your laptop or other devices to complete and customize the templates during the workshop.

River Birch D

Zoom

On Farm Research Meeting

Barrel Room