Workshops - OEFFA Conference

Session V

Saturday, February 15 | 10:45 a.m.–Noon

The Fight for Fair Markets

Patty Lovera, Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment

Just a handful of companies control the markets in every sector of agriculture, creating big obstacles for those working to rebuild regional food systems, create dignified, safe, and fair conditions for farmers and workers, and protect public health. Learn more about how extreme levels of consolidation impact the food system, including organic agriculture, and opportunities to level the playing field.

Woodhull A

Zoom

Evaluate

Sustainable Foundations and Personal Resilience

Prevent Burn-Out

Bryn Bird, Bird’s Haven Farm, Taylor Wiggins, From Scratch Farms

Half of beginning farms will burn-out in five years according to the USDA. Celebrating their 30th and 5th seasons of mixed vegetable produce farming, speakers will focus on lessons learned from starting and building CSA programs, best practices from farm markets, learning to wholesale, scale up with hired labor, and how to do it all while keeping some sanity.

River Birch C

Zoom

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Backyards, Lots, and Small Plots

Seed Library Starters

Donnetta Boykin, Endigo’s Herbals & Organics, Florentina Rodriguez, Miami Valley Seed Commons

There’s more than one way to start a seed library. If you’re interested in helping your community enjoy the benefits of growing healthy foods and resilient ecosystems, learn creative ways to begin sharing seeds! Seed education and sharing is an accessible entry point for new growers, and preserving and passing down seed stories is a powerful tool for intergenerational learning. This session offers examples of how to start and manage a seed library from pitching a partnership with your local library to setting up your independent traveling version.

River Birch D

Zoom

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Growing Sustainable Businesses

The CSA Retention Road Map

Michelle Keniston, Farmhand

Dive into five proven strategies that have helped farmers not only maintain but grow their CSA memberships. Hear stories from farmers who have implemented these tactics—offering flexible options, improving customer support, and fostering personal connections—to dramatically improve their retention rates.

Woodhull B

Evaluate

Grain Crops

Adding Value with a Grain-Focused CSA

Halee Wepking, Meadowlark Community Mill

How can we create greater community access to our regional food systems while developing markets for farmers outside of the commodity system? If you have or are considering including small grain and legumes in your crop rotations, this workshop will explore how to develop a successful, year-round grain CSA.

Woodhull DE

Zoom

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Livestock and Poultry

Moved on Pasture Poultry

Eric and Kayla Gibson, Sugar Butte Farms

Moving poultry on pasture for profit and for self consumption has many challenges. Learn about organized systems to mitigate errors that cost money and animal welfare. Explore and discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of how and why two first generation farmers started farming with zero experience.

River Birch B

Zoom

Evaluate

Vegetables, Fruit, and Specialty Crops

Navigating Climate Impacts of Vegetable Farms

Douglas Jackson-Smith and Matthew Kleinhenz, OSU, Nick Olsen, Land Stewardship Project

Discuss emerging needs around climate mitigation and adaptation practices for diversified vegetable growers across the Midwest. Experts in the climate space will provide resources, share research, and discuss current challenges, farming practices, and ideas. Share what you’re seeing on your farm and how you’re navigating the changing climate with fellow growers, and learn techniques that can help.

Woodhull C

Zoom

Evaluate

Tools and Techniques

Keeping You and Your Produce Safe

Denise Natoli Brooks, CSU

You grow and sell delicious produce, but how do you know that produce is safe? Consider proper manure management, personal hygiene, and harvest/post-harvest produce handling to help create and implement an on-farm produce safety plan. Build and take-home an in-field hand-washing station.

River Birch A

Zoom

Evaluate

Connecting Communities

Advocating for Sovereignty: Value-Added Coalition Building

Jennifer Lumpkin, My Grow Connect and Cuyahoga County Food Policy Coalition, Zainab Pixler, City of Cleveland

Discover how coalition building can transform food systems and drive innovative solutions at the local level. Hear the story behind establishing Cleveland’s first Food Systems Strategist role in local government, and learn how diverse stakeholders came together to align goals, leverage resources, and build a united vision for Cleveland’s food future.

Denison Room

Zoom

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

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