Workshops
Session VII
Saturday, February 15 | 3-4:15 p.m.
Drought and Our Way Out
Robert Hamilton, Ohio Department of Agriculture Division of Soil & Water Conservation, Aaron Wilson, OSU, Matt Kleski and Trevor Kerr, Farm Service Agency
Ohio experienced the most severe drought in decades in 2024. Farmers and growers experienced crop and livestock losses in the face of natural disaster declarations, often unsure how to access support and resources from governmental programs. Learn how federal and state policies can help us be more resilient, and how to better understand the climate and its effects on our agriculture industry.
Sustainable Foundations and Personal Resilience
Whole Farm Planning
Shoshanna Inwood, OSU
What if farm planning encompassed the unique realities of the day-to-day work? Learn how educators are helping farmers integrate considerations for childcare, healthcare, and health insurance needs into their business model in a way that works for them.
Backyards, Lots, and Small Plots
Perennial Vegetables for Your Plot
Dani Baker, The Enchanted Edible Forest at Cross Island Farms
Why plant, weed, cultivate, and water annual vegetables when you can grow perennials that mimic the annuals, plant them once, and harvest them year after year with minimal labor? Learn about highly nutritious perennial vegetables, herbs, flowers and leaves, and become inspired to try your hand at growing these carefree food plants.
Backyards, Lots, and Small Plots
Homestead Scale Staple Crop Production
Eleanor and Scott Hucker, Great Lakes Staple Seeds
Based on their lived homestead-scale experience cultivating staple crops using common equipment, manual labor, and minimal off-farm inputs, this workshop shares methods to help growers throughout the North Central region enjoy success in their pursuit of sustainable, ecologically grown staple crops.
Growing Sustainable Businesses
Want Your Employees to Work Faster? Create the Right Environment!
Katie Bishop, PrairiErth Farm, Sarah Janes Ugoretz, University of Wisconsin Extension
Efficiency comes naturally when jobs are made easier through the right tools, systems, environments, communication, and training. Explore real-life scenarios, identify key areas for improvement, and learn to ask the right question: how can I make the work easier?
Start Clean, Stay Clean: Weed Control
Mike Stites, Rex Stites Farms, Inc.
“Start clean, stay clean” is a term often used by agriculture chemical companies when talking about weed control. This same mindset should also be used in organic row crops by “stacking” tillage and mechanical weeding passes together to make a solid organic weed control program.
Vegetables, Fruit, and Specialty Crops
Is Organic for Me? Panel
Adam Blaney, Blaney Family Farm, Leon Atwell, O Farm, Shara Trierwieler, Agape Organic Farms, Zachary Dobbelaer, Charlie’s Apples
Learn from a variety of farmers as they speak on their farming experiences, including why or why not they chose to become certified organic.
Mini Site Assessment Workshop
Jerah Pettibone, OEFFA, Marc Amante and Denise Natoli Brooks, CSU
Before investing in farmland, you need to find the right land to support your farm and lifestyle. This workshop is for anyone searching for farmland, and is suitable for crop, livestock, and agroforestry producers. Explore key considerations on topography, land infrastructure, location, soil, and water, and connect with a team of supportive technical assistants from OEFFA and Central State University.
Community Land Ownership Models
Ian McSweeny and Kristina Villa, The Farmers Land Trust
Learn and discuss community-centered land protection and ownership structures that create a more just and equitable reality for farmland, farmers, communities, and regenerative agriculture. Hear about several case studies of community-centered ownership, with a focus on successes, failures, lessons learned, and the evolution needed to create and manifest the Farmland Commons model.

Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association
NEW ADDRESS
150 E. Wilson Bridge Rd. Suite 230
Worthington, OH 43085
OEFFA: (614) 421-2022 (614) 421-2022
OEFFA Certification: (614) 262-2022 (614) 262-2022