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Registration is open!
November 5-7th
Point Lookout Resort
Northport, Maine
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| About The Conference | Session Details | Registration | Accommodations | Scholarships | MOFGA’s Farmer to Farmer Conference….
- Is known for its intimacy, in-depth treatment of topics, and amazing discussions.
- Is based on the idea that farmers learn best from their peers and other practitioners.
- Features prominent and accessible university faculty,extension educators, and other agricultural professionals.
- Features a unique 3-hour workshop session format, in which one half is dedicated to talks by both agricultural service professionals and farmers, and the other to a round table discussion intended to solicit and capitalize on the accumulated knowledge of all the farmers in attendance.
- Serves delicious meals featuring local, organic food.
- Is a rare and wonderful opportunity to get off the farm and catch up with fellow farmers.
Learn a lot, eat well, share your expertise, make new friends, and reconnect with old ones at the 2010 MOFGA Farmer to Farmer Conference!
Friday Farm Tours
JOIN US on the BUS TOUR!
We'll tour the farms via a 55 passenger bus that will depart Point Lookout
in Northport at 12 noon. $30 per person $15 per child
Cost includes a local organic box lunch.
Goranson Farm 1:30 pm
Goranson Farm is owned and operated by Jan Goranson, Rob Johanson, and their sons Carl and Goran. Jan's father and mother, Everett and Geneva, had farmed high-quality potatoes on this land since the 1960's, and their parents were farmers in northern Aroostook County. For the last 21 years, Jan and Rob have worked to maintain this very unique family farm and preserve the irreplaceable open space along Merrymeeting Bay. By keeping some of the best agricultural land in Maine growing nutritious food, everyone in the community benefits. Not only does a fast disappearing way of life survive, but the rural character so important to our vision of Maine is sustained.
Bridge Farm 3:15pm
Bridge Farm is a 28-acre, historic, diversified organic farm on the banks of the Eastern River in Dresden Mills. Current owners Kathy Coleman and Bob Howe purchased it in 2007 and are returning it to a working farm after a decade of neglect. Kathy and Bob are assisted by apprentices Erin Anderson and Mike Johnson.
Together they are growing a wide range of vegetables and herbs, and have new blackberry and raspberry beds. The farm features a period garden with vegetables, herbs and flowers typical of the area in the 18th and 19th centuries, a project of Kathy and three other master gardeners. Bridge Farm raises poultry for meat and eggs, sheep for meat and fiber, goats for milk, and pigs. Three donkeys reside at the farm, providing predator control and fertilizer. Of 10 fleeces Kathy showed at this year's Fiber Frolic, six won ribbons. New this year is an outdoor earthen oven in which Mike bakes bread and bagels on Saturday mornings. Eggs are sold at Rising Tide Community Market, as well as at the farm's new store. There is a small CSA, with plans to expand it another year. Bridge Farm is a chicken and turkey producer for the Wolf Pine Farm winter CSA serving southern Maine, and will also supply one of the Common Ground Fair food vendors. The farm has a variety of home-made chicken tractors. It features an intensive rotational grazing system for sheep. The farm produces enough hay to feed its animals, with more left over to sell. In short, there is a lot going on in a small space.
Lalibela Farm 3:15pm
Lalibela Farm is a MOFGA certified organic vegetable farm owned and operated by Andy and Jaime Berhanu and their daughters, Iyana and Makeda. The farm is located within the property of Bridge Farm in Dresden. One year ago, they began producing Tempeh, a traditional Indonesian food made by the fermentation of Maine grown, organic soybeans. After six months of renting a commercial kitchen at an off-farm site, they set up a kitchen on the farm and have since doubled production and are going through the process of organic certification. Lalibela Farm welcomes folks to see how a low-cost kitchen can meet the production needs of a unique value added product that generates significant, year round income.
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Saturday Morning Sessions
9:15 am - 12:15 pm
A. Post Harvest Handling for Winter Marketing
Dick York, Nature’s Circle Farm
Dave Handley, UMCE
Dick will partner with Dave to discuss post harvest handling and storage of potatoes and several other root crops. Nature’s Circle specializes in potato production, growing over 80 acres, and utilizes a modern computer controlled storage system.
B. The Ecology & Economy of Organic Low-bush Blueberries
Frank Drummond, University of Maine
Theresa Gaffney, Highland Blueberry Farm
Frank will present a brief overview of the ecology of organic low-bush blueberry production. Theresa will talk about weed control, harvesting, marketing and value-added products. There will be ample opportunities to compare farm practices and discuss marketing strategies.
C. Getting the Most out of Organic Pesticides
Dr. Andrei Alyokhin, University of Maine website
Brian Caldwell, Cornell University
Organic farmers use pesticide sprays as a last resort “rescue” treatment. This session will help you make such sprays as effective as possible. We will discuss how to select the right product for the right pest, timing, spraying tips, and more. Brian is an organic farmer and orchardist and a former Organic Extension agent in New York. Andrei is Associate Professor of Applied Entomology at the University of Maine, who teaches a course on Pesticides and the Environment.
D. Feed Alternatives for Monogastrics
Gary Anderson, Associate Extension Professor of the University of Maine
Neal Foley, Claddagh Farms, Montville
Gary and Neal will give you ideas about alternative feedstuffs for your monogastrics and maybe a bit on ruminants. Gary will present examples of several actual rations and show you what will work and why.* Neal will share his experience experimenting with his animals here in Maine and on his previous farm in Washington. *Contact Gary in advance with specific feed balancing requests.
E. Land Tenure Issues for New Farmers
Kathy Ruhf, Land for Good
Farmers TBD
Finding a place to farm is one of the most daunting challenges facing new farmers everywhere, and Maine is no exception. This session will feature Kathy Ruhf and others from Land for Good (LFG), a regional leader in new farmer support services. LFG specializes in innovative and comprehensive strategies for
farmland transition and helping new farmers find secure land tenure. A few new farmers at different stages of their own land searches will also share their stories and experiences. Landowners and veteran farmers who are exploring next steps for their land are also invited to participate in the discussion.
F. Building Local Food Systems
Carly DelSignore, Washington County Food Alliance
Chris Grigsby, Belfast Coop
Beth Schiller, Crown of Maine Organic Cooperative (COMOC) & Dandelion Spring Farm
We all want to see a thriving local food system in Maine, but do we understand all the working parts of a truly viable, sustainable food system? This session will provide insights from the field, lessons learned, and goals for the future of Maine’s Local Food System. Carly will share experiences from her work coordinating the Washington County Food Alliance, Chris will offer his perspective as a produce buyer and general manager, and Beth will tell us about her work through COMOC helping buying clubs form and thrive. Beth will also speak from the perspective of building winter and summer CSA food communities on her own farm.
G. Soil Management in High Tunnels
Vern Grubinger, Vegetable and Berry Specialist, UVM
Bruce Hoskins, University of Maine Diagnostic Lab
Paul Volckhausen, Happy Town Farm
Vern has been working with organic growers to manage nutrients in greenhouses and high tunnels using the saturated media test for potting soils and organic fertilizers to meet estimated crop needs. He will explain how this works and provide specific examples. Bruce has worked on soil fertility problems with conventional and organic growers in open field-grown, high tunnel, and container-grown crops. He will explain the pros and cons of several soil testing methods, including the “Hoop House/High Tunnel” testing package offered through the Maine Soil Testing Service.
Saturday Afternoon Sessions
2:30 - 5:30pm
H. Winter Marketing Panel
Hanne Tierney, Cornerstone Farm
Jason Kafka, Checkerberry Farm
Tom Harms, Wolf Pine Farm
Part of our ‘Farming Year Round’ conference track, this farmer panel will offer perspectives and observations on trends and opportunities for marketing Maine farm products through the winter months. Hanne sells pork year round at farmers’ markets and piglets and feeder pigs direct to customers from the farm. Jason grows 20 acres of MOFGA Certified Organic vegetables with a focus on storage crops for wholesale markets. Tom, along with his wife Amy Sprague, grows 4 acres of MOFGA Certified Organic vegetables and source many other products from Maine farms from flour to dried herbs to supply their 500-member winter CSA.
I. Salad Greens
Dave Colson, New Leaf Farm
Michael Smith, Gypsy Meadows Farm, Plainfield NH
Becky Sideman, UNH Cooperative Extension
Lettuces and other salad greens are often the bread and butter of diversified vegetable farms. In this session, growers Dave and Michael will be joined by Becky and will discuss crop rotations, field preparation, varieties, processing and diseases of lettuces & salad greens.
J. Organic Asparagus
Rick & Marilyn Stanley, Chick Farm
Mark Hutton, Vegetable Specialist, University of Maine Cooprerative Extension
Mark will present the results from trials done at Highmoor Farm on organic asparagus production. Rick & Marilyn are just finishing up a two-year research project, funded by a SARE grant, to evaluate the use of “weeder chickens” (laying hens) to control weeds in organic asparagus. Their project has also studied the effectiveness of a tilled buffer zone between the asparagus and surrounding sod to keep out quack grass, and a comparison of the use of straw mulch and hay mulch on the asparagus beds. The Stanleys will share the results of their research and offer recommendations for growers who are interested in organic asparagus production.
K. Pasture Management for Small Ruminants
Chet Parsons, Livestock Specialist, University of Vermont Extension
Jim McRae, Green Acres Farm
Chet has been providing workshops for sheep farmers for the last 20 years, and managing a home flock of commercial Polled Dorset Ewes with his wife Kate, for twenty-five. He selects for “maintenance free” sheep that will finish on grass alone. Jim, with his wife Liz, maintains a small flock of sheep and has been a long time practitioner of rotational grazing and lambing on pasture. This presentation will provide a practical, common sense approach to raising sheep.
L. New Food Safety Policies: What do they mean for your farm?
Russell Libby, Executive Director, MOFGA
Cheryl Wixson, Marketing Specialist, MOFGA
Congress, USDA, FDA, and buyers are all developing new standards for food safety. What do the various proposals mean for your farm? What can you do to improve procedures on your farm? Russell will provide an overview of the various policy issues, and Cheryl will present the MOFGA farm food safety plan, which is based on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP) food safety plans. The goal of this session is to provide farmers with the tools they need to maintain or improve access to a wide variety of markets.
M. Local Food in Schools
Speakers TBD
The local food movement is growing and many communities are interested in sourcing local food to serve in their schools. This workshop will explore the resources available to make the connections necessary to take advantage of this market. A farmer who has had success in marketing produce to schools, a food service director, and a Maine Harvest Lunch coordinator will share their experiences.
Keynote Address
8:30 am - 10:00 am
Achieving the Right to Healthy Food
(but Not at the Expense of Farmers' Livelihoods)
Molly Anderson is the newly-appointed Partridge Chair in Food & Sustainable Agriculture Systems at College of the Atlantic. Before coming to Maine, she co-founded and directed the Agriculture, Food & Environment Program at Tufts University and worked at Oxfam America. She is on the Board of the Community Food Security Coalition and works with different organizations leading the community food security movement. She will talk about current interest in making healthy food “affordable” and the conflict with farmers’ livelihoods (e.g., “I love organic and I’d eat it all the time if I could, but it’s just too expensive!”). She will tell how farmers are making connections with every level of the food system to provide healthy food, and talk about who is actually responsible for ensuring the right to healthy food for everyone.
Sunday Morning Sessions
10:00 am - 1:00 pm
N. Designing Storage for Root Crops
Stephen Belyea, Maine’s Potato Marketing Improvement Fund
Jason Kafka, Checkerberry Farm
Root crops are an important component of the Maine Local Twenty, MOFGA’s organic marketing strategy. Stephen and Jason will review the environmental conditions common Maine vegetable crops need for successful post harvest storage. Stephen will also touch on related topics such as: basic air / water relationships, techniques and equipment for maintaining the desired storage environment, as well as insulation and vapor barrier recommendations.
O. Weed Management through Crop Rotation and Cultivation
Eric Gallandt, Weed Ecologist, University of Maine
Pete Johnson, Pete’s Greens, Craftsbury, VT
This session will focus on crop rotation and cultivation equipment for improved weed control on mid- to large-scale operations. Weed pressure often drives cropping decisions, but cropping sequences that target the weed seed bank offer a proactive approach to improving weed management. Combined with precision cultivation tools, and the knowledge and experience to optimize timing and adjustment, are key to managing weeds in diversified vegetables.
P. Permanent & Portable Pasture Systems for all 4 Seasons
Kelly Klober, Author of Dirt Hog, Missouri
Hanne Tierney, Cornerstone Farm
Diane Schivera, MOFGA’s Organic Livestock Specialist
Kelly will speak on pig and poultry housing that can carry you and your animals throughout the year. Kelly farms in Missouri, which, while not quite as cold as Maine, still endures winters with lots of snow and ice. He has written books and many article for Acres, Farming Magazine and Small Farm Today. Hanne will share her fencing strategies as well as techniques for year round farrowing. Diane will give an overview of Kelly’s written information in preparation for Kelly joining the group by conference call to give a short presentation and answer questions. Kelly’s books will be available online through MOFGA’s Year Round Country Store prior to the conference and a full list of resources will be listed on mofga.net > events.
Q. Enterprise Budgets for Better Farm Management
Mark Guzzi, Peacemeal Farm
Prentice Grassi, Village Farm
Clayton Carter, Fail Better Farm
Enterprise budgets for different products can be valuable tools in identifying profit (or loss) centers on the farm. The process of developing an enterprise budget can prove to be a very useful and informative exercise. Three farmers from farms at different stages of development and scales of operation will share with us how they come up with the numbers for their enterprise budgets, and how they use the budgets to make decisions about what to grow. We will devote some time to hands-on enterprise budget development, so bring some numbers!
R. Farmers in the Spotlight
Paul and Sandy Arnold, Pleasant Valley Farm
Paul and Sandy have been farming for 22 years; they have two teenage children who are home-schooled and help run the family farm. They grow over 40 varieties of diverse fruit and vegetable crops with organic methods on about 7 of their 180 acres of land (120 rented) and in 2 high tunnels. They sell their produce at 3 area farmers’ markets year-round each week and specialize in season-extension. Although neither came from a farming background, they have enjoyed farming as their sole source of income for the past 18 years and have also enjoyed the great lifestyle that it offers.
S. Developing Markets as a New Farmer
Nate Drummond & Gabrielle Gosselin, Six River Farm
Justin Deri, Deri Farm
The proliferation of new farming operations in Maine is encouraging for a number of reasons, but challenges still remain. Finding and developing markets that are suitable for one’s scale of operation and experience level is a tricky business. Also, in some places around the state, finding one’s niche is becoming increasingly difficult as markets evolve. We’ll hear from some new farmers who have taken different approaches to marketing about their strategies and experiences establishing themselves in their respective niches.
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Register Early!
Registration closes & Rates expire October 8th
We hope you can join us for the 2010 Farmer to Farmer Conference November 5th-7th 2010.
Please register early as the conference will be closed when we reach capacity. Meals often sell out so be sure you line up your farm sitter and get ready for a great weekend off the farm!
Register Online here.
Download the Full Brochure (with registration) here.
Download the Registration form here.
Request a good old fashioned paper copy of the brochure by calling the MOFGA office at 568-4142
Published and distributed in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914, by the University of Maine and the U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating. Cooperative Extension and other agencies of the USDA provide equal opportunities in programs and employment. August 2010
In complying with the letter and spirit of applicable laws and pursuing its own goals of diversity, the University System shall not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, including transgender status or gender expression, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, or veteran’s status in employment, education, and all other areas of the University System. The University provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. Questions and complaints about discrimination in any area of the University should be directed to the Executive Director of Equal Opportunity, The University of Maine, Room 101, 5754 North Stevens Hall, Orono, ME 04469-5754, telephone (207) 581-1226 (voice and TDD).
Any person with a disability who needs accommodations for this program should contact Rick Kersbergen at 1-800-287-1426 to discuss their needs at least 21 days in advance.
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Accommodations & Venue
We’re excited to once again host the conference at a venue located in the heart of Mid-Coast Maine (map).
Point Lookout features tremendous views, hiking trails, bowling alley, and pleasant guest accommodations.
 Each of Point Lookout’s spacious, all-pine cabins-one, two, or three bedroom- feature:
* kitchen with refrigerator and coffeemaker
* queen and king-size beds
* wireless internet access
* central heat and propane fireplaces
* stand-up shower in each of the one or two bathrooms
Registration closes & Rates expire October 8th
Cabin reservations will be handled directly through the conference center. We've arranged special room rates ($75 in shared 2/3 bedroom cabin to $150 depending on cabin size) for conference participants. Please call Point Lookout at 800-515-3611 to book your room. Be sure to call by October 8th and mention the MOFGA Farmer to Farmer Conference. If you would like to share a cabin, please indicate this during the reservation process.
Check In will begin Friday, November 5th at 6:30 pm in the Fitness Center (see the venue map).
At this time you will also receive your conference packet.
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Scholarships
A limited number of scholarships are available.
Priority will be given to recent participants in the MOFGA Apprenticeship Program, but other new, beginning, and limited resource farmers are encouraged to apply.
To apply online:
Register online for the conference as you normally would, but in the payment section, indicate you are applying for a scholarship. You will then be prompted to fill out an online scholarship application.
To apply by mail:
Fill out BOTH a paper registration form and a scholarship application. Indicate you are applying for a scholarship. Send no money.
We will contact you by October 10 to let you know of your award and any outstanding registration fees.
We must receive BOTH forms to process your scholarship request.
Questions or concerns? please contact Andrew Marshall. |
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