MOFGA Spring Growth Conference—March 5-6, 2022
Soil Health Workshop
March 5, 2022 9 a.m. – 11:30 a.m., online.
This interactive workshop will support farmer decision making about soil health and nutrient management. Growers will learn step-by-step tools to easily understand and interpret soil tests, calculate nutrients, and build a soil amendment plan. Growers will also have the opportunity to bring their own soil tests to the workshop and better understand how to use this information as part of a broader soil health plan.
This 2.5 hour workshop will include presentations from Becky Maden, UVM Extension and fellow organic farmers (TBA) presenting their soil health practices. This workshop will also include ample time and opportunities for discussion and decision making support.
Climate Adaptation Workshop
March 5, 2022 1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m., online.
Learn about three climate adaptation strategies and a suite of decision-making resources based on the experiences of New England vegetable and livestock farmers. This session will share how the three practices – silvopasture, irrigation, and tarping – can address climate risks such as increased temperatures, summer droughts, and increasingly variable weather and extreme weather events. We’ll also share a suite of tools that can help you decide if they might be right for your farm. The tools address economic, production and landscape implications, incorporating farmers’ and agricultural experts’ management concerns related to farm scale, regional geographic and climate characteristics, and farmer experience level. Presenters: Meredith Niles, Associate Professor of Food Systems in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at The University of Vermont, and director of the Climate Adaptation Resources for Northern New England Farmers project. Farmers: TBA.
Packinghouse and Food Safety Tour
March 6, 2022 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Hall Brook Farm, Thorndike
In-Person Farm Tour Tour Hall Brook Farm’s new packing house in whatever state of completion it will be in, as well as their current packinghouse, and produce packing and handling equipment. Pheonix O’Brien, Hall Brook Farm, will also go over their food safety plan and how they implement it in a practical way.
$35 General Registration Sliding scale available Scholarships available for BIPOC, veteran and women farmers
Questions? Please email [email protected]
