Schedule for 2010 SFA 19th Annual Conference

Registration
Featuring breakfast pastries and coffee from Minnesota Farmers Union

Black & Gold
Ballroom

Opening Plenary Session
Welcome and Introductions followed by SFA Awards

Break for Exhibits and Farmers’ Market

Ten Years On: Climate Change, Peak Oil and the Sustainable Farm
Join us for a moderated panel discussion on how sustainable farming will cope with a more volatile and changing climate along with a rise in input costs. Panel discussion participants will include: Bruce Anderson of RENew Northfield, Minnesota state Rep. David Bly, Angel Dobrow of Transition Northfield, and Erika Koffel, Permaculture Research Institute Cold Climate.   Moderated by Joe Gransee-Bowman

Local Foods in the City and Country
Join Megan O'Hara from Homegrown Minneapolis and Dorothy Rosemeier, director of the University of Minnesota West Central Partnership, from Buy Fresh Buy Local of the Upper Minnesota River, for a session on how both urban and rural areas of Minnesota are encouraging the production and consumption of locally produced foods.  Moderated by John Mesko, Executive Director of SFA
Sponsored by Lighthouse Farm

A New Business Model for Sustainability
Promoting and developing local community-based energy is uniquely suited for the sustainable farming community.  The principles of local, environmentally sustainable, secure and profitable apply to both local energy and sustainable ag.  Duane Ninneman from CURE (Clean Up our River Environment) will discuss momentum behind local energy and talk about new ideas for cooperative ownership and investment.

“Farming Forward”
A new Documentary Film on Sustainable Farming in Minnesota
“FARMING FORWARD” Produced by Martin Lang and Ethan Marxhausen, Gustavus Adolphus College
This dynamic new film features your neighbors, including sustainable farmers Mary Jo and Luverne Forbord, Laura Frerichs, and Willard Kreitlow; as well as Jerry Ford of SFA, Glen Hill of MN Food Association, Margo O'Brien and Erik Larson of the St. Peter Food Co-op, urban farmer Susane Moua, and the student farmers at Gustavus’ Big Hill Farm. A different panel of the film's stars will accompany each showing.

11:15 a.m.

Break for Exhibits and Farmers’ Market

Keynote Address

“Farming 2020: A Sustainable Vision”
Presented by Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie
Sponsored by the Mill City Farmers’ Market

Lunch
A Delicious Locally Grown & Seasonal Lunch through the St. Olaf food service with St. Olaf students

Visit the Exhibits and Farmers’ Market too!

Ten Years On: Opportunities for Producing Fuel and Fiber
Join us for a session on sustainable energy systems, on-farm renewable technologies: wind solar, biomass, and harvestable building materials: agroforestry, lambs wool for building insulation. Panel discussion participants include: Jeff Jensen of Rural Advantage and Ryan Stockwell of the Minnesota Project.   Moderated by Joe Gransee-Bowman

Careers in a Sustainable Food System
Join St. Olaf College students and others for a moderated discussion about careers in sustainable food systems.  They will talk about the wide variety of careers within the sustainable agriculture world and the various routes students and post grads can take to get there.  They will also address the need we have for more farmers and others to support a sustainable food system.  And, find out the resources that are available to begin your search. Panel participants include: Lauren Anderson with the Community Design Center of Minnesota, Ben Doherty of Open Hands Farm, Sarah Lesnar with the Land Stewardship Project, and Danny Schwartzman, owner of Common Roots Cafe.  Moderated by Katie Godfrey, St. Olaf College 
Sponsored by Minnesota State, Fergus Falls

Direct Marketing and Your Farm
Some of the best small, direct-market farm operations never really get off the ground and become profitable.  Sometimes this is due to difficulties in marketing the product.  Let’s face it: If you can’t sell it, and more importantly if you can’t make money on it, you won’t be producing it for long. John Mesko, Executive Director of SFA of MN will lead a session on direct marketing for farmers. As the owners and operators of Lighthouse Farm, John and his family direct market grass-fed, organic beef and lamb as well as pastured pork, chicken, and turkey. This session will cover evaluating enterprises, finding and keeping clients, branding, marketing messages, assessing profitability and more.  You’ll have a chance to peek behind the numbers, look at real-life examples, successes and failures, using actual sales data from Lighthouse Farm.

“Farming Forward”
A new Documentary Film on Sustainable Farming in Minnesota
“FARMING FORWARD” Produced by Martin Lang and Ethan Marxhausen, Gustavus Adolphus College
This dynamic new film features your neighbors, including sustainable farmers Mary Jo and Luverne Forbord, Laura Frerichs, and Willard Kreitlow; as well as Jerry Ford of SFA, Glen Hill of MN Food Association, Margo O'Brien and Erik Larson of the St. Peter Food Co-op, urban farmer Susane Moua, and the student farmers at Gustavus’ Big Hill Farm. A different panel of the film's stars will accompany each showing.

3:45 p.m.

Break for Exhibits and Farmers’ Market

Afternoon Sessions

Beginnings, Middles and Ends: Real Stories from the Field
The Farm Beginnings program has been training new farmers for several years in the upper Midwest.  In this candid group session, we'll hear unedited stories of success and “redirection,” challenges and surprises; in hopes that we can all learn from these experiences, and ultimately present a more realistic and comprehensive picture to aspiring farmers.  Panel discussion participants include:  Rachel  Henderson and Anton Ptak, Mary Dirty Face Farm; John Ostgarden and Lowell Gordon, Clinton Falls Farm; Heather Secrist Smith, Smith Community Gardens Farm; and Brad Hodgson, Root Prairie Galloways. Moderated by Nick Olson of the Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings program.

Grazing: MIRG or Mob?
Join NRCS (Natural Resources and Conservation Service) grazing specialist John Zinn and Troy Salzer of Sandy Hills Ranch for a discussion of Management Intensive Rotational Grazing (MIRG) vs. high density grazing (Mob).  This discussion will also feature several graziers from Minnesota and Wisconsin who use this different management practices.  Learn the differences between these grazing systems and which one may be better suited for your farming operation.  Moderated by Jerry Ford.

Farm to School: Healthy Farms & Healthy Kids
Join us for a look at Farm to School in Minnesota with JoAnne Berkenkamp from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) and Greg Reynolds of Riverbend Farm.  What’s been happening around the state?  What works and what doesn’t?  Hear about farmers’ experiences when selling to schools and more.  You’ll also learn more about the farm to school toolkit available to help nutrition educators and farms at www.mn-farmtoschool.umn.edu/.  Stephanie Heim, the new Farm to School Coordinator with University of Minnesota Extension will also join the discussion as well.

“Farming Forward”
A new Documentary Film on Sustainable Farming in Minnesota
“FARMING FORWARD” Produced by Martin Lang and Ethan Marxhausen, Gustavus Adolphus College
This dynamic new film features your neighbors, including sustainable farmers Mary Jo and Luverne Forbord, Laura Frerichs, and Willard Kreitlow; as well as Jerry Ford of SFA, Glen Hill of MN Food Association, Margo O'Brien and Erik Larson of the St. Peter Food Co-op, urban farmer Susane Moua, and the student farmers at Gustavus’ Big Hill Farm. A different panel of the film's stars will accompany each showing.

The End!

See you on Saturday, February 19, 2011 for SFA of MN’s 20th Annual Conference!
Visit www.sfa-mn.org throughout the year to find out about more SFA of MN Events.