Today I’m reporting live off-the farm, at the 2008 Practical Farmers of Iowa conference. This year’s theme is “Come to the Table”, with tomorrow’s keynote speakers being farmers who are meeting the demand for grassfed, organic and local foods.
This afternoon I attended a session called “Practically Farmers of Iowa : A Session Exclusively for Beginning Farmers”. This session featured farms Blue Gate Farm of Columbia, IA (and its farmers Jill Beebout & Sean Skeehan), and Grass Run Farm of Dorchester, IA (and its farmers Ryan & Kristine Jepsen). Also on hand were Dave Baker from Beginning Farmer Center; Kelvin Liebold, ISU Extension Farm Management Specialist; and Penny Brown Huber of Grow Your Small Market Farm.
The farmers talked about their own operations, and the specialists talked about what services they offer. And then a good hour or more was left for the workshop participants to pick the presenters’ brains, one-on-one. I thought it was a good format. I was able to talk with Kristine Jepsen about meat processors in northeast Iowa; with Sean Skeehan about laying hens and farmers market signage; Dave Baker about communication issues between one farming generation and the next; and Kelvin Liebold about how to go about getting an ag loan. I already took Penny’s class, so I ignored her 😉
“Plan, plan, plan. No matter how much you plan it won’t be enough. But do as much as you can.” ~ Ryan Jepsen
One thing that really exemplifies the PFI conference was that the session went from 12:30 to 4:30, but there was a full hour break in the middle to allow for networking. I probably say it on this blog every year at this time, but while the workshops themselves are fantastic the real value of the PFI conference is the networking and the connections you’ll make. I come by myself but I am never without company, even when I don’t know a single person in the room. You can sit down next to anybody and be engaged in great conversation within seconds.
The evening meal was an Iowa buffet dinner featuring food raised by PFI farmers. After the meal the Leopold Center presented Laura Krouse with the Spencer Award for Sustainable Agriculture.
The evening was capped with the showing of King Corn by co-star Curt Ellis and director Aaron Woolf with a Q&A session after. It was a great film, go see it if you have a chance. If you don’t get a chance to see it in a theater, it will air on the PBS show “Independent Lens” on April 15th of this year.
That’s all for tonight, back tomorrow with a roundup of conference Day 2!
2 years ago:
Victory is ours
1 year ago:
Dog pile!
hey, hey, hey… the BLUE GATE FARM is right up my road. (sort of). I know where it is anyway.I went and visited their site… they sell honey. I just read a old book about honey and it’s good qualities. Gonna show my dear husband and see what he thinks.THANKS for the information. I hope you have a great day today and LEARN A LOT MORE! Ãœ
Great review! We too attend the conference and I thought it was great! My husband helped with someo the grazing discussions and realted topics, such as the coffeeshop.I look forward to reading your blog again!
Forgive my spelling errors, I’m tired! It should read: some of the grazing discussions and related topics….Anyway the conference was great and I am already looking forward to next year.
jennifer – they also have summer & winter CSA memberships (yum!) If you end up getting honey from them, be sure and tell them how you found them. Not that I get a commission or anything, it’s just interesting to hear how your customers got to you.kristi – I would have loved to attended the grazing sessions. So much fascinating stuff! But I thought I’d better stick to things we actually do here 🙂 Wish we had the land to pursue more grazing. Hopefully we can meet in person next year – I’ll be looking for you!