How to Save Seeds and Be A Farmer
Ira Wallace, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange; Chris Smith, Utopian Seed Project

On-farm seed saving is somewhat of a lost art and can come with challenges, but it has many benefits for growers and the broader sustainable agriculture community. This workshop provides a realistic look at generating income through seed grow-outs for seed companies and whether on-farm seed saving is a good fit for your operation. Ira and Chris discuss seed-saving opportunities and challenges, with examples of farmers succeeding as seed growers. They also cover dual cropping potentials of seed saving and working with seed companies as a contract grower.

Session Audience: Established farmers and seed savers interested in contract growing and beginning farmers interested in on-farm seed saving.

About the Speakers: Ira is a seed-saver, writer, educator, and co-manager of Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, a cooperatively-owned seed company, and a co-founder of Acorn Community Farm, an egalitarian community in central Virginia. Ira is a 2023 James Beard Foundation Leadership Award recipient. Chris is the founder and executive director of The Utopian Seed Project, a nonprofit working to responsibly grow, research, educate, and celebrate a wide range of crops and varieties to support diversity in food and farming. He is also the author of the James Beard Award-winning book The Whole Okra.

Farm to Market: An Interactive Workshop for Budding Farmers Market Vendors
Hannah Dankbar, NC State Extension

In this three-part session, Hannah starts by describing best practices for selling at a farmers market, including setting up an eye-catching booth, sampling products, engaging with customers, recording sales, food safety practices, and tips for interacting with a farmers market organization. Attendees then take a short walk to the Durham Farmers Market to visit booths, explore the market, and participate in a self-guided activity. The session concludes with attendees meeting in Durham Central Park to discuss the activity and share thoughts and observations.

Session Audience: Aspiring or new farmers market vendors, market managers, or established vendors looking to up their market game!

About the Speaker: Hannah Dankbar is the manager of NC State Extension’s Local Food Program, which works to build capacity for local food systems through resource development and training across North Carolina.

Incorporating Livestock to Improve Soil Health
Don Jackson, Pompey’s Rest; Gabriel Kenne, University of South Carolina

Animals are valuable tools for improving soil health, sequestering carbon, and minimizing synthetic inputs. Incorporating livestock into field rotations breaks up cover crop residue, adds natural fertilizer, and speeds up microbial action in the soil, which, if managed well, improves pasture productivity and animal health. Don discusses his rotational grazing techniques to reduce external inputs, improve soil fertility and water-holding capacity, and enhance animal performance on his South Carolina farm. Gabriel discusses the science of why these regenerative practices benefit the land, animals, and surrounding environment, and opportunities for contract grazing to improve cropland. The session includes a demonstration of how you can evaluate your soil’s health using basic slake and slump tests with examples from differently managed crop and pastureland.

Session Audience: Beginning ruminant producers, pasture-based livestock farmers, service providers, educators, and students.

About the Speakers: Don is the owner of Pompey’s Rest – Jackson Family Pastures, A Greener World Certified Grass-fed and Animal Welfare Approved cattle and meat goat operation focusing on soil health and regenerative practices. Gabriel is a research assistant professor in USC’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences, focusing on soil health and how applied science can address real-world public health issues concerning food safety and security.

Know Your Numbers
Gabriele Marewski, Farm4Business

Now that your plants are in the ground and your business is budding, do you have a plan for tracking and measuring profitability? Gabriele reviews the documents you need for efficient financial management of your business, including production projections, profit and loss statements, cash flow and balance sheets, and what documentation you need to provide for a loan.

Session Audience: Aspiring and beginning farmers and service providers.

About the Speaker: Gabriele is a retired farmer who now coaches start-up agricultural entrepreneurs and coaches for Mountain BizWorks, a non-profit that helps businesses start, grow and thrive in Western NC.

Ecological Outcomes Monitoring, Part 1: Giving the Land a Voice and the Farmer a Tool to Listen
Ashton Thompson, Juneberry Ridge

We can call ourselves regenerative farmers, but how do we prove it? In a world dominated by inputs and practices, focusing on outcomes is essential. Ashton guides you on making observations that can be measured and monitored to answer the question: Is your management actually regenerating the land? In this farmer-focused session, Ashton teaches principles of Ecological Outcome Verification™, the Savory Institute’s soil and landscape assessment methodology, which tracks outcomes in biodiversity, soil health, and ecosystem function.

Session Audience: Beginning to experienced farmers or service providers consulting on regenerating land with animals.

About the Speaker: Ashton is the chief operations officer at Juneberry Ridge, a working regenerative farm, educational facility, and retreat center in Norwood, NC.

Strategies for Curing & Storing Your Harvest for Increased Quality & Shelf Life
Sarah Hinson, Wild Hope Farm; Jillian Mickens, Open Door Farm

Diversified farmers that grow dozens of crops for market or CSAs face a unique challenge: How should crops be cured and stored when they require different temperatures, humidities, and shelf lives to maintain the highest quality for customers? Post-harvest, curing, and storage can be particularly challenging for farmers with limited on-site infrastructure, and farmers seeking organic or food safety certifications have additional factors to consider. Sarah and Jillian discuss the strategies used at their farms and invite farmers to join a conversation about curing and storage challenges, share farm hacks, and provide tips for success.

Cut Flowers for Wholesale
Claire Charny, Clear Black Flowers

Selling cut flowers wholesale is appealing if you are looking for an alternative to farmers markets or CSAs, but it can come with its own challenges. From production planning, pricing, and building relationships with buyers, the wholesale flower market is more than growing beautiful blooms. Claire shares her background in growing cut flowers and how she runs her business, doing over 80% of sales through wholesale accounts. She discusses what wholesale is and is not, best practices for working with buyers, what is expected from florists and event designers, and whether or not wholesale might be a good fit for your operation. She also talks about working within a cooperative, Piedmont Wholesale Flowers, and how this collective benefits her business and other growers in the area.

Beyond the Pivot: Effective, Low-Stress Irrigation Techniques
Avery & Laura Fox, Hidden Springs Farm

Water management is crucial for the success of any small farm, homestead, or garden. But with all the choices available, how do you know which option is the best for your setup? Avery and Laura share their 25-year journey to refine and optimize water management on their farmstead. They discuss tips, techniques, and devices that growers can adapt to municipal supplies, residential or shallow wells, rain catchment systems, or surface water sources. The session includes hands-on demonstrations, and attendees can examine different types of pipes, lines, fittings, and tanks.

Agritourism vs Agritainment: Insuring Activities & Minimizing Risk on Your Farm
Chris Rubish, High & Rubish; Anna Williams & Jonathan Williams, Cedar Grove Law

Farmers and landowners in North and South Carolina who host events or activities on their land might be familiar with their state’s Agritourism Activity Liability acts, which limit the liability of agritourism professionals in the case of injury or death. But just because an activity might be considered agritourism because it takes place on a farm does not mean that it falls within the definitions of each state’s Agritourism Act, nor does it mean your insurance will offer liability protection. If you are thinking of starting an agritourism venture on your land or already host on-farm events, it’s essential to understand what the law covers, how to manage risks, and understand you have the insurance protection you need. Chris discusses questions you need to ask your insurance agent before purchasing a policy to ensure you will be covered and to understand what counts as agritourism versus agritainment. Anna and Jon discuss the legal elements you should understand to protect and grow your agritourism business.

Farmer-Led Mentor, Apprentice, and Training Opportunities in the Carolinas
Billy Mitchell, Florida Organic Growers; Nicole Delcogliano, Organic Growers School; Kathleen Wood, Center for Environmental Farming Systems; Angel Cruz,Center for Environmental Farming Systems; Shiloh Avery, Tumbling Shoals Farm; Olivia & Rocky Ramos, Soil Shine Farm

Are you interested in mentoring future farmers? Or are you interested in being an apprentice or being mentored by a successful farmer? If so, this session is for you! In the Carolinas, there are many ways to engage with different types of programs with different pay structures, timelines, and requirements. This session features short presentations from farmers, apprentices, and farm mentees, as well as program leaders at Organic Growers School and Registered Apprenticeships through the Center for Environmental Farming Systems. Presenters will share best practices from their experiences, lessons learned, and new opportunities. Audience members can ask questions and share what they are looking for in a mentor/apprenticeship program.

Growing Wellness with Medicinal Herbs
Lisa Fouladbash, Sequoia Herbals

Imagine if you could cultivate wellness alongside your fruits and veggies. Whether making tea to cool your child’s fever, nibbling some lemon balm to brighten your mood, or adding nettles to your winter broth, an herbal garden offers nourishment and healing that we can share with our communities. Lisa discusses how to plan and tend your healing garden, using lessons from a local herbalist (with an ever-expanding garden)! Learn how to organically grow your own medicine, including herbs for mood and sleep, immunity, winter wellness, and more!

Crop Rotations for Vegetables and Cover Crops
Pam Dawling, Twin Oaks Community

This workshop offers ideas to design a planting sequence that maximizes utilizing cover crops and reduces pest and disease likelihood. Pam discusses formal rotations and ad hoc systems for shoehorning minor crops into available spaces. She also discusses cover crops suitable at various times of the year, particularly winter cover crops between vegetable crops in successive years. Pam provides examples of undersowing cover crops in vegetable plantings and no-till options.

Paddock Design: Strategies for Maintaining Health & Productivity
Lee Rinehart, National Center for Appropriate Technology

Lee discusses the principles of adaptive multi-paddock grazing, and their practical implementation, focusing on building soil health and raising healthy livestock. While all farms are different in size and topography, Lee draws from his work with farms across the United States to provide guidance on paddock considerations, necessary equipment, and fencing and water systems options. He shares ideas for when and how to move livestock based on paddock layout to maintain the health and productivity of animals and plants and improve pasture resiliency.

Utilizing Technology to Ensure Sales and Convenience
Zachary Rierson, Rierson Farms & Piedmont Fresh; Stefanie Jaeger, Local Food Marketplace

When efficiency and convenience are at the forefront of consumers’ minds, creating hassle-free access to local food is as vital as producing it. Zachary and Stefanie discuss utilizing community partnerships, peer-farmer relationships, and sales software to create seamless transactions from grower to buyer. Using Local Food Marketplace as an example, they will describe the success and challenge of designing Piedmont Fresh’s current distribution plan and offer advice for other food hubs or farmer cooperatives who want to create a robust one-stop-shop for customers.

Agroforestry Design for Mixed Enterprises
Noah Poulos, Wild East Farm

Agroforestry can be applied to almost any farm at any scale, regardless of the farm’s enterprises. Noah discusses scalable agroforestry design principles using Wild East Farm as a case study in methods to integrate woody crops into annual vegetables, pastured livestock, and existing forestry. Through this interactive workshop, Noah guides you through mocking up preliminary designs for your farm and leaves you with an idea of the tools, technology, and resources necessary to get started integrating agroforestry into your new or existing farm.

Don’t Flush Your Money Away: Building a Composting Toilet on Your Farm
Hector Lopez & Phoebe Gooding, Hawk’s Nest Healing Gardens

Hector and Phoebe wanted to increase agritourism events on their urban farm, but they didn’t have public restrooms to accommodate visitors and wanted to avoid footing the cost of installing plumbing or renting a portajohn. What they did have was the space and resources to construct a composting toilet using lumber from trees on the land Hector and Phoebe share their journey of building a permitted outdoor composting toilet, working with a local sawmill, and the costs of building on-farm infrastructure.

Oyster Mushroom Cultivation in Bottles
John & Elizabeth Moon, Green Box Mushrooms

John and Elizabeth provide an overview of indoor mushroom bottle cultivation, using their shipping container grow facility as an example of a successful year-round production system. They discuss the advantages and disadvantages of growing in bottles versus bags, which varieties work best, and the startup costs of establishing a bottle cultivation enterprise.

Practical Tools for Implementing Food Safety on Your Farm
Sara Runkel & Keisha Rainey, Carolina Farm Stewardship Association; Stasia Greenewalt, Local Food Hub

Are you a produce grower struggling to implement food safety practices on your farm? You may have a food safety plan but don’t know where to start, or you are struggling to keep up with everything required in your Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) audit. Some of the most common challenges growers face when implementing a food safety plan are related to recordkeeping, worker training, and cleaning and sanitation. In this interactive workshop, Stasia outlines the resources and tools to help make recordkeeping more efficient and effective, introducing a new recordkeeping app FarmDoc she created to help farmers comply with GAP, HGAP, and PSR required records. Sara and Keisha will discuss employee training resources and strategies and lead a hands-on demonstration of cleaning and sanitizing tools and procedures for food contact surfaces. Come prepared to ask questions and share any tips you may have on these topics.

Ecological Outcomes Monitoring, Part 2: Putting Tools Into Practice
Ashton Thompson & Adam Barringer, Juneberry Ridge

Join Ashton and Adam for a walk around Durham Central Park to see how land stewards can use the methods of Ecological Outcome Verification™ to measure soil health, biodiversity, and ecosystem function in any green space.

Taking Back the Farm Bill: How to Advocate for a Just and Climate-Friendly Food System
Hannah Quigley, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition; Brett Rapkin-Citrenbaum, North Carolina Food System Advocacy Coalition; Matt Kneece, Carolina Farm Stewardship Association; Mike Hansen, Ozark Akerz; Michael Banner, Island CultureZ; Kelly Crane, Farmer Foodshare

How does the most significant piece of federal agriculture policy impact you? How can you be part of working for sustainable, resilient, and socially-just farm policy? This interactive workshop will explore the farm bill, how this piece of legislation funds programs critical to food systems in the Carolinas, what to expect this year and beyond, and how to get involved in making change. Participants share their experiences with USDA programs, identify partners that can support navigating federal policy, and learn how their experience and voice are among the most powerful tools in influencing the farm bill. You will leave with tangible next steps for using your power to take action this year.

Session Audience: Farm owners and managers.

About the Speakers: Katherine is the business operations manager at Wild Hope Farm, a Certified Organic vegetable and flower farm in Chester, SC. Elliot is the co-owner of Fair Share Farm, a Certified Naturally Grown produce farm in Pfafftown, NC.

Session Audience: All conference attendees.

About the Speaker: Shy is the passionate founder of Reclamation FARMacy, committed to cultivating a more equitable and just food system by empowering Black, Indigenous, and people of color with the knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in agriculture.

African American Agricultural Traditions
marc williams, Botany Everyday

Through this workshop, marc explores a multitude of agricultural and herbal contributions from African Americans to the food traditions of the United States. He focuses on crops brought to the United States from Africa, traditional diets combining those plants with the native plants of the Americas, and the food-as-medicine practices that have grown from this synthesis. He discusses the benefit of reclaiming the good parts of these lifestyles that have often been left behind and forgotten, both in the rush to modern urbanity and away from the challenging past often associated with what an agrarian life entails. He rounds out the presentation with potential for alternative crops, increased diet diversity, and better health, given the knowledge shared.

Extending the Harvest: Creating a Four-Season Garden
Ira Wallace, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

Extending vegetable production in late fall and winter supports a farm’s income and increases production in small spaces like urban farms and gardens. This workshop focuses on the second half of the all-season garden, starting with summer planting for an abundant fall and winter harvest. Ira discusses stretching succession plantings through late summer into fall and extending harvests through winter and into the “hungry days” of spring using row covers, cold frames, low tunnels, and deep mulches.

Meat & Egg Subscriptions Models
Alex Russell, Chucktown Acres

—We apologize; this session has been canceled.– Protein subscriptions are a powerful and simple way to increase your farm’s revenue and make recurring meat sales. Alex walks you through the setup and practical applications to establish a protein CSA subscription and discusses the pros and cons of converting your customers to a subscription model versus selling a-la-carte online, at a farmers market, or through bulk order programs such as MeatSuite. Bring your questions and experiences to share with other producers.

Expanding Food Access For All with Online SNAP Payments for Farmers
Eric Sannerud, Farm Generations Coop & GrownBy; Phil Blalock, MarketLink

Until recently, farmers could not accept SNAP payments online and relied on an in-person terminal system. Guided by the belief that all people deserve healthy fresh food, the teams at MarketLink and GrownBy worked with USDA to take a giant step forward for food access by designing a pilot program for farmers to accept SNAP online. Phil and Eric review the basics of the SNAP program, how the new SNAP online program works, and the steps required to become a SNAP-authorized online vendor.

How to Launch a Food Product
Eric Hallman & Sue Ellsworth, Piedmont Food Processing Center

Are you considering launching a value-added food product but need help figuring out where to start? Drawing on their experience with helping launch hundreds of food products, Eric and Sue address the process of bringing new products to market and avoiding the common mistakes of beginning food entrepreneurs. In this overview they will take some of the mystery out of the regulations and provide you with the information to successfully launch your product.

Minimizing Inputs with Ecological Farming
Helen Atthowe, Woodleaf Farm

Ecological farming uses a systems-thinking approach to balance profitable yields with minimum soil disturbance, combining soil-building techniques for microbial abundance and diversity and habitat-building for enhanced biological control. Helen shares results from her on-farm research about optimum carbon-to-nitrogen ratios, application timing for no-till residues, cover crops, and living mulches, and her experience using low-input methods for over 40 years. She connects how these details affect beneficial insects and pest, disease, and weed populations to build a resilient and abundant farm.

Farming But Not My Farm: A Roundtable for Farm Employees, Apprentices & Interns
Casey Roe, Casey Roe Marketing; Meredith Cohen, One Soil Farm

Farm employees face unique challenges, from advocating for fair wages and working conditions to purchasing their own land and learning how to manage a farm business. Ask almost any farm owner at the conference how they ‘got into farming,’ many will tell you that they started working on a farm as an intern, farmhand, or apprentice. But how did they make the leap from employee to farm owner? With land prices soaring and available land shrinking, what are affordable pathways to farm ownership? And if farm ownership is not the end goal, what are ways into sustainable agriculture careers that allow you to use your experience and expertise to drive meaningful change in the food system and environment? This session is a participant-driven discussion to share experiences and offer resources to address challenges, discuss viable options for career transitions (whether into land/farm ownership or others), and build a support network with other farm employees and organizations.

Climate-Smart in Southeast: How Southern Piedmont Farmers Can Guide USDA Sustainable Agriculture Programs
Kristie Wendelberger, Climate-Smart Project Director, Rodale Institute; Edna Ely-Ledesma, Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin; Biswanath Dari, Agriculture and Natural Resources Specialist, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University; Patrick Brown, Owner/Consultant, The Connect Group; Debjani Sihi, Assistant Professor, Emory University; Suzanne Girdner, Director of Programs, Georgia Organics

Rodale Institute and 12 partner organizations across the Southeast are collaborating with 500 Southern Piedmont vegetable farmers and 30 farmers markets through the Climate-Smart Commodities Program. The five-year project aims to gather information on how sustainable agriculture practices improve carbon sequestration and soil health on southern farms and how these practices economically impact growers. It also seeks to identify barriers to transition to climate-smart practices and ways to market value-added produce to consumers. The project results will guide recommendations to the USDA on ways to support organic growers in implementing sustainable practices and furthering their economic success. Session presenters discuss the project’s specifics, how farmers can participate, and what project participants will gain from the $25 million project designed to help southeastern farmers thrive economically and socially while mitigating the impacts of climate change. The USDA-NRCS funds this project through the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Program.

On-Farm Cover Crops Research in the Carolinas
Justin Duncan, National Center for Appropriate Technology; Dorathy Barker, Operation Spring Plant; Jason Lindsay, Southeastern African American Farmers’ Organic Network

In partnership with Operation Spring Plant and SAAFON, NCAT has launched a Southern SARE-funded research project on cover crops, working with farmers in the Carolinas. The session will discuss the process of performing on-farm trials through the lens of the current SSARE project to investigate the relationship between cover crops and weed suppression. Dorathy and Jason discuss important cover crop considerations from the viewpoint of two grassroots organizations working with farmers in the Carolinas. Justin reviews the process of choosing the ideal cover crops for your operation, alternative uses of cover crops, and the multiple means of profit beyond soil improvement.

Brooding for Success
Alyssa Walsh, Resaca Sun Feeds

Brooding is the liftoff phase of chick development, and what happens in the brooder will determine how well your chickens will perform throughout their life. During the first 14 days of life, a chick’s skeletal, muscular, neurological, and digestive systems quickly develop, so farmers must take extra care. While Alyssa focuses her presentation on broiler production, the principles are the same for pullets and turkeys, with the results of a successful brooding phase being optimizing weight gain, decreasing disease, and reducing mortality.

Native & Low-Input Fruit Production in the Mid-Atlantic
Elizabeth Hilborn, Bee Well Vet

The eastern United States can be a challenging environment for fruit production. High peak temperatures, warm nights, low chill hours, and high humidity maintain pest and disease-rich conditions for fruit growers. But there’s hope! Many native and low-input tree fruits and fruiting shrubs thrive in our Carolina climate. Most are pollinator-dependent, but not all need insect pollinators to set a crop. Elizabeth reviews current knowledge of native and low-care perennial fruits for homestead and market production, focused on the Mid-Atlantic and Upper South.

Value-Added Foods Supporting Health, Equity, and Local Agriculture
Alice Ammerman, Equiti Foods – Good Bowls; Carla Norwood & Gabe Cummings, ByWay Foods

Alice, Carla, and Gabe discuss the challenges and opportunities of food system collaborations that involve sourcing locally grown food for value-added products that make healthy food more accessible, convenient, and affordable. They describe how ByWay Foods, a food hub in an economically-distressed county, sources from local, small, and BIPOC/woman-owned farms and works with Equiti Foods to make healthy frozen meals using regionally-appropriate recipes for southeastern taste preferences.

Full Circle: Creating a New Pathway to Access and Ownership by Connecting with Land Trusts
Delphine Sellars, Lucille Patterson, Justin Wooley, & Natasha Graham Urban Community AgriNomics

Delphine, Lucille, Natasha, and Justin share how a small minority-founded nonprofit, UCAN, worked with Triangle Land Conservancy to reclaim an old farmstead and former plantation and transform it into Catawba Trail Farm, an agricultural education center and community garden. Hear about the five-year journey of UCAN, the successes and pitfalls, how they brought their vision to life, and future plans for the farm.

Unearthing the Potential of Farm Leases
Christina Rice & Ashton Cooke, Land Loss Prevention Project

This workshop explores the fundamentals of preparing, reviewing, and revising farm leases, including common legal issues and special considerations such as heirs property, regenerative agriculture, and equity-sharing provisions. Christina and Ashton discuss best practices related to term negotiations, successful lease management, and how to create a beneficial and profitable partnership between the landowner and the lessee. As a participant, you can review sample language and discuss what may work best for your farm business.

Mechanisms of Biological Fertility
Peter Brezny, Psycho Chicken Eco Farm

We hear all the time about how important soil health is, and it’s an easy concept to get behind because plants grow better with an active microbiological ecosystem to support them. But have you ever wondered why? Recent research has finally brought to light microbial interactions between plants and soil, and in this session, Peter breaks down the science of how fertilizers impact soil health and plants’ nutritional value, highlighting Dr. James White’s research on endophytic bacteria. He digs into how and why healthy bacteria impact plant nutrition and how that ultimately influences the nutritional value and flavor of the plants we grow.

Cultivating Sustainable Growth: ‘Grow Slow So You Don’t Owe’
Clarenda “Farmer Cee” Stanley, Green Heffa Farms

In a world driven by instant gratification, consumer consumption, and rapid results, the timeless wisdom of patience often gets overlooked, especially in the realm of small-scale farming. This session empowers small farmers with the knowledge and strategies to embrace a deliberate and thoughtful approach to agricultural growth. Farmer Cee delves into how she has employed slow and sustainable farming, emphasizing how growing your farming business with intention can lead to long-lasting success. Farmers can make informed decisions that align with their values, resources, and environment by taking a step back from the pressure of rapid expansion. The session covers a range of topics to equip participants with the tools they need to foster healthy, gradual growth in their farming ventures.

Gaia Herbs’ Journey to Regenerative Organic Certification®
Kate Renner, Zach West & Abbie Dillon, Gaia Herbs

Along the journey to becoming the first Regenerative Organic Certified® farm in the Carolinas, operations managers at Gaia Herbs learned many lessons, including the different ways “regenerative agriculture” is defined and how the standards vary based on certifiers. Kate, Zach, and Abbie share the farm’s journey to ROC®, emphasizing certification standards for social fairness, navigating the first audit, and resources for additional knowledge and guidance.

Wholesale Readiness for Organic Growers
Sara Runkel, Carolina Farm Stewardship Association; Alex Borst, Happy Dirt; Justin Roller, Swamp Rabbit Cafe & Grocery; Clem Swift, Clem’s Organic Gardens

Are you thinking about expanding your sales channels beyond direct-to-consumer? Wholesale markets allow growers to diversify market channels and provide consistent sales while reducing the time and labor involved in marketing. However, wholesale buyers often have unique requirements that farmers must prepare for to be successful. In this workshop, panelists discuss what it takes to be ‘wholesale ready,’ from selling to grocers versus distributors to food safety certifications, packaging, volume expectations, and best practices for communicating with wholesalers. They also discuss the benefits of being Certified Organic and what items wholesale buyers seek most.

Southeast Seed Growing and Seed Collectives Roundtable
Chris Smith, The Utopian Seed Project; Shelby Johnson, Appalachian Seed Growers Collective; Leeza Regensburger, Appalachian Seed Growers Collective; Megan Allen, Care of the Earth Community Farm; Kelli Dale, Southern Farmers Seed Co-op and NC Seed Stewards; Jay Bost, Seed Growers Network

This panel begins with short introductions from seed savers, educators, cooperatives, and farmers actively working with a range of collective models, followed by a guided discussion with time for sharing and questions on Southeast seed growing. The session aims to build community, encourage increased regional seed production, and discuss challenges and opportunities in Southeastern seed work.

Harmony in the Fields: Cultivating Wellness through Farming Yoga
Nina Spinelli, Yama Yoga

Join this empowering and rejuvenating workshop designed for farmers seeking balance, well-being, and connection with the land and their bodies. Nina explores the transformative power of yoga and its relevance to the farming community, delving into various yoga practices that can benefit farmers physically, mentally, and emotionally. Participants will learn strategies for stress management, relaxation, and self-compassion, fostering resilience, preventing burnout, and exploring self-care practices that allow farmers to nurture their well-being, both on and off the farm. By incorporating mindfulness and intention into yoga, participants will learn how to bring awareness and appreciation to their relationship with the land they steward.

Finding Success with USDA: Farmer Programs, Practices, and Applications
Hillery Goodgame, Blue Heron Urban Farms & Sanctuary, and Jaimie McGirt, Rural Advancement Foundation International

Knowing what you want to grow your farm into and how the USDA understands this can be two different things. Hillery and Jaimie share the farmer’s perspective on USDA programs that serve growers directly through loans, conservation enhancements, cost-share assistance (EQIP and CRP), and grants. Participants leave with instructions, form templates, next steps, and confidence in USDA programs and services.

Beginning Farmer Success
Nicole Delcogliano, Organic Growers School; Mary Saunders Bulan, Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA

Are you drawn to a career in sustainable farming for increased independence, active days outside, and access to fresh food, fiber, and flowers grown the way you want, but want to know what it takes to sustain a farm business for the long term? Farm sustainability, at its deepest level, requires passion, commitment, clear objectives, access to resources, mentorship, training, and skill-building opportunities. Nicole and Mary outline resources available and demystify barriers to new farmers, particularly farmers of color, by presenting strategies to successfully start and grow their farms.

Using Native Plants as Cover Crops
Patrick Johnson, Diversity Permaculture; Charlie Maloney, Dayspring Farm

When you think of cover crops, a handful of familiar ones likely come to mind. Is the partridge pea one of them? Native to the eastern United States, the partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata) is an herbaceous annual legume whose large yellow flowers attract pollinators and whose long seed pods interest birds while fixing nitrogen and improving soil health. Patrick and Charlie report on a two-year SSARE-funded research project studying the use of partridge peas as a cover crop and discuss the potential of other plants for similar benefits.

Sow It & Stow It: The Intersection of Food Safety, Security, & Waste Prevention
Chase McIntosh Baillie, Clemson University Extension; Adah Gorton, SC Department of Health & Environmental Control

Food safety and food waste are like peas and carrots – where you find a discussion of one; you’ll find the other. This interactive session follows produce from stem to kitchen, with several pit stops, demonstrating how small-scale growers (whether for personal use or distribution) and consumers can maintain safety and security while wasting as little as possible. Chase and Adah bust food handling and storage myths, help attendees conquer fears, and demonstrate user-friendly and accessible uses for extra food (including samples!). At the end of the session, you’ll be able to identify the best handling, short-term storage, and long-term storage practices for fruits and vegetables and various new strategies to utilize your food.

Advanced Organic Weed Management for Vegetable Growers
Clem Swift, Clem’s Organic Gardens

Clem discusses weed control methods for annual vegetable production, sharing video footage of various weed control tools and a wide range of strategies that make these tools maximally effective. He discusses simple to advanced tractor-scale cultivation strategies and smaller-scale strategies associated with organic no-till methods.

Below the Surface: Digging Into the Science of Soil Health
Janel Ohletz, North Carolina Composting Council

You know that adding organic matter, like compost, benefits the soil, but do you know why? Soil health education often focuses on what farmers should do to their land above the ground (cover cropping, no-till methods, composting) rather than what these practices are actually doing beneath the soil. Janel covers the basics of the physical, chemical, and biological properties at work in the dynamic space we call soil. Participants gain a new understanding of these relationships and why agronomists, technical assistance providers, and experienced growers recommend practices such as adding lime, using compost, and minimizing soil disturbance.

Small But Mighty: Managing Farmers Markets as Community Assets
Nora Rodli, Program Coordinator, North Carolina Farmers Market Network; Maggie Funkhouser, Market Manager, Carrboro Farmers Market; Lauren Wood, Double Up Food Bucks Coordinator, MountainWise; Brett Pinsent, Market Manager, Cary Farmers Market; Meredith Favre, Local Foods Coordinator, NC State Cooperative Extension; Ariana Ayuso, Market Manager, Cobblestone Farmers Market

Farmers markets have community, economic, and environmental benefits in addition to being critical sources of revenue for small-scale farmers and are beloved institutions in the local food movement. But what does it take to manage and keep a market running smoothly? How can vendors, shoppers, and community members support farmers markets outside of a few hours every week? In this panel session, members of the newly established North Carolina Farmers Market Network share how the organization came together during the pandemic to support one another and what they have accomplished in their inaugural year as a nonprofit. Market managers share their behind-the-scenes experiences and offer ideas for strengthening local markets in your community.

Challenges & Opportunities in Niche Meat Processing
Bob Shipley, Shipley Farms & Watauga Butchery

For pasture-based livestock farmers, accessibility to processing is the most significant barrier to entry for selling direct-to-consumer. Without consistent and reliable processing, farmers cannot scale their flocks or herds to make their business profitable. When the pandemic created shutdowns and pushed processing wait times to 12 months, many local producers had no legal outlet to get their products to market. Bob Shipley was one of them, so he came together with other farmers in 2020 to open Watauga Butchery, a USDA-inspected processing facility that serves local niche meat producers in the region. Bob discusses what led to the opening of Watauga Butchery, the resources available to farmers looking to open farmer-owned processing facilities, and how to get involved with advocacy that helps niche meat producers.

Understanding NRCS: A Deeper and Practical Approach
Hillery Goodgame, Blue Heron Urban Farms & Sanctuary, and Jaimie McGirt, Rural Advancement Foundation International

When it comes to USDA’s NRCS (Natural Resource Conservation Service), it can feel like “Apply apply apply, deny deny deny” for the historically underserved farmer or rancher. Join Hillery and Jaimie in a highly interactive session to get a farmer and fact-based perspective on applying to and succeeding with NRCS programs like EQIP and CSP. Leave with a deeper understanding of the language NRCS speaks, what to do before applying, how the application process works, and how all of this might improve your chances of receiving financial assistance.

Harnessing Beneficial Microbes for Climate Resilience
Mallory Choudoir, NC State University

Diverse communities of soil-dwelling and plant-associated bacteria, fungi, and other microbes carry out critical beneficial functions in agroecosystems. Mallory explains the roles of microbes in soil health and sustainable production, discusses microbes as solutions to climate change challenges, and outlines strategies for optimizing soil microbiomes. Divided into short lectures followed by small breakout groups, this session includes an interactive “Fact or Fiction” quiz-style game to clarify misconceptions about agricultural microbiomes.

Spring and Summer Hoop Houses
Pam Dawling, Twin Oaks Community

Hoop houses are ideal for growing hot-weather crops that struggle outdoors because of temperature, bugs, or diseases. In addition to growing food crops, spring and summer hoop houses are valuable for germinating seeds and growing plant starts, sowing cover crops to improve soil health, and producing flowers. Pam discusses how to cool hoop houses, tackle soil-borne diseases, and use the structures for other purposes, such as curing crops and drying seeds.

Principles of Contour Lines Agroforestry
Thomas Leonard, Contour Lines Corp

Contour Lines Corp provides free trees to farmers in exchange for the implementation of soil conservation practices. This session will focus on the science and strategies behind the soil-conserving techniques that Contour Lines recommends for their agroforestry projects in the US. These projects are designed to limit planting and maintenance expenses and improve the survival rate of seedlings. Thomas discusses contour farming, berms and swales, nitrogen-fixing support trees, chop and drop mulching, and integrating cover crops into agroforestry systems.

Holistic Farm Planning and Livelihood Strategies
Andrew Smolski & Silvana Pietrosemoli, NC State University

Farms are complex operations integrating the enterprise and household. They rely on various assets to build and operate them, such as financial, human, social, environmental, and built capital. In this session, Andrew and Silvana work with farmer participants to build capacity around using community capital to propose livelihood strategies for sustaining farms. The session features small group brainstorms and large group discussions using a guide for holistic farm planning based on research conducted over two years with niche meat farmers in North Carolina.

Building Community & Financial Stability Through Agritourism
Tom & Linda Savage, Allied Organic Farms

Farms are exceptional places for bringing people together to celebrate, learn, and build community, and farmers have the unique opportunity to give back to the public while benefiting financially. Tom and Linda share their experience hosting agritourism events on their farm, from workshops, corporate retreats, weddings, family reunions, farm dinners, and the annual Christmas light show. They discuss what goes into planning, marketing, pricing, building partnerships, and insurance requirements for using your farm as a gathering and event space.

Best Practices for Working With Your Processor
Samantha Gasson, Food Animal Concerns Trust, Sarah Blacklin, NC Choices, Cecilie May, and Carl & Kristi Mitchell, Mitchell’s Meat Processing

The past several years have put extra strain on local, niche meat processors, often causing bottlenecks and disruptions in the local meat supply chain, causing breakdowns of relationships between livestock growers and abattoirs. This panel of industry experts discusses best practices for doing business with a local meat processor, including scheduling, drop-off and pickup procedures, filling out cut sheets, and knowing what to expect when you pick up your meat. Bring your questions for the panel and any insights about your experience to share with the group.

Session Audience: Beginning to established livestock farmers wanting a better understanding of how to best ask for what they need from processors and food system professionals wishing to understand more about niche meat processing.

About the Speakers: Samantha is the Human Farming Program Manager for FACT, a nationwide organization promoting humane farming and providing access to healthy, humanely produced food through advocacy, education, and direct support for farmers. She is also co-owner of Bull City Farm in Durham, NC. Lee is the Technical Program Coordinator for NC Choices, an initiative of CEFS and NC Cooperative Extension that promotes sustainable food systems by advancing the local, niche, and pasture-based meat supply chain in North Carolina. Cecilie is a butcher, educator, and former plant manager at Piedmont Custom Meats, a USDA-inspected processing facility serving the Southeast. Carl and Kristi own Mtichell’s Meat Processing, a USDA-inspected meat processing plant in Walnut Cove, NC.

Session Audience: All attendees.

Seeds for Preservation and Perseverance: Native American Foodways
Amyrose Foll, Cultivate Charlottesville & Virginia Free Farm

Food sovereignty is the right to choose what food to eat, where it comes from, and how it is grown. In the past five centuries, Native foodways were used as control — a weapon to wage war on our population — and more recently as a blight on our health. By taking control of our seed, in some cases bringing varieties back from the brink of extinction, and growing our own fresh fruits and vegetables, we are not only preserving our cultural heritage and revitalizing our foodways but becoming a testament to the resilience of our ancestor’s legacy of farming. Native people have faced disassociation from traditional foods through environmental degradation, legislation preventing traditional harvesting, relocation to unfamiliar areas different from traditional homelands, and climate change. Amyrose discusses the resiliency of Native foodways and how gardening can be a great way to connect back to your culture no matter where you come from or your walk of life.

Session Audience: All attendees.

About the Speaker: Amyrose is the Urban Agriculture Collective Director of Cultivate Charlottesville, a nonprofit that engages with youth and the community to build a healthy and just food system. She is also the executive director of Virginia Free Farm, whose mission is to provide free nutritious, responsibly-produced healthy food to neighbors in need.

Re-Seeding a Relational Agriculture; Intercultural Collaboration in Service of Agricultural Biodiversity
Rowen White

Join Mohawk Seedkeeper Rowen White as she shares stories from the Indigenous Land and Seed Sovereignty movement, which embodies the vision of sustainable relational agriculture and shares the depth of the cultural dimension of plant biodiversity in North America. She shares the collective vision of intercultural healing that emerges when we center Indigenous leadership, ecological knowledge, cultural memory, and sovereignty of living in relationship with the cultural inheritance of land, seeds, and other non-human kin. Her stories from her work at the Indigenous Seedkeepers Network paints an uplifting picture of cultural and climate sanity for the regenerative land stewardship movement in these times of great transformation.

Finding Land to Farm and Keeping It in Farming
Noah Ranells & Hannah Bundy, NC FarmLink

For aspiring and beginning farmers or established farmers looking for a new location, finding land that fits all your needs can be challenging. And, even if you find a seemingly perfect piece of land, it might not be the best fit for a farming operation or have hidden disadvantages. Noah and Hannah introduce online tools to help with your farm search process, including a handy checklist, and guide you through online apps to assess prospective farm properties regarding soil, neighbors, easements, topography, sunlight, cropping history, and land value. They also discuss the financial considerations farmers should understand when assessing their ability to support a farm purchase or lease and exciting new models for land access. The session also covers basic farm succession and transfer concepts, including lifelong financial planning tips, trusts and LLCs, wills and heirs property, conservation easements and gifts, life estates, and end-of-life care.

Certified Naturally Grown Microgreens for Retail and Wholesale
Michael Torbett, Terra Vita Farm

Microgreens can be a quick way for farms to add income during winter months and increase production with limited growing space. Michael has grown microgreens since 2016 and shares how he provides a year-round supply for the farmers market, CSA, and over 40 restaurants in his area. He discusses growing methods and the soil used, various harvesting options, and post-harvest packaging. As a Certified Naturally Grown (CNG) operation, Terra Vita Farm produces food with high standards in the organic movement. Michael also shares his experience with the peer-review process and the benefits of being a CNG farm.

Religious & Cultural Diversity on the Farm
SJ Seldin, Jewish Farmer Network & Yesod Farm+Kitchen

Workplaces that lack sensitivity to religious diversity take a significant toll on the mental health, sense of belonging, and job security of non-Christian farmers. Jewish farmers, particularly those in more remote and rural areas, often find themselves in employment situations that do not support their religious observance. A 2021 listening session revealed that many Jewish farmers feel unable to request time off to observe Jewish holidays – when work is explicitly religiously prohibited – without having their bosses and managers question their commitment to the farm. In this session, SJ discusses ways farm managers and farmworkers can advocate for and support religious and cultural diversity in agricultural work.

Precise Nutrient Management for Small-Scale Farms
Kyle Montgomery, Advancing Eco Agriculture

What are some of the most significant limiting factors in the nutrition of crops? How could marketable yields be significantly increased with minor changes to a fertility program? In this session, Kyle explores precision nutrient management for small-scale and organic growers who seek a clearer understanding of their crops’ specific demands throughout the growing season. During this deep dive into crop nutrition, you’ll learn how to harness the power of biology and understand the interactions between different minerals within plants.

Uncommon Threads: Opportunities in Fiber Hemp for Small-Scale Producers
Patrick Brown, Hempfinity; David Suchoff, NC State University; Courtney Lockmere, Piedmont Fibershed

The floral hemp bubble has burst, leaving producers wondering if fiber hemp is next. But with a growing interest from the textile industry and new investment from regional processors, there are opportunities for fiber hemp growers in the Carolinas. In this session, David covers current research, preliminary findings, and the future of fiber hemp research. Patrick provides an overview of the challenges and opportunities for fiber hemp from a grower’s perspective and his experience working with processors and textile companies. Courtney discusses end-use applications and the work of Piedmont Fibershed to cultivate a small-scale regional hemp industry.

Pastured Flock Health: Understanding and Preventing Poultry Diseases on Small Farms
Melissa Yates, USDA – APHIS

If you raise pastured poultry and believe your flock is not at risk of contracting highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), consider this: the majority of reported cases of this disease during the 2022-2022 HPAI outbreak come from “non-commercial” small-scale farms and homesteads. All poultry growers need to understand basic biosecurity measures to help prevent introducing diseases, including HPAI, into their flocks. Melissa provides updates on the local and national situation regarding the 2022-2023 HPAI outbreak, information on recognizing poultry diseases, and when and who to contact, depending on what you observe about your flock’s health.

Practical Uses for Enterprise Budgets
Derek Washburn, NC State University

Have you ever created beautiful enterprise budgets only to see them sit unused when it comes time to plan for the season? Financial tools such as enterprise budgets help producers decide which crops to grow and how to allocate their resources to meet production and economic goals. But like other useful farm tools, they’re only as valuable as their implementation. Using an open-sourced online budget tool as an example, Derek walks through the steps of practical implementation of enterprise budgets for organic growers, specific to farmers in the Carolinas.

Ask a Farm Lawyer: Your Legal Questions Asked and Answered
Anna Williams & Jonathan Williams, Cedar Grove Law

Are you curious why a farmer might need an attorney or what common issues farmers seek legal counsel for? Do you have legal questions about your farm or business but want an anonymous way of asking? Anna and Jon lead a Q&A-style discussion and analyze questions solicited before and during the presentation. They also present actual issues and common legal challenges from farmers, landowners, and agribusiness professionals that they encounter throughout the year.

Best Practices for Relationship-Building with Chefs
Garrett Corwin, Piedmont Microgreens; Savannah Miller, Glasshouse Kitchen; Taylor Halley, The Wine Feed

Are you interested in selling to local restaurants but have questions about reaching out to chefs and maintaining relationships to ensure steady income? Drawing from his experience working with over 60 chefs and wholesale buyers to sell microgreens, Garrett discusses identifying and communicating with restaurant clients, anticipating their needs, and what information you should be tracking to help you gain a competitive advantage. Savannah provides tips on managing expectations with chefs and the information you should have readily available to share during an in-person meeting.

Glorious Green Gardening Guilds
James “Chip” Webb, Vine & Fig Tree Farms

A guild is an association of people for mutual aid in pursuit of a common goal, and it’s no mistake that we use the same word for a community of plants and fungi designed for mutual benefit and fruitfulness. Guided by this definition for both people and plants, Chip examines the components of a gardening “community” harnessing the regenerative powers of seeds, the mutually beneficial contributions of diverse plant members, and land stewardship. Chip shares his goal of building and strengthening communities of growings with common goals through an agricultural education experience of building a plant guild. Participants design and plan a garden guild featuring fruit trees, understory plants, nutrient accumulators, nitrogen-fixers, the fungal web, pollinator attractors, and other plant contributors.

Working with Plant Competition
Helen Atthowe, Woodleaf Farm

How much of your time in the field is spent removing weeds or suppressing unwanted plants from growing? Weeds are nature’s way of covering bare soil and maintaining ecosystem function, yet much of a grower’s efforts involve working against these natural systems. If appropriately managed, weeds can benefit growers by keeping a living root in the ground year-round, providing habitat for beneficial insects thus helping with pest suppression, and providing nutrient-rich plant residue to complement soil nutrient cycling. Helen explains how to develop a weed-tolerant system based on climate, soil, and crop production needs and the considerations of which weeds are too competitive and which ones can coexist with your food and flower crops.

Organic Cucumber Production in High Tunnels
Joe Rowland, Carolina Farm Stewardship Association

Joe discusses the preliminary findings from year one of CFSA’s SARE-funded organic high tunnel cucumber project at the Lomax Farm. The project trials six varieties of cucumbers grown on two different trellises to determine the impact on disease occurrence and severity and the overall marketable yield. Three participating farms in the Carolinas have replicated this trial to give us an understanding of what works best throughout the region. Learn about the results of this project and how you can participate in the 2024 season.

Session Audience: Beginning to advanced farmers and managers who want to sell to new markets, grow new crops or livestock, and develop new relationships with market venues.

About the Speaker: Kathleen is a W.K. Kellogg Distinguished Professor of Sustainable Agriculture and Director of the Center for Environmental Farms Systems at NC A&T University.

Session Audience: Beginning to experienced farmers, service providers.

About the Speaker: Harvey is the director of the Deep River Folk School, a partnership between Sustenance Farm and the 501(c)(3) non-profit Living Well Earth Stewards, which serves its mission of helping people become more empowered and self-sufficient while building community.

Session Audience: Beginning and aspiring farmers in NC and those interested in exploring farming, market gardeners, homesteaders, aspiring and beginning farmers, educators, and service providers.

About the Speakers: Amanda, John, Meredith, and Trevor are Extension agents working in Lee, Wake, and Durham counties and manage Small Farm Boot Camp programs, a series of workshops that provide technical knowledge and skills needed to start farming.

Foundations of Parasite Control in Sheep & Goats | NCSU Small Ruminant Unit, Raleigh, NC
Aaron Moore, NC A&T Cooperative Extension; Rachel Owens, NC State Extension; Sandra Vergara, Elodie Farms

The barber pole worm is one of the most significant health challenges for raising sheep and goats in the Southeast, but producers can manage it with informed identification and a comprehensive integrated pest management program. This two-part intensive starts with an overview of common parasites of small ruminants with a focus on the barber pole worm. During this training participants learn how to create an integrated pest management plan to prevent and, if needed, treat for this significant pest. Topics include biology, diagnosis, management, and proper dewormer protocols.

During the second half, Aaron and Rachel will train participants in the hands-on identification of barber pole worms in small ruminants using the FAMACHA scoring method. At the end of the workshop, all participants receive FAMACHA Certification, a resource packet, and a scoring card.
This session runs from 8:30 a.m. -12 p.m.

Healing the Soil Through Regenerative Agricultural Practices | Union Grove Farm, Chapel Hill, NC
Laura Kavanaugh, Meredith Sabye & Martin Crompton, Union Grove Farm Vineyard

What does it take to steward land that was once a conventionally farmed dairy through its next chapter as a regeneratively managed vineyard? How can farmers not only heal the soil but make it productive and resilient without heavy reliance on synthetic inputs? This workshop at Union Grove Farm Vineyard provides an interactive farm tour demonstrating how regenerative methods are successfully working to rebuild biodiversity and rehabilitate the farm’s soil from decades of conventional farming practices, with a focus on composting. Attendees spend time in the vermicompost lab, hosting over 50,000 red wiggler worms, and explore the farm’s large compost beds and Johnson-Su system to see how the farm creates premium soil amendments on-site. Participants also see how the farm further enhances soil health by integrating livestock through the rotational grazing of over 200 Katahdin sheep.
This session runs from 8:30 a.m. -12 p.m.

Place-Based Learning: School Trips, Internships, and Summer Camps | The Hub Farm
Hannah Ball-Damberg & Geoff Seelen, The Hub Farm, and Raina Bunnag, Erin Carroll & Kim Barrier, Durham Public Schools Farm to School Committee

The Hub Farm has hosted field trips for students at Durham Public Schools for over ten years. Over the past three summers, educational opportunities at the Hub Farm have expanded to include camps for rising 1^st through 3^rd graders and paid internships for high school rising upperclassmen. These outdoor-focused programs provide opportunities for students from Pre-K to High School and beyond to learn in new ways, improving student engagement, social/emotional development, and educational outcomes. Paid interns jumpstart their professional development, develop soft skills, and receive mentoring from experienced farmers and educators alike. Hannah and Geoff give a tour of the Hub Farm, helping attendees brainstorm ways to create opportunities that benefit farm operations and student education. They are joined by the Durham Public Schools Farm to School (F2S) committee, a team of district staff and community partners focused on food and garden experiences in schools. The F2S committee will share partnership successes and opportunities and lead food and garden-centered activities that can be adapted across various educational settings.
This session runs from 1:00 p.m. -4:30 p.m.

Scale-Appropriate Equipment for Increased Efficiency & Mechanization on Small Farms
Jillian & Ross Mickens, Open Door Farm

How can we make farming easier? On our bodies? Our psyches? Our employees? Our budgets? There is a virtuous movement toward less machine-intensive agriculture, but there are also ways to farm sustainably and responsibly using tractors and implements to simplify and facilitate prepping, planting, harvesting, and washing processes. Join Jillian and Ross at Open Door Farm as they share their experience moving from no-till systems and time-consuming post-harvest processes to more streamlined, efficient mechanization with scale-appropriate equipment from the field to the pack shed. They demonstrate how to field prep with a tractor and transform brushy grass to a usable state for planting, including the special implements, and discuss what to look for when purchasing equipment. Participants see a plastic mulch layer in action and have the opportunity to try out a waterwheel transplanter. In the pack shed, Jillian and Ross demonstrate the farm’s barrel washer, wash line, and rotary table that has revolutionized their post-harvest process.
This session runs from 1:00 p.m. -4:30 p.m.

Southeast Seed Growing | Loy Farm at Elon University, Burlington, NC
Chris Smith, The Utopian Seed Project; Rowen White, Sierra Seeds; Ira Wallace, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange; Amyrose Foll, Virginia Free Farm; Leeza Regensburger, Appalachian Seed Growers Collective; Megan Allen, Care of the Earth Community Farm; Jay Bost, Seed Growers Network; Shelby Johnson, Appalachian Seed Growers Collective; Jared Zystro, Organic Seed Alliance

This full-day on-farm workshop will focus on creating a foundational understanding of seed growing in the Southeast. The workshop will cover some of the basics of seed saving, including the technical, practical, and economic aspects of the craft, and aims to be as hands-on as possible with opportunities to process a wide range of seeds with different methods and technologies. We’ll have plenty of small group opportunities to dig deeper into specific challenges and opportunities of seed growing in the Southeast. The Appalachian Seed Growers Collective will showcase their mobile seed processing trailer as an example of shared resources within regional seed hubs. Discussion topics will include contracts and working with seed companies, practical, on-farm seed saving, the importance of seed saving and cultural preservation, as well as knowledge, information, and stories of seed growing and seed saving from different regions around the country.
This session runs from 10:00 a.m. -4:00 p.m.

Demystifying Organic Certification | N.C. A&T University Farm Pavilion, Greensboro, NC
Speakers from Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, Clemson University, NC State Extension, NC A&T University, QCS, Where Food Comes From, and Certified Organic Farmers.

Are you considering USDA Organic Certification but need more clarification about the requirements and process? Becoming a Certified Organic farm is a significant commitment, but it can have tremendous advantages, from increased market competitiveness, improved recordkeeping, and additional access to funding and technical assistance. This full-day workshop brings together industry leaders from certifiers, Extension, farmers, and CFSA staff to walk participants through the process, dispel myths, and answer questions about the USDA National Organic Program. The workshop provides an overview of the regulations and the certification process, including completing an organic system plan, recordkeeping requirements, land management practices, post-harvest handling and storage protocol, and what to expect during an inspection. Presenters also share resources that will help farmers successfully navigate the certification process.
This session runs from 10:00 a.m. -5:00 p.m.

SMART Markets: Market Access & Business Development Across NC | Faithfull Farms, Chapel Hill, NC
Howard Allen, Faithfull Farms; Berry Hines, Bee Blessed Pure Honey; Lynette & Richard Hewlin, 4Ever Vista Farms; Davon Goodwin, Sandhills AgInnovation Center; Jordyn Apple-Hughes, Feast Down East; Jaimie McGirt, Mary Bulan, & Angel Woodrum RAFI-USA; Nicole Delcolgiano, Organic Growers School

Are you a beginning farmer trying to identify market opportunities or an established farmer looking for other market outlets? This interactive and multi-faceted workshop covers increasing market opportunities for crops or value-added products and improving your marketability. Participants tour Faithfull Farms with Howard Allen, listen and engage with a panel of NC farmers accessing and creating market avenues, and join smaller “mini” sessions based on topic. Choose from market access planning for beginners or diversifying market access for established farmers. Topics include selling wholesale and working with food hubs, retail and direct-to-consumer sales, collaborative marketing, farm branding, and legacy storytelling.
This session runs from 9:00 a.m. -4:00 p.m.

Hands-On Turkey Processing | Jireh Family Farm, Durham, NC
Valarie & Immanuel Jarvis, Jireh Family Farm

During this full-day on-farm workshop, attendees gain hands-on experience in all steps of poultry processing, from humane slaughter to plucking, evisceration, cleaning, cooling, and packaging. Valerie and Immanuel guide participants through each step at Jireh Family Farm’s newly built processing facility, discuss the challenges and opportunities of processing on-farm, and share the resources available to help small-scale producers set up processing facilities on their farms. Each registrant leaves with the knowledge and skills to process independently, as well as a freshly processed turkey.

Space is limited to 10 participants.
This session runs from 9:00 a.m. -4:00 p.m. Lunch and a turkey (average 17 lbs) is included in the cost of registration.

Perennial Strategies for Market Gardening and Beyond |Bountiful Backyards, Graham, NC & Full Plate Farm, Snow Camp, NC
Keith Shaljian & Kate DeMayo, Bountiful Backyards, and Matt Ballard, Full Plate Farm

This on-farm intensive features two Southern Alamance County market gardens that cooperatively blend perennial systems with organic market gardening. In the morning, Keith and Kate offer an intimate look at Bountiful Acre, their one-acre mixed-use market garden. In the afternoon, Matt gives a tour of Full Plate Farm’s mixed annual market garden system and increasing reliance on perennial crops such as blueberries and blackberries. At both sites, you’ll see how to implement abundant perennial crops, mixed plantings, and productive annual market gardening with minimal inputs and time availability. This workshop focuses on five key areas:
(1) Practical Permaculture design: site demographics and basic farm/landscape design components (stormwater, soil, micro-ecology, establishing production goals);

(2) Soil health and ecology: compost, vermicompost, foliar sprays and teas, organic fertilizers, and mineral amendments;

(3) Incorporating perennial fruits and flowers into the market garden operation;

(4) Small-scale orchards, berries, and uncommon fruits for the garden and landscape; and

(5) Cooperative economics: shared resources, community building, and creative partnerships on a limited time and resource budget.

This session runs from 9:00 a.m. -4:00 p.m., and lunch is included in the cost of registration.