The Nebraska Local Food and Farm Conference covers it all. Expect to see sessions that appeal to all sectors of the food system, with special focus on culinary experiences through local foods, Farm to School, culturally appropriate crops and food sovereignty, farm bill updates, Cottage Food Law training for producers who wish to sell value-added food products outside the normal farmers market season, and plenty of opportunities for networking and coalition building.
This conference is a dynamic collaboration that combines the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society’s annual Healthy Farms Conference with the Nebraska Specialty Crops Conference and Trade Show, and the Nebraska Regional Food Systems Summit into two days of educational programming, roundtable discussions, keynote presentations and farmer forums.
Virtual sessions kick off Feb. 4, with Feb. 5 activities taking place in person at the Leadership Center in Aurora, Neb. Guests may also join an in-person watch party for the Friday sessions at the Leadership Center, followed by a roundtable discussion with keynote speaker and author Bob Quinn of Montana.
Virtual sessions
On Feb. 4, the agenda for virtual sessions begins at 10 a.m. with a welcome address by Cecily Wardyn, assistant director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, followed by a keynote with Chef Nazim Kahn of Bryan Medical Center.
Concurrent sessions beginning at 11:10 a.m. include a Farm Bill Explainer and Local Advocacy with Nebraska Extension policy specialist Brad Lubben. There are sessions on Cottage Food Certification Training with Cindy Brison, Nebraska Extension, as well as a session on Profitability, Value and Decision Making with Trey Malone, Michigan State University Extension.
Afternoon concurrent sessions cover Producing Culturally Appropriate Crops at Prairie Pines Training Farm by Amy Gerdes and Shahab Bashar of Community Crops; a Local Food Coalition Panel with presenter and moderator Courtney Long, Iowa State University and Nebraska panelists including Brenda Sale, Nebraska Extension in Dakota County; Sandra Renner, Center for Rural Affairs; and Tara Dunker, Nebraska Extension in Gage County.
Beginning at 2:10 p.m., concurrent sessions cover Sacred Seed and Maya Restoration Project by Taylor Keen and Luis Marcos; and a Farm to School panel discussion hosted by Nebraska Extension.
Quinn is the roundtable speaker at the Leadership Center that evening. Raised near Big Sandy, Mont., he is a farmer and author of the book, “Grain by Grain.”
In-person
On Feb. 5, in-person sessions take place at the Leadership Center, with check-in and registration beginning at 8 a.m. Concurrent sessions kicking off the day at 9 a.m. include the Sustainable Silvopasture Hog Production Compared to Drylot System SARE farmer forum presented by Raymond Hain.
Other sessions include a young vegetable producers panel with Lainey Johnson and David Jurena, and a farm financial management session with Jessica Groskopf, Nebraska Extension applied agricultural economist.
Following a keynote by Quinn, along with the NSAS annual meeting and elections or the Nebraska Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association meetup, there are more concurrent sessions in the afternoon covering Double Cropping Field Peas with Cover Crops, Forages and Short Season Crops in Sub-humid Climates, which is a farmer forum with Alexandre Tonon Rosa.
Other sessions include Pathology and Scouting for Vegetable Crops with Kyle Broderick, and a NDA Pesticide Program and Driftwatch-BeeCheck with Craig Romary, NDA environmental programs specialist.
Closing out the day are concurrent sessions on No-Till Vegetable Production with Lainey Johnson and Tom Tomas; and Risk Management for Produce Growers with Rex Nelson. Masks will be required for the in-person part of this event.
To register, visit sustainablenebraska.org/2022conference.
The Nebraska Local Food and Farm Conference website contributed to this article.
The two-day event will take place Feb. 4-5 at the Leadership Center in Aurora, Neb.
