Linda Naeve
State SARE Coordinator
lnaeve@iastate.edu
The Our Farms, Our Future Conference, hosted by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and the National Center for Appropriate Technology ATTRA program will be held on April 3-5, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri.
This is a “once in a decade” event that will bring together our diverse agricultural community from around the country: farmers and ranchers, agricultural professionals, agribusiness stakeholders, students, researchers, scientists, agency representatives, and nonprofit leaders. Every decade, SARE hosts a conference to look at the progress of sustainability in agriculture, and to understand our trajectory for the future.
The conference will have numerous breakout sessions covering a wide variety of topics for farms of all sizes. On the first day, participants can expect technical and educational material about topics like soil health, small ruminant production, urban agriculture, entrepreneurship, marketing and resources for tomorrow’s farmers and ranchers. These sessions will be informative, with some time for questions and discussion. The second day of the conference will feature sessions that are focused on important issues of today and tomorrow. These sessions will be discussion-oriented, featuring topics like water challenges, farming and ranching in a changing climate, quality of life, the next generation of producers and success stories in farming and ranching.
There will be ample time and opportunity for networking with others in the sustainable agriculture world. Poster sessions will showcase SARE projects and exhibitor booths will share resources. On Thursday, April 5th, conference attendees can participate in an optional tour. You can chose from one of eight farm tours when you register for the conference. Tours will feature urban farms, a family-owned and operated dairy, a food hub, a winery, a new aquaponics business, a successful CSA farm and many more sights. Transportation is provided.
Visit sare.org for registration and program information.
NOTE: The early registration discount ends on February 22.
The Iowa SARE program is offering two $500 conference scholarships to farmers and two to agriculture educators and professionals to attend the conference. Applications will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis. For application information and form go to Iowa SARE Travel Scholarships.