DETAILS AND REGISTRATION
UPDATE: THE PRE-CONFERENCE AND CONFERENCE HAVE BEEN FILLED AND REGISTRATION IS CLOSED.
PRE-CONFERENCE SESSION • FRIDAY (9AM-12PM), NOVEMBER 10
At the Holiday Inn, Charlottesville
5920 Seminole Trail • Ruckersville, Virginia
Presented by Jean-Martin Fortier, author of The Market Gardener.
Registration includes Friday morning pre-conference as well as the option to register for ALL Friday afternoon & Saturday morning conference workshops and meals.
Space is limited at the pre-conference session.
2017 SMALL FARM CONFERENCE • FRIDAY (3PM – 9PM) & SATURDAY (7:30AM – 1:00PM)
At the DoubleTree Hilton, Charlottesville
Registration includes Friday afternoon and Saturday morning conference workshops and meals.
CONFERENCE AGENDA
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10
9:00am Pre-Conference Registration Open (Holiday Inn, Charlottesville)
10:00am Pre-Conference Session with Jean-Martin Fortier
3:00pm Conference Registration (DoubleTree Hilton, Charlottesville)
3:30pm Workshops
6:00pm Dinner (including awards presentations and speaker Jean-Martin Fortier)
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11
7:00am Registration Open
7:30am Breakfast (with speaker Hubert Hamer, USDA NASS Administrator)
8:30am Workshops
12:00pm Lunch (with speaker Jason Brown, former NFL player and current farmer)
WORKSHOP TOPICS INCLUDE:
Agriforestry/Forest Farming • Agritourism for Small Farmers • Aquaculture (cage production) • Beef Cattle • Bees as Pollinators • Cut Flowers (Outdoor, Edible) • Cut Flowers in High Tunnels/Arrangements • Equipment for Small Farmers • Estate Planning/Farm Transition • Farm to Table • USDA FSA Loan Application Process • GMOs • Grant Writing for Small Farmers (101) • Grapes/Vineyard Production • Grazing • Growing Grain for Microbreweries • Industrial Hemp • Integrated Pest Management • Irrigation • Marketing • Mushroom Growing • New Tax Credit to Help Reduce Food Waste • Pesticides & Herbicides • Precision Ag/Drones • Small Ruminants • Social Media Outreach for Your Farm Business • Soil Health • Sweet Potato Production for Beginners • Urban Agriculture • Working With Local Growers
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:
Jean-Martin Fortier (JM) is a farmer, educator and author specializing in organic and biologically intensive cropping practices. His award-winning book, The Market Gardener, has inspired tens of thousands of readers worldwide to reimagine human-scale food systems. His message is one of empowerment in order to educate, encourage and inspire people into pursuing a farming career and lifestyle.
Hubert Hamer serves as NASS Administrator since 2016. He brings extensive experience in all aspects of the agency’s work. Before becoming administrator, he served as director of the Statistics Division, which produces and releases more than 400 national statistical reports each year covering the agency’s crops, livestock, economic, demographic, environmental, and census programs. He also served as executive director of the NASS Agricultural Statistics Board (ASB) and executive director of the Advisory Committee on Agriculture Statistics.
From 2010 until he became head of the Statistics Division, Hamer was chair of the Agricultural Statistics Board. As ASB chair, he led the preparation and dissemination of market-sensitive ASB reports compiled and issued under special security conditions known as Lockup. He was also responsible for promotion and outreach of the NASS mission to all stakeholders. From May 2000 until April 2010, Hamer was NASS Associate Deputy Administrator for Field Operations, overseeing 24 state field offices as well as the Training and Career Development Office.
Since joining NASS, Hamer has served in a number of capacities both in Washington, D.C., and in the Louisiana, Illinois, and Missouri field offices. While directing the Missouri office, he completed USDA’s Senior Executive Candidate Development Program and was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in 2000. Hamer completed the program for Senior Managers in Government at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in 2004 and completed the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Executive Potential Program in 1994. As part of the OPM program, he served as a fellow with the Senate Budget Committee and worked on the staff of the Secretary of Agriculture.
Hamer was born on a small livestock and row crop farm in Benton County, Mississippi, and later continued his development in Grand Junction, Tennessee. He is a graduate of Tennessee State University.
Jason Brown, a former NFL lineman, founded First Fruits Farm in 2012. The Farm is an extension of his ministry, Wisdom for Life.
INTERESTED IN BEING A VENDOR OR EXHIBITOR?
Spaces for vendors and exhibitors are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis upon receipt of this application form and payment. Application deadline is October 13, 2017.