Healthy Farms & Rural Advantage Conference, Nebraska

Posted on January 10, 2012 by in Events, Farming Resources // 1 Comment

February 10th & 11th, 2012. Healthy Farms & Rural Advantage Conference. Nebraska City, Nebraska!

2012: Plan to attend the Healthy Farms & Rural Advantage Conference in Nebraska City, Nebraska. The dates for 2012 are February 10-11 at the Lied Lodge and Conference Center. Our keynote this year is Fred Kirschenmann, https://www.leopold.iastate.edu/about/fred_writings. We will also have a capstone address from Tom Field of the Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program, https://casnr.unl.edu/engler There will also be a full schedule of youth programming complete with hands-on demonstrations, youth lead sessions, and more. Included in the registration for the youth program is the Arbor Day Tree Adventure. Click "read more" for full details

Lodging Details: The room rate for this year is $89 for a single and $99 for a double. The rate is good from February 7th to February 12th, so make it a vacation! To reserve a room call, 800-546-5433 and reserve a room under “The Rural Advantage / Healthy Farms reservations.” The deadline for reserving a room under this block is January 20th. The rates will still be good after January 20th, but there is no guarantee rooms will be available. Please reserve rooms right away.

Exhibitor/Sponsor Information:There are numerous ways to participate in the conference including exhibitor and sponsor opportunities. More information can be found in the attachments.

Registration: To register please call Nemaha County Extension Office, 402-274-4755

About: The Healthy Farms/Rural Advantage Conference provides an opportunity for participants to acquire useful information on numerous alternatives to expand their farming operations while also practicing and promoting conservation. The conference exposes participants to new and innovative ways to utilize their agricultural operations. It also provides a platform for new, transitioning or beginning farmers to network and learn first hand from fellow farmers as well as the latest research. The conference also provides support for current farmers by fostering growth and stability in sustainable farming methods, including organic agriculture and sustainable agriculture. We do this by helping farmers to develop innovative ideas and projects that can impact their local communities and areas. A variety of interactive educational opportunities are available for adults and youth. Participants will have the chance to network with experts, university faculty, and fellow agricultural colleagues. Besides providing informative, educational sessions the conferences has commercial and educational exhibits.

Sessions: This year’s agenda offers a number of breakout sessions with topics ranging from; Raw Milk for pastures, grazing, local foods distribution, Farm Bill, , Energy, and many more. We will also once again have a full youth program with many of the presenters being youth and presenting on projects from their farms. The NCR-SARE Program will be doing their farmers forum during the conference and will showcase the numerous farm projects funded with assistance from the SARE grants program.

* Transitioning,
* Raw Milk,
* Nebraska Legislation,
* High tunnels,
* Farm Bill,
* SARE Farmers Forum,
* Distribution,
* Mobile Meat Processing Unit
* Pollinators,
* Grassfed Beef,
* And many more!

We will also have an expanded youth program. Included in the youth registration is a trip to the Tree Adventure, https://www.arbordayfarm.org/

Roundtable Discussions: In June NSAS hosted representatives from the USDA, FSA and the White House in a series of roundtable discussions. As an extension on these roundtable format discussions we will be holding a series of discussions at the conference. In an attachement you will find complete details about this new feature. To date we will have scheduled roundtable discussions on; Animal Welfare, Pipeline, Legal talk for farmers, NSAS What’s it all about, Biodynamics, Farm Beginnings Nebraska, Young Farmers Coalition, Nebraska Natural Resource Conservation Service, and more.

All-Nebraska events: The first and original local foods event in Nebraska. A highlight of the conference will be the All-Nebraska Dinner, Live Auction and Entertainment featuring foods grown and raised in Nebraska and prepared by the highly skilled chefs of the Lied Lodge & Conference Center. All funds raised go towards NSAS. Included with the cost of the meal is the entertainment for the evening which will feature “Larry and the Sustainables,” the Local Barbershop Quartet.

FAQ Farmer’s Market: We will once again hold the FAQ Farmer’s Market. It will be Saturday, February 11th beginning at 10:30 and will be open to the public. In a trade show/farmer’s market style setting, the FAQ will feature Nebraska’s many diverse sustainable farms showcasing their farm, their products, their methods, their practices and answering questions! FAQ, Farmers Answering Questions! This event of the conference will be free to the public and is free for farmers to attend and have a booth. To reserve a free table please send me an email.

Website: For up to the minute details please visit, https://nebsusag.org/conference.shtml
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