Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference

Posted on December 12, 2019 by Taylor in Farming Resources, Local Food, Management, Marketing, Organic, Small Farms, Workshops // 0 Comments

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The Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference returns in 2020 for the 21st year in a row.

Farmers, home-scale growers, students, food producers and eaters will gather at the Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference. Together, they will network, share ideas and gain new skills that will make small farms in Michigan more economically viable and environmentally sustainable.

Now in its 21st year, the Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference connects more than one thousand producers and growers from across the region, making it the largest gathering of its kind in the state. The conference is a program of Crosshatch Center for Art and Ecology. The annual conference takes place at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa on January 24 and 25, 2020.

This year’s conference begins on Friday with Farm School, a full day of advanced education, including three tracks led by national experts:

Hemp School—Experts discuss new regulations and growing industrial hemp. Learn about CBD hemp production, growing hemp for fiber and pest management.
Herb School—Growing herbs for pleasure or for market requires knowledge of growing, propagation, cultivation and harvesting. Nancy Phillips, author of The Herbalist’s Way, will cover all that as well as drying, storage and value-added herbal products.
Maple Syrup School—Expand or refresh your knowledge in the field of maple syrup. Learn how to get started, how to set up a maple syrup operation, and about the business and marketing opportunities in maple syrup.

On Saturday, attendees can choose from over 35 educational sessions including topics like Crop Rotation Design for Vegetable Growers, Bare-bones Farm Infrastructure and Livestock Start-Up to Scale Up. Delicious, locally sourced lunches will be provided both days.

Back again this year, the two-day trade show will feature nearly 100 exhibitors from national and regional food and farming businesses. Trade show attendance is free and open to the public both Friday and Saturday. Radio station WTCM will broadcast from the trade show.

Conference and Farm School attendees are encouraged to join Friday night festivities, starting at 5 pm in the trade show with an opening reception, including a cocktail hour (cash bar) and live music from the Katherine Ryan Trio and an optional, ticketed local food dinner.

Pre-event ticket sales end January 10. The full schedule, including more details about classes and discussion topics, can be found online at www.smallfarmconference.com.

About the Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference

The Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference is a program of Crosshatch Center for Art & Ecology. The conference serves as a vehicle to promote and build a local vibrant agriculture community, to equip the small farm community with the tools to be successful, and to serve as a forum for the open exchange of ideas within the small farm community.

About Crosshatch Center for Art & Ecology

Crosshatch builds strong communities through the intersections of art, farming, ecology and economy. Crosshatch Center for Art & Ecology envisions communities that are grounded in place: where people connect through stories, music, art, shared work, and food, and where the economy and culture are rooted in restoration of the earth and its people.