Category Archives: Conference

Virginia Farm to Table Conference 2012:
“Food and Farming at a Profitable and Sustainable Scale”
Wednesday, December 5 and Thursday, December 6, 2012
Blue Ridge Community College- Plecker Workforce Center

2019 Virginia Farm to Table Conference: Servant Leadership and Courageous Conversations is set for December 5 and 6

Posted on by

We hope you have your calendars marked and plan to attend the 2019 Virginia Farm to Table Conference. The theme for this year is servant leadership and courageous conversation.  Virginia Cooperative Extension, in partnership with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, Virginia Sustainable Agriculture Research Education (SARE), Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS), LD&B Insurance and Financial Services, Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, Virginia Foundation of Agricultural Innovation and Rural Sustainability (VAFAIRS), and community partners present the eighth annual Virginia Farm to Table Conference on Thursday, December 5  and Friday, December 6, 2019, at Blue Ridge Community College’s Plecker Workforce Development Center in Weyers Cave, VA.

The planning committee is pleased to have Virginia’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services  Jewel H. Bronaugh, Ph.D., open the conference on Day 1. Dan Goerlich, Ph.D., associate director of Virginia Cooperative Extension will kick-off Day 2 with remarks on service, leadership, and conversation.

The planning committee has put together a solid core of speakers and practitioners for the two-day conference. Speakers and practitioners who may be of interest to you and your organization include:

  • Elnian Glibert of ZingTrain
  • Bob Muth of Muth Family Farm
  • Dr. Timothy Woods of the University of Kentucky
  • Amani Olugbala of Soul Fire Farm
  • Danial Austin of Green Sprig Ag
  • CJ Isbell of Keenbell Farm
  • Charlie Wade of Deep Roots Milling
  • Sarah Cohen of Route 11 Potato Chips
  • Nancy Bruns of J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works and J. Q. Dickinson Appalachain Mercantile
  • Keith Ohlinger of Heritage Hill Farm
  • J. B. Daniel of Virginia USDA-NRCS
  • Matt Booher of Virginia Cooperative Extension
  • And Others.

Speakers and panelists will address and share their experiences about The Art of Giving Great Service, Servant Leadership, Bottomline Organizational Change, Soil Management for Organic Farmers, Livestock and Grazing Management, Courageous Conversation: The What and How?, Nuts and Bolts of Values-Based Farming and Marketing, Growing and Marketing Small Fruit, and Dismantling Biases. There will be four value chain case studies presented during the concurrent sessions including Route 11 Potato Chips, Common Grain Alliance, and others. Additionally, participants wil have the flexibility for water cooler conversations and follow-up with confencerence speakers.

On Thursday evening, there will be Farm-to-Table Networking at the Granary at Valley Pike Farm Market with hors d’oeuvres and live music.

More details about the conference will be coming soon but mark your calendars for December 5 and 6! You will be challenged and inspired!

Learn more and register at https://tinyurl.com/2019VAF2TRegistration

Farming and Community: A conversation with David Kline

Posted on by

“The true test of a sustainable agriculture will be whether we can romance our children into farming. In order for that to occur three things are crucial: 1. Our farms must be profitable; 2. We cannot be overwhelmed by work all the time, and; 3. It must be fun.” ~ David Kline, Letters from Larksong: An Amish Naturalist Explores His Organic Farm

Virginia Cooperative Extension, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, and community partners have planned a conversation with David Kline for those interested in farming and community for Tuesday, December 2, 2014 from 6:30 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Blue Ridge Community College’s Plecker Workforce Center in Weyers Cave, Virginia as part of this year’s Virginia Farm to Table Conference. David Kline will discuss organic dairy farming, community, nature, place, and care of the earth.

If you are unable to attend Tuesday evening, David Kline will also be a featured speaker Wednesday morning as part of the full 2014 Virginia Farm to Table Conference.

1891133_10204567046563773_8801974184919159611_nDavid Kline is an organic dairy farmer, naturalist and author. He and his family live on a 120-acre farm in Holmes County, Ohio. He has authored several books including Great Possessions: An Amish Farmer’s Journal, Scratching the Woodchuck: Nature on an Amish Farm, Letters From Larksong: An Amish Naturalist Explores His Organic Farm and other essays. Kline is also editor of Farming Magazine: People, Land Community.

We kindly request that you register by calling the Virginia Cooperative Extension, Northern District Office at (540) 432-6029 Ext. 106/117 before November 28. The cost of this community event is $15.

More details about the evening conversation and the 2014 Virginia Farm to Table Conference can be found at http://conference.virginiafarmtotable.org/

Directions to Blue Ridge Community College Plecker Workforce Center: From I-81, take Exit 235. Turn to go west at the top of the exit ramp (Rte. 256). In a very short distance, Rte. 256 ends onto Rte. 11. Turn left at the stoplight, Rte. 11 South. BRCC is about a half-mile on the left. Parking for the Plecker Workforce Center may be accessed by using the south entrance, beside the Criminal Justice Training Academy.