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Fourth Annual Michigan Family Farms Conference will be held January 13, 2007 in Battle Creek

View the Brochure or contact the MIFFS office for more information.

The Farm Research Cooperative (FRC), in partnership with the USDA Risk Management Agency (USDA RMA), is holding the 2007 Michigan Family Farms Conference on January 13, 2007 at Lakeview High School in Battle Creek, Mich.

This year’s conference, titled, “21st Century Practices for Sustainable Family Farms,” is inviting small and limited-resource family farmers together to learn about government programs to help farmers, environmental stewardship, marketing tactics and value-added production practices.

All of the information from previous, years will be included in a great one-day event in hopes that even more farmers will be able to attend the educational sessions and network with their peers and experts in the field. Sponsor and exhibitor booths will also be set up for participants to enjoy and find more resources and information.*

This is the fourth year that the FRC and USDA RMA partnership has hosted this conference, and they intend for this year to be better than ever before.

Breakout sessions include Small-Scale Marketing, Production, Business Management and Spanish-Speaking tracks to cover all the bases when it comes to sustainable agriculture and running the family farm. Sessions include: Pricing your Product, Farm Transition, Producing Year-Round in Unheated Hoop Houses, Preparing for USDA Programs, Value-Added Possibilities, Transition to Organic, Preparing for USDA Conservation Security Program, Marketing your Farm Products - Farm stands & Farmers’ Markets and on the Web, Starting a CSA, Environmental Stewardship and Composting. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) certification credits may also be available.

The registration cost of the conference is $30 per person, a greater value than ever! This cost includes lunch and a full schedule with four breakout sessions to attend and two great sessions with keynote speakers John K. Pierre and Johari Cole.

John K. Pierre is the Associate Vice Chancellor for Special Projects at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He teaches commercial law, estate planning, contracts and property classes there. Johari Cole and her family own and operate Iyabo Farms, a 45-acre certified organic farm south of Chicago, Illinois. She is very involved in her community and sells her farm products through a farmers’ cooperative, at farmers’ markets and in select Chicago health food stores and restaurants.

This year’s conference is sponsored by:

• Michigan Food & Farming Systems – MIFFS
• USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
• Potawatomi RC&D
• GreenStone Farm Credit Services
• C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Agriculture at Michigan State University
• Sauk Trails RC&D
• Calhoun Conservation District
• Northern Michigan Small Farms Conference.

For more information, contact Barbara Norman at (269) 208-4588 or barbn@lodisnet.com.

Click here to see the Save the Date card

Click here to view the brochure and see the full schedule of topics and speakers.

*Please note: If you would like to sell any items of any kind at the conference, you must register as an exhibitor. The cost for exhibitors is $65 which includes a table for goods and displays and one registration. Additional registrations are $15 per person. Contact the MIFFS office at (517) 432-0712 to register as an exhibitor or get more information.