Please join us at the 6th annual grain growing conference.  This daylong event will provide you with a diverse array of educational topics. This year the conference has been expanded to include 3 concurrent sessions throughout the day.  This new format will have something for everyone!

Download the Brochure (pdf)

LOCATION: The University of Vermont’s Davis Center, Burlington

DATE: March 9, 2010

TIME: 9:30 am to 4:00 pm

CONFERENCE FEE: $40.00

CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS:

We are excited to have Dr. Paul Hepperly in Vermont for our 2010 conference! Dr. Hepperly is a Fullbright scholar who has spent his career working with farmers to create sustainable food systems. He has worked with farmers from India, Africa, Europe, and South America to solve critical agricultural sustainability issues. Paul grew up on a family farm in Illinois and holds a Ph.D. in plant pathology and an M.S. in agronomy from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. He has worked for the USDA Agricultural Research Service, in academia, and most recently for the Rodale Institute. Dr. Hepperly has been a champion of sustainable agricultural systems throughout his career. He has received the Rachel Carson Council Sense of Science Award and the da Vinci Community Award from the da Vinci Discovery Center of Science and Technology.

We are grateful that Ron Rosmann, a pioneer organic farmer, will provide a practical outlook on strategies for successful grain production. Ron and his family operate a 600 acre diversified certified organic grain and livestock farm west of Harlan, Iowa. Crops include corn, soybeans, flax, oats, barley, hay and pasture. Livestock includes 90 certified organic stock cows utilizing intensive grazing management practices and a 50 sow farrow-to-finish hog operation. In 1986, he helped found the Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI), whose mission is to “research, develop and promote profitable, ecologically sound, and community-enhancing approaches to agriculture”. He has been an on-farm research cooperator with PFI, Iowa State University, and the USDA. Ron was the board president of the Organic Farming Research Foundation.
New this year, we will offer a series of baking and cooking demonstrations throughout the day. The goal is to learn how to integrate local grains into local products. We are honored to have local bakers join us in the grain movement.

VPT’s Emerging Science- Episode 2

Several scientists from the University of Vermont and University of Vermont Extension, including our own Heather Darby,  discuss Ecological Economics and how it relates to growing biofuels in Vermont.  Funding for the broadcast was provided by EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research).  This program supports science and engineering at Vermont colleges and businesses to encourage young Vermonters to seek careers in science.

After a very successful First Annual Meeting, graciously hosted by Four Star Farms, we are happy to announce the date of our first Winter Hops Conference.

Hopping to It!

March 26, 2010

10:00 – 3:00

Trapp Family Lodge

Stowe, Vermont

We have some very exciting guest speakers lined up!
Jason Perrault from Perrault Farms in Washington State is a fourth generation hop farmer. Over the last few years, Jason has been working on breeding hop varieties resistant to pests and suited to organic systems. Additionally, he is working on breeding varieties for low-trellis systems. Jason is also looking for more environmentally sustainable ways for hops producers to farm. He is on the Hop Research Council and is one of the breeders we can thank for the new variety, Simcoe.
Rick Pedersen of Pedersen Farms in Seneca Castle, NY has 10 acres and 15 varieties of hops on his 1500 acre vegetable and grain farm. He is a member of the Northeast Hop Alliance, and has been growing hops for over 10 years. In 2009 Pedersen Farms sold hops to breweries from Maryland, to Massachusetts, to Pennsylvania. Specialty “harvest” brews have been released in the Northeast, some made entirely with Pedersen Farms hops. Rick will share his experiences with growing in the Northeast, setbacks he has faced, and his encounters with the local brewing markets.
François Biron is an Innovation and Agroenvironmental Counselor and will be joining us from the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food. He is part of a hops variety trial lead by a private research center (CREDETAO) in Pontiac, QC, and has been working with local growers and brewers to invigorate hops production in Quebec. He will share his observations and reflections on the future of hops in the Northeast.
The Trapp Family Lodge has recently established a brewery called Trapp Lager. Allen Van Anda, Trapp Family Brewmaster, will lead us on a tour of their facility where they hope to one day make a lager using their own organic hops and barley.

Lunch will be provided. Registration fee: $10.
Please RSVP by March 17th to UVM Extension at (802) 524-6501, or Heather Darby or
Rosalie Madden
Click here to download a pdf copy of the Brochure.
Directions: Take Exit 10 (Waterbury/Stowe) from I-89. Turn north onto Route 100 toward Stowe. Continue on 100N for approximately 7.5 miles. Turn left on Moscow Road just past the Fly Rod Shop. Continue 1.5 miles and turn right on Barrows Road. Continue on Barrows Road until you reach a T intersection, approximately 1.5 miles. Turn left at stop sign and proceed approximately 1.5 miles up a steep, winding paved road, following signs to Trapp Family Lodge, which will be on your right at the top of the hill.
If you require accommodations to participate in this program, please let our office know by March 17 so we may assist you.

Join us for a day long workshop focused on conservation tillage tools! With increasing fuel and input costs reduced tillage just makes sense. Come and listen and learn from several farmers with vast experience with conservation tillage. January 26, 2010 10:00-3:30pm.

Click on picture to download a pdf copy of the brochure.