Every winter, more than 450 farmers, educators, agriculture service providers, and foodpreneurs gather for Future Harvest’s annual conference full of workshops, lectures, peer-to-peer experiences, delicious farm fresh meals, all-star lineup of speakers, and lots of learning and networking!
OUR 27th ANNUAL CONFERENCE WILL TAKE PLACE JANUARY 22 + 23, 2026 in Silver Spring, Maryland
Registration for the 2027 Conference is OPEN! Planting a Legacy: From the Past, in the Present & for our Future
Learn more about this year’s conference here.
Overview of Annual Conference
Since 1999, Future Harvest has gathered Chesapeake region farmers, agricultural service providers, and foodies each winter for our annual conference. Farmers and supporters who attend our conferences choose at least 30 sessions, farmer-to-farmer roundtables, and clinics, organized into seven tracks:
- Beginning Farming
- Crop Production
- Regenerative Agriculture
- Grassfed Meat & Dairy
- Business of Farming
- Environment, Community, & Policy
- Made Local
We regularly host keynote speakers and experts from our broader region. In January of 2020, we were honored to have Leah Penniman of SoulFire Farm and Dr. Elaine Ingham of the SoilFood Web deliver keynote addresses, and Bryan O’Hara of Tobacco Road Farm presenting a two-part deep dive into No-Till Farming. In January of 2021, keynote speakers Tope Fajingbesi of Dodo Farms and Chris Newman of Sylvanaqua Farms inspired more than 500 farmers coming off the heels of a challenging 2020 season. In 2023, we hosted Dr, Gail Myers of Farms to Grow, Inc. and screened her film Rhythms of the Land.
KEYNOTE AND PLENARY SPEAKERS OVER THE YEARS:
- Lisa Held, Civil Eats (2026)
- Denzel Mitchell Jr., Farming Alliance of Baltimore (2026)
- Nick Wiseman, CEO & Co-Founder of Little Sesame (2025)
- Renee Catacalos, Director of Strategic Investments, FRESHFARM (2025)
- Kevin Atticks, Maryland Secretary of Agriculture (2024)
- Erika Allen, Urban Growers Collective (2024)
- Dr. Gail Myers, Farms to Grow (2023)
- Daniel Firth Griffith, Timshel Wildland (2023)
- Dr. Rattan Lal, Soil Scientist (2023)
- Farmer Chippy, Plantation Park Heights Urban Farm (PPHUF) (2023)
- Farmer Gale (Ann Sutton), Deep Roots Farm (2023)
- David Montgomery and Anne Biklé, authors , Dig2Grow (2022)
- Renard Turner, Vanguard Ranch (2022)
- Tope Fajingbesi, Dodo Farms (2021)
- Chris Newman, Sylvanaqua Farms (2021)
- Josh Volk, Slow Hand Farm (2021)
- Dr. Elaine Ingham, Soil Foodweb (2020)
- Leah Penniman, SoulFire Farm (2020)
- Bryan O’Hara, Tobacco Road Farm and Author (2020)
- Karen Washington, Rise & Root Farm (2019)
- Forrest Pritchard, Smithfield Farm and NY Times Best Selling Author (2019)
- Ellen Polishuk, Plant to Profit (2019)
- Dr. Ray Weil, Soil Health Expert, University of Maryland (2019)
- Gabe Brown, Brown’s Raanch and Author (2018)
- Ira Wallace, Souther Exposure Seed Exchange (2018)
- Micheal Twitty, Chef and Author (2018)
The conference takes place in January and tickets go on sale in the fall before, mid-October. Each year, we offer several scholarships and volunteer work-trade opportunities to ensure the weekend is accessible to all. To stay informed about these opportunities, be sure and subscribe to our emailing list.
Sponsor or Exhibit
Our sponsors and exhibitors make this event possible. Learn more about the levels of sponsorship available and purchase here.
Highlights
- 2025 Conference photos
- Watch Dr. Rattan Lal’s 2023 Keynote address
- Watch Leah Penniman’s 2020 Keynote address
- Read about previous Farmer of the Foodshed Award winners
Contact
To learn more about the conference, volunteer, exhibit, or become a sponsor, contact: