Annual Conference

Every winter, more than 500 farmers, educators, agriculture service providers, and foodpreneurs gather for Future Harvest’s annual conference — an extra special three days of workshops, lectures, peer-to-peer experiences, delicious farm fresh meals, all-star lineup of speakers, and lots of learning and networking! View our Photo Album for a snapshot of the largest sustainable agriculture conference in the Mid-Atlantic.

OUR 25th ANNUAL CONFERENCE IS SCHEDULED TO TAKE PLACE JANUARY 18th – 20th , 2024
 IN COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND 

Overview

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 from Pre-Conference intensives and 40+ sessions, farmer-to-farmer roundtables, and clinics on Friday and Saturday, organized into seven tracks:

  • Beginning Farming
  • Crop Production
  • Regenerative Agriculture
  • Grassfed Meat & Dairy
  • Business of Farming
  • Environment, Community, & Policy
  • Made Local

In 2021 and 2022, our conference was held online, allowing us to capture recordings of the sessions. These are available to all Future Harvest Members, as is some of the content from our 2023 in-person gathering.

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. Most recently, in January of 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:
  • 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.

Thank you!

Many thanks to our sponsors and exhibitors, the Future Harvest staff and board, volunteers, conference committee, farmers who contributed to our locally sourced meals throughout the weekend, our presenters, our photographers, and of course to everyone in attendance.

Highlights

Contact

To learn more about the conference, volunteer, exhibit, or become a sponsor, contact:

Gabi Salazar
Conference Manager
conference@futureharvest.org