2023 Conference: A TIME TO GROW

Since 1999, Future Harvest has gathered leaders in regional agriculture for our annual winter conference where farmers come together for expert-led sessions, networking, business and crop planning, trend forecasting, and more. Our 24th annual conference took place January 12th – 14th, 2023 in College Park, Maryland.

SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE: January 12 – 14, 2023

• Two main conference days with seven tracks and more than 30 sessions for advanced and beginning farmers, agtivists and educators
• One pre-conference day with intensive half- and full- day sessions including: farm record keeping, beginner farmer training program orientation, and more.
• Trade show and networking inside the event with engaging one-on-one opportunities with service providers, sponsors, and business coaches
• Facilitated farmer-to-farmer meetups
• Locally-sourced Friday lunch featuring Farmer of the Foodshed awards
• Seed, book, and gear swaps
• Exclusive, invite-only screening of Rhythms of the Land 
• Membership meeting
   

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Dr. Lal is a Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science and is the founding Director of the CFAES Rattan Lal Center for Carbon Management and Sequestration at The Ohio State University. He received the  2020 World Food Prize for developing and mainstreaming a soil-centric approach to increasing food production that restores and conserves natural resources and mitigates climate change.

Rhythms of the Land: Honoring our Past to Grow a Stronger Future
Dr. Gail Myers, Farms to Grow, Inc

As an expert in the anthropology of African American farming and co-founder of Farms to Grow, Inc., Gail Myers, P.h.D, has made it her life’s work to both honor the past generations of Black farmers in the US while also uplifting and supporting today’s sustainable small producers. Her most recent project has been to launch the film Rhythms of the Land, a valentine to generations of Black farmers in the United States from the enslavement period to the present, whose intense love of the land and dedication to community enabled them to survive against overwhelming odds. A private screening of the film will be hosted Friday evening at the conference.

RESILIENT FARMER PANEL: STORIES FROM THE FIELD

ANN SUTTON (FARMER GALE)
Deep Roots Farm

This keynote centers a panel of resilient and passionate farmers and ranchers in our region who are dedicated to sustainable, organic, and regenerative agriculture. Ann Sutton, aka Farmer Gale, will share about her years farming a small diversified operation, along with wisdom on what it takes to make purchasing land a reality. Daniel Firth Griffith will share about Timshel Wildland, a rewilding project that he and his family have created to nurture peace, grass-fed and finished beef and lamb, heritage hogs, a multiplicity of wild and chaotic gardens. Finally farmer Chippy will share about Plantation Park Heights Urban Farm (PPHUF), an urban farm and an AgriHood in Baltimore that spreads love, supports the community, and brings healthy food to the city. 

Thursday Pre-Conference Sessions

• Grant Writing for Farmers Thursday 1/12, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm. This session is designed for farmers with little-to-no grant writing experience, although the hands-on activities in the second half of the program will be helpful for farmers at any level. It will include an introduction to grants at the local and federal level, overview of the grant submission process, and tips on how to tailor your pitch. We will spend significant time with hands-on activities including a review of two sample request for proposals (RFP), individual pitches in response to those RFPs, and a mock review panel to evaluate and rank sample proposals. You will walk away from this session with a solid foundation to get the money you need! (Caroline Selle & Ben Shorofsky, Stepwell Strategies) $60.00
• Record Keeping with AirTable Thursday 1/12, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm. If you want to upgrade from Excel, or are still searching for a no to low cost record keeping option for your farm, join us to check out how you could be using AirTable. The platform wasn’t built specifically for farmers, but it sure has all the features they might need. Farmer Jared Planz has carefully built it out to make everything from tracking and entering yields, inputs, plantings, and labor hours year to year a lot easier, whether from a computer or a phone. Amazingly, he did the bulk of this on a free subscription. Join Jared as he gives you the information you need to see if it’s right for you, and to help you build the record keeping system you need for your operation. (Jared Planz, Clagett Farm) $40.00
• How to make and sell value-added food products in Maryland Thursday 1/12, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm. Do you grow perishable produce that you want to turn into shelf-stable food products? Do you dream of starting a home-based food business? Join food safety, marketing, and business planning experts and learn everything you need to understand in order to successfully launch a value-added food product in Maryland. (Neith Little, Shannon Dill, & Dr. Shauna Henley, University of Maryland Extension) $35.00
• Hot Topics for Experienced Market Farmers Thursday 1/12, 2:00 – 5:00 pm. Join this carefully facilitated group discussion on several hot topics that you, as an experienced market farmer in this region, are facing. We know that once folks get past the foundational stages of their farms, different problems and opportunities come to the fore. Let’s dig into those. Topics we will surely visit include: labor, work/life balance, and current market forces. This is a peer-to-peer learning opportunity for those in the business of market farming who have five or more years experience under their belts. (Ellen Polishuk, Plant to Profit) $60.00
• An Afternoon in the Herbalist’s Workshop with Ayo Ngozi Thursday 1/12, 2:00 – 5:00 pm. Join artist and herbalist Ayo Ngozi to reconnect with sacred plant materials. During this afternoon session, Ayo will guide you in making your own incense and herbal wands, and in exploring basketry. Come ready and open to work with your hands, release your creativity, and have some fun. (Ayo Ngozi, The Creative Root) $60.00 

THANK YOU TO OUR 2023 CONFERENCE SPONSORS