KRC Farm & Food conference announces registration, keynote speakers

2014 conference keynotes — Last year’s keynote speakers: Bob Dixson (Mayor, Greensburg), Hattie Mitchell (Treasurer, Prairie Band Potowatomi Nation, Marietta), Fred Kirschenmann (Distinguished Fellow – Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa), Ricardo Salvador (Senior Scientist, Union of Concerned Scientists, Washington), and Hank Will (Editor-in-Chief, GRIT/Ogden Publications, Topeka). *Photo by KRC staff*

TOPEKA – Registration is open for the Kansas Rural Center’s 2015 Farm and Food Conference, “Roots, Shoot and Boots: Healthy Farms and Healthy People from the Ground Up,” to be held Nov. 13 and 14 at the Four Points by Sheraton, in Manhattan, Kansas. The two-day conference promises to appeal to a broad spectrum of attendees—from beginning and established farmers, to local food advocates, to wildlife enthusiasts and community leaders.

Click HERE to register.

The entire first day will be a Soil Health Forum focusing on the nexus between cover crops, no-till and organic systems. Featured speakers include Jeff Moyer, Interim Director of the Rodale Institute, and well-known authority in organic agriculture; and Klaas Martens, who farms 1,400 acres of certified organic crops and operates Lakeview Organic Grain, a certified organic feed and seed business. Martens is well-known and respected in organic circles for his broad knowledge of cover crops, crop rotations and heirloom grains. Dr. Bianca Moebius-Clune, USDA NRCS Soil Health Division Director, will discuss NRCS soil health efforts, programs and practices connected to cover crops and no-till and applicable to all farms.

The Soil Health Forum will also include a roundtable of cover crop, no-till and organic farmers to discuss real world experiences and challenges, and identify issues they have in common in building soil health on their farms.

The second day of the conference will feature keynote speaker David Hunt, a nationally recognized teacher and leader in organizing for social change. In his keynote presentation, “The Role and Power of Strategic Organizing to Bring About Social Change Locally and Statewide,” Hunt will set a tone of action for strategizing and community building for a day packed with diverse sessions and speakers.

Breakout sessions will focus on local food systems, community food solutions and economic opportunities, farm transitions and beginning farmer opportunities, farm practices and marketing strategies for diversification, conservation, the value of forestry in Kansas, and food and environmental policy and organizing for social change.

Each day will feature a locally sourced lunch and will offer conference attendees time for networking and visiting exhibitor booths in order to connect with and learn more about the great people and exciting things happening in farming, food production, and the environment, in Kansas and beyond.

The annual conference would not be possible without the generous support of sponsors. Sponsorship allows KRC to produce a top quality conference complete with renowned speakers, diverse workshops, exhibits, locally sourced food and other opportunities that create a positive, meaningful experience for conference participants. Several different levels and benefits of sponsorship are available. To register as a conference sponsor, click HERE or contact Natalie Fullerton at [email protected] or (866) 579-5469.

For general questions about the conference, please contact Natalie Fullerton or Mary Fund at (866) 579-5469.

The mission of KRC, founded in 1979, is to promote the long-term health of the land and its people through community-based research, education, and advocacy that advances an economically viable, ecologically sound, and socially just food and farming system in Kansas. For more information, visit www.kansasruralcenter.org.