2017 Young Farmers Conference: Full Schedule

WORKSHOP REGISTRATION

Please register for all meals. Once you have chosen workshops, click on the "Saved to My Sched" prompt on the bottom of the page to view your completed schedule.

10:15am EST

Appropriate Tools and Technology for Emerging Small-Scale Market Gardeners

Limited Capacity seats available

Jean-Martin Fortier is an internationally recognized successful farmer that has written the popular book The Market Gardener. He has spent the last 10 years developing well-honed systems for managing only a few acts that generate both high production and profits. Since having described the farming methods illustrated in his book, he has continued to improve his operations by leveraging, developing and adapting new strategies for continuous improvement. In this workshop, he will share the new tools, tech and techniques he uses on his farm and how they are best integrated in his farming systems.

This workshop will be streamed live on www.facebook.com/stonebarns/

Presenters

Natalie Childs

Assistant Market Gardener, Editor/Writer, Ferme des Quatre-Temps/Guts Magazine

Natalie Childs is an assistant market gardener at the Ferme des Quatre-Temps, in Hemmingford, QC. She has many years of experience working on small and medium-scale organic vegetable and fruit farms across Canada, and is also an editor and writer for gutsmagazine.ca, where she’s written on many topics, including unpaid and underpaid farm internships and migrant farm labor in Canada... Read More →

Ariane Desjardins

La Ferme des Quatre-Temps

After studying and working in different fields, Ariane discovered her true passion after an internship at Concordia University’s City Farm School program. A teaching environment that combined her interest for healthy local food and community outreach. She then went on to pursue... Read More →

Jean-Martin Fortier

Farmer & Author, La Ferme Des Quatre-Temps

Jean-Martin Fortier (JM) is a farmer and owner of La Ferme Des Quatre-Temps, an educator and author specializing in organic and biologically intensive cropping practices. His award-winning book, The Market Gardener, places a strong emphasis on intelligent farm design, appropriate technologies and harnessing the power of soil biology, as key components of successful farming... Read More →

Friday December 8, 2017 10:15am - 11:45am EST
West Haybarn

Session H

10:15am EST

Crop Production

Limited Capacity filling up

In this session, representatives from three farms will delve into the nuances of crop production, discussing methods, successes and mistakes, financial return and quality of life for the farmer. Eliot Coleman of Four Season Farm, Nancy Vail and Flor Revolorio of Pie Ranch, and Richard Wiswall of Cate Farm will all present on their farms' main themes, then open up the discussion to questions.
Moderated by Stone Barns Center's Jack Algiere.

Presenters

Jack Algiere

Farm Director, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture

Jack Algiere is farm director at Stone Barns Center. Jack graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a degree in horticulture and has been actively farming since the early 1990s. His lifetime of experience in organic, biodynamic and ecological systems brings a broad diversity... Read More →

Flor Revolorio

Farm Manager, Pie Ranch

Flor Assists manages production and education, holds the CSA, and manages the farm animals at Pie Ranch in Pescadero, CA. Flor is a Guatemalan born and raised in Chicago. Flor loves farming and the things that most inspire her and fuel her interests are soil, justice, and education. Flor is a city person at heart, but has loved living in small/rural communities for the past 5 years... Read More →

Nancy Vail

Co-Founder, Pie Ranch

Nancy is a broadly experienced sustainable food systems farmer, advocate, educator and leader. Previous to co-founding Pie Ranch in 2003, Nancy worked on a number of farms abroad and throughout the United States, eventually landing at UC Santa Cruz's Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS) where she farmed and taught for over a decade. Nancy is passionate about linking justice with food and f... Read More →

Richard Wiswall

Owner/operator, Cate Farm

Richard Wiswall and his wife Sally Colman own and operate Cate Farm in East Montpelier, VT. Richard has been farming there for 38 years, growing and selling organic produce, seedlings and medicinal herbs. Richard consults and gives talks and workshops on the often-neglected busin... Read More →

Friday December 8, 2017 10:15am - 11:45am EST
East Haybarn

Session H

10:15am EST

Design of Productive Landscapes: Balancing Ecology, Culture and Agriculture

Limited Capacity seats available

Restoration of biodiverse ecological connectivity in the midst of productive farmland has been the hallmark of Nelson Byrd Woltz landscape designs for twenty years. Thomas Woltz will review NBW projects in the US, Tasmania, and New Zealand. Recent public park projects in Tennessee and New York are pioneering change to local and state laws proposing the use of agricultural practices as management tools in public parks and cultural landscapes. Design examples will include pastoral grazing, vineyards, orchards and field crops interwoven with restoration of wetlands, native warm-season grasslands, pollinator meadows, and reforestation creating jobs for ecologists and farmers side by side.

Presenters

Thomas Woltz

Owner, Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects

Thomas Woltz is the principal and owner of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects. He was named the Design Innovator of the Year by the Wall Street Journal Magazine in 2013 and invested into the American Society of Landscape Architects Council of Fellows in 2011, among the highest honors achieved in the profession. He leads the firm in applying design excell... Read More →

Friday December 8, 2017 10:15am - 11:45am EST
Kitchen Lab

Session H

10:15am EST

Farmer to Chef: Building a Regional Farm and Food Economy

Limited Capacity seats available

The relationship between farmers and chefs is a major cornerstone of a thriving regional food economy. This workshop starts with the recent history of New York’s regional food distribution within the local food movement. Hear how having a mission-driven business like the Cleaver Co. has an impact on our evolving food economy, while learning the immense value of building relationships between farmers, chefs and distributors. Mary Cleaver will speak about how to effectively manage a successful farm-focused catering and restaurant business for whole farm purchasing, menu development, waste management, and other strategies for a comprehensive farm to plate model.

Presenters

Mary Cleaver

Founder, The Cleaver Co

Mary Cleaver, one of the country’s foremost authorities on sustainable food and local sourcing, is the founder and owner of The Cleaver Co., a full- service event planning and catering operation, and The Green Table, a farm-to-table restaurant in the Chelsea Market. The Cleaver Co also operates two food and beverage kiosks at The Battery in partnership with The Battery Conservancy. Fondly known as Table Green and Table Green Café, they bring a local focus to concession-style food and drink... Read More →

Friday December 8, 2017 10:15am - 11:45am EST
PC I

Session H

10:15am EST

Food Law for Young Farmers

Limited Capacity seats available

Learn how to overcome legal barriers challenging your farm business. Jonathan Brown, the director of Pace Law School’s Food and Beverage Law Clinic, Jennifer Grossman, a member of the Natural Resource Defense Council’s regional food team, and Dave Beveridge, Global Managing Parter and Shearman & Sterling, will introduce farmers to some of the major legal issues that arise as challenges in the development of new farm businesses and establish when farmers should seek legal advice. Using case studies, strategies for business formation, risk management, and land access will be addressed.

Presenters

Dave Beveridge

David Beveridge is Shearman & Sterling’s Global Managing Partner. In addition, he serves as the firm’s Practice Group Leader for Capital Markets – Americas and represents both issuers and underwriters in the full spectrum of debt, equity and hybrid security offerings. He has... Read More →

Jonathan Brown

Director, Pace University - Food Law Clinic

Jonathan Brown is the director of Pace Law School's Food and Beverage Law Clinic.

Jennifer Grossman

Consultant/Co-Founder, National Resource Defense Council/FarmCo New York

Jennifer Grossman is a consultant for the Natural Resources Defense Council Regional Foodshed Initiative, forging collaborative platforms between rural and urban communities and encouraging economic growth via sustainable local agriculture. With more than 20 years of strategic environmental legal work in both the public and not-for-profit sectors, Jennifer f... Read More →

Friday December 8, 2017 10:15am - 11:45am EST
PC II

Session H

10:15am EST

Growing Flowers in a Diversified Farm System

Limited Capacity seats available

Expanding into flowers is a logical step for a small, diversified farm. Flower crops add beauty and profit, as well as attracting pollinators for the vegetables. At Four Season Farm, with the infrastructure already in place, a flower division has been an easy niche to fill. Using our farm as an example, we'll address the various forms a flower business can take, its ups and downs, economies, growing practices, marketing strategies, and ways to add wild species on the farm into the mix. A lecture/slide show, with plan lists provided, will be followed by a perios of questions and group discussion.

Presenters

Barbara Damrosch

Co-Owner and Author, Four Season Farm

Barbara Damrosch is the author of The Garden Primer, Theme Gardens, and The Four Season Farm Gardener's Cookbook (co-authored with her husband Eliot Coleman). From 2003 to 2014 she wrote a weekly column for the Washington Post called "A Cook's Garden." During 1991 and 1992 she appeared as a regular Correspond... Read More →

Friday December 8, 2017 10:15am - 11:45am EST
Main Dining Room

Session H

10:15am EST

One Veggie, Five Ways

Limited Capacity seats available

Explore the creative and culinary potential of one vegetable with Blue Hill at Stone Barns Chef de Cuisine Bastien Guillochon and Sous Chef Alan Hsu. Gain the know-how to increase a vegetable’s value by using every part of the plant, including overlooked and often discarded bits like the peels, stems or roots. Workshop participants will roll up their sleeves and step into the kitchen to put these innovative ideas into practice.

Presenters

Bastien Guillochon

Chef de Cuisine, Blue Hill at Stone Barns

Bastien Guillochon is the Chef de Cuisine at Blue Hill at Stone Barns.

Alan Hsu

Sous Chef, Blue Hill at Stone Barns

Alan Hsu is a sous chef at Blue Hill at Stone Barns.

Friday December 8, 2017 10:15am - 11:45am EST
Meet in Silo Lobby

Session H

10:15am EST

Policies to Empower Rural Latino Culture

Limited Capacity seats available

In the United States and throughout Mexico and Central and South America, Latino farmers are systematically left out of decision-making processes. Agriculture and Farm policy significantly impacts Latino rural communities. The National Latino Farmers and Ranchers Trade Association (NLFRTA) is committed to promoting sustainable farm and ranching policy to improve farming operations for Latino-farmworkers. Join NLFRTA President Rudy Arredondo and Executive Director Lorette Picciano as they discuss policies and opportunities to support rural Latino communities.

Presenters

Rudy Arredondo

Activist and Advocate/Board Member, The National Latino Farmers & Ranchers Trade Association

Rudy Arredondo Is President of National Latino Farmers and Ranchers Trade Association. He represents the interests, nationally, of small Latino farmers and ranchers in Washington, DC organizing, dealing with policy, legislation and regulatory issues. He is an active member of the board of directors of the Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural. He focuses on issues related... Read More →

Lorette Picciano

Executive Director, Rural Coalition

Lorette Picciano has served since 1992 as Executive Director of the Rural Coalition, a Washington, DC-based alliance of more than 60 culturally diverse community based organizations representing small producers and farmworkers in the US and Mexico. She works with RC’s diverse Board and members to promote just and sustainable development in rural areas, particularly... Read More →

Friday December 8, 2017 10:15am - 11:45am EST
PDR

Session H

10:15am EST

Seed Genetics

Limited Capacity seats available

Vegetable production on farms is dependent on seeds and their genetics. Farms strive for genetic traits like overwintering, reliability and productivity, disease resistance, flavor, or distinctiveness. Come learn about approaches for breeding your own vegetables on your farm. Learn about the breeding collaboration between MazLab and other Hudson Valley farms, like Stone Barns Center, that are designed to fit into a working farm.

Presenters

Jason Grauer

Crop Production and Farm Consulting Manager, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture

Jason Grauer is crop production manager at Stone Barns Center. With a degree in economics from Tufts University, Jason spent the early part of his career in the financial industry. A year spent volunteering at Stone Barns confirmed his desire to farm full time, and he spent two seasons... Read More →

Michael Mazourek

Associate Professor, School of Integrative Plant Science Plant Breeding and Genetics Section Horticulture Section

Michael Mazourek established a vegetable breeding program which focuses on developing new cultivars for organic farming systems through traditional methods of cross-pollination. His grower-driven traits focus on fungal and insect resistances in regionally adapted backgrounds to provide... Read More →

Friday December 8, 2017 10:15am - 11:45am EST
Greenhouse

Session H

10:15am EST

Stone Barns Center Tour

Limited Capacity seats available

Join us for a behind-the-scenes view of Stone Barns Center. We’ll explore the farm while discussing our diverse work to build a healthful and sustainable food system.

Presenters

Jessica Lutz

Senior Programs Manager, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture

Jessica Lutz is programs manager at Stone Barns Center. Jessica grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where her commitment to growing and eating sustainably first began. She moved East to attend Bennington College and then spent 20 years in Vermont helping to found and subsequently... Read More →

Friday December 8, 2017 10:15am - 11:45am EST
Courtyard

Session H

10:15am EST

Swine Operations at Stone Barns Center: From Farrow to Finish

Limited Capacity seats available

Learn about the innovations and experiments taking place in the Stone Barns Center swine program. Pigs are a valuable asset on our farm. We employ them to eat waste, eradicate invasive species, and create silvopastures. By feeding our pigs waste from the local economy like brewers grain, pre-consumer kitchen scraps, expired dairy, vegetable field waste, and orchard surplus, we’re able to provide them with an adequate diet and justify their services to the farm and ecosystem. We use our pigs like renovators for the forest floor as they interupt invasive species growth and establish a silvopasture for grazing ruminants and poultry. This workshop will also give insight into our breeding program, including artificial insemination, farrowing and ration info for our Red Wattle and Ossabaw-cross sows.

Presenters

Phil Haynes

Assistant Livestock Manager, Stone Barns Center

Phil Haynes is assistant livestock manager at Stone Barns Center. He graduated from Connecticut College with a B.A. in anthropology and botany. While in college, Phil helped his brother manage Ralston Farm, a small specialty produce CSA and livestock farm in their New Jersey hometown... Read More →

Friday December 8, 2017 10:15am - 11:45am EST
Library

Session H