Friday, February 4th | Virtual Conference Sessions
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Expect to see sessions that appeal to professionals from all sectors of the food system, with a special focus on enhancing culinary experiences through local foods, Farm to School, coalition-building, culturally appropriate crops & food sovereignty, Farm Bill updates, and Cottage Food Law training for producers interested in selling value-added foods outside of the farmers’ market season.
You are welcome to participate in these virtual sessions on your own OR join the in-person watch party at The Leadership Center in Aurora, NE. |
Friday Keynote: Chef Khan
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Agenda
10:00am-11:00am | Welcome Address & Keynote
1:00pm-2:00pm | Concurrent Sessions
5:00pm - 6:00pm | FREE tour of Grain Place Foods facility in Aurora, NE
6:30pm-7:30pm | The Current Pulse and Politics of Organic Standards, a casual conversation and dinner with Dave Vetter of Grain Place Foods and Evrett Lunquist, Director of Certification at Demeter USA at The Leadership Center in Aurora, NE (Reservations required, in-person only)
10:00am-11:00am | Welcome Address & Keynote
- Welcome Address presented by Cecily Wardyn, Assistant Director at the Nebraska Department of Agriculture
- Elevating Culinary Experiences Through Local Foods: Executive Chef for Bryan Health Shares Successes and Lessons Learned Keynote with Chef Nazim Khan, Bryan Medical Center
- Farm Bill Explainer & Local Advocacy with Brad Lubben, UNL Agricultural Economics
- Cottage Food Certification Training with Cindy Brison, UNL Extension
- Profitability, Value, and Decision Making with Trey Malone, Michigan State University Extension
1:00pm-2:00pm | Concurrent Sessions
- Producing Culturally Appropriate Crops at Prairie Pines Training Farm with Amy Gerdes & Shahab Bashar from Community Crops
- Local Food Coalition Panel: Building & Sustaining for Success with Presenter/Moderator: Courtney Long from Iowa State University, and Nebraska Panelists Brenda Sale from Nebraska Extension-Dakota County, Sandra Renner from the Center for Rural Affairs, and Tara Dunker from Nebraska Extension-Gage County
- Nebraska Food Sovereignty At-A-Glance: A Look at the Sacred Seed and Maya Regeneration Projects with Taylor Keen & Luis Marcos
- Farm to School in Nebraska, a panel conversation hosted by UNL Extension
5:00pm - 6:00pm | FREE tour of Grain Place Foods facility in Aurora, NE
6:30pm-7:30pm | The Current Pulse and Politics of Organic Standards, a casual conversation and dinner with Dave Vetter of Grain Place Foods and Evrett Lunquist, Director of Certification at Demeter USA at The Leadership Center in Aurora, NE (Reservations required, in-person only)
Saturday, February 5th | Conference @ The Leadership Center
Saturday's sessions will appeal to professionals from all sectors of the food system with a special focus on farm financial management, vegetable crop production, livestock & grazing practices, transitioning farm/ranch families, biochar, cover crops, and pasturing techniques. Come prepared to enjoy Nebraska Sustainable Ag Society's annual silent auction fundraiser; cash, checks and donations are accepted.
Breakfast, lunch, and snacks are included in the registration. Lodging is available at the Leadership Center and in the Aurora area.
Please note: Speaker and schedule changes are possible due to unexpected weather events, the environment surrounding COVID-19, and other unexpected situations. Check back here for the latest updates.
UPDATE 2/2/22: Our original keynote could not make the conference due to an unexpected family need deserving of our compassion. However, we are so grateful and excited to announce Del Ficke as this year's keynote! His keynote, "Peace, Love & Agriculture" will share their story of land, soil, and regenerative grazing practices.
Agenda
7:30am - 8:30am | Breakfast and Check-in/Registration
8:30am-9:00am | Welcome
9:00am-10:00am | Concurrent Sessions
- Sustainable Silvopasture Hog Production Compared to Drylot System a SARE Farmer Forum session with Raymond Hain
- Young Vegetable Producers Panel with Lainey Johnson and David Jurena
- Farm Financial Management with Jessica Groskopf
10:30am-11:45am | Peace, Love, and Agriculture, a Keynote address from Del Ficke
11:45am-12:15pm | Lunch immediately followed by NSAS annual meeting and elections
12:15pm-1:30pm | NSAS annual meeting and elections OR Nebraska Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association Meetup
1:30pm-2:30pm | Concurrent Sessions
- Double Cropping Field Peas with Cover Crops, Forages and Short Season Crops in Sub-Humid Climates, a SARE Farmer Forum session with Alexandre Tonon Rosa
- Pathology and Scouting for Vegetable Crops with Kyle Broderick
- Biochar Production and Applications with Heather Kingery and Evrett Lunquist
- Nebraska Department of Agriculture's Pesticide Program and Driftwatch-BeeCheck with Craig Romary, Environmental Programs Specialist with the Nebraska Department of Agriculture
3:00pm-4:00pm | Concurrent Sessions
- To Till or No-Till in Veg Production, a panel with Katie Jantzen and Tom Tomas
- Risk Management for Produce Growers with Rex Nelson
- Using Cover Crops for Forage: what we have learned through SARE projects, a SARE Farmer Forum session with Dr. Mary Drewnoski