Session III
Workshops and Presentations - Wednesday 3:00 - 4:30 PM
A Midwest Homecoming featured five sessions of concurrent workshops, group presentations and roundtable discussions. Click on the title of a workshop or group presentation to see available downloads for that session. Not all presentation materials are available.
Session I | Session II | Session III | Session IV | Session V
CH01. Group presentations/Innovative Livestock Systems 2:
Livestock Mentoring
To increase the viability of Northeast livestock operations, this team of nonprofit and Extension partners provided new tools and mentoring opportunities. Four courses on soil health, pasture management, livestock care and marketing attracted a wide audience.
Lisa McCrory, Northeast Organic Farming Association-Vermont
Silvopasture Opportunities with Hogs
Learn more about the benefits of combining hogs with timber, such as more flavorful pork, better nutrition (unsaturated to saturated fatty acid ratios) and improved hardwood stands thanks to hogs reducing softwood competition and understory vegetation.
Chuck Talbott, Black Oak Hollow Farm, Point Pleasant, W.V.
Hair Sheep Partnership
A group of Virginia producers have created a buzz about lamb through annual hair sheep fairs and even attracted the attention of their local congressman and a food distributor. Join the group as it discusses ways to meet a new commitment to produce 10,000 lambs per year for stores.
Martha Mewbourne, Scott County (Va.) Hair Sheep Association
CH02. Seed Corn Production: Traditional, Non-Traditional and Hybrid Varieties (workshop)
Consider seed corn production as a value added and socially meaningful enterprise that expands markets for organically grown seed and food corn. With a focus on saving and breeding traditional varieties, management.
Carl Barnes, CORNS, Turpin, OK
Dave Christensen, Seed We Need, Big Timber, Mont.
Marcelo Carena, North Dakota State University
Walter Goldstein, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute
Maury Johnson, Blue River Hybrids, Kelley, Iowa
Margaret Smith, Cornell University
CH03. Sustainability of the Plains, Fact vs. Assumption (roundtable)
The Poppers' ideas about the future of the Great Plains region, what they call the Buffalo Commons vision, have stimulated a national debate. Learn more!
Frank Popper, Rutgers University
Deborah Popper, City University of New York
Randy Cantrell, Nebraska Rural Initiative
CH04. The Farm Bill: Past, Present and Future (workshop)
Discuss historically important federal agricultural policy, development and content of farm bills, conservation and environmental programs and analyze prospects for sustainable agriculture provisions in the next Farm Bill.
Martha Noble, Ferd Hoefner and committee chairs of the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
CH05. Iowa Produce Market Potential Calculator (workshop)
The calculator compares what Iowans eat to the 37 fruits and vegetables Iowa farmers produce and figures farm revenues if the local markets were fully realized. Learn how to use the calculator as a market forecasting tool.
Rich Pirog, Leopold Center
Randy Boekenstedt, Iowa State University Ctr. for Transportation Research and Education
CH06. Growing Tomorrow's Trainers (roundtable)
A roundtable discussion about how to start and maintain student-run sustainable farms and gardens. Includes successful strategies for students to transfer knowledge in different parts of the U.S.
Jeremy Moghtader, Michigan State University
Peter Lammers, Iowa State University
Caroline Brock and Julie Keller, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Courtney Tchida, University of Minnesota
CH07. Reducing and Producing Farm Energy: Success Stories (workshop)
Learn about whole-farm energy solutions and creating energy through wind generation and anaerobic digesters. This session will also cover reducing farm energy and improving efficiency.
John Ivanko, Inn Serendipity, Browntown, Wis.
Scott Tjaden, Tjaden Farms, Charles City, Iowa
Amanda Bilek, The Minnesota Project, St. Paul, Minn.
Mike Morris, National Center for Appropriate Technology, Davis, Calif.
