Farmers Convergence

Join us for a full day of inspiration and learning from local farmers and others making a difference in our local food web.

8:00 AM - 8:45 AM: Check in, breakfast & coffee

• Visit tabling organizations: Mendocino County Local Food Guide, Word of Mouth Magazine, UC Hopland Research & Extension Center, Boonville Apple Fair, Strong Roots Farm, and more!

8:45 AM: Opening Address: Our Local Food Web

9:30 AM: Farmer Panel: Finding the Sweet Spot: Choosing the Right Mix of Wholesale, Retail, CSA, Restaurant, or School Sales for my Farm

Meet the panelists:

• Camin Ackerman - Big Mesa Farm
• Krissy Scommegna - Boonville Barn Collective
• Jessica Mihalenko - Oak Valley Farm
• Annie Courtens - Filigreen Farm
• facilitated by: Haerah Baird - MendoLake Food Hub

10:45 AM: Roundtable Session I

• Farmer Contracts & Strategy for Stable Scalability: Haerah Baird
  • Learn about contracting and commitment opportunities to help your farm grow and scale, and what programs the MendoLake Food Hub is applying for to create more stable revenue opportunities for farms
• Medicinal Plants: Wild, Weedy & Cultivated. Food & Product for the busy farmer Sarah Grusky & Friends
  • You are weeding beds to prepare for planting. There is chickweed, lambs quarters, dandelion, yellow dock, mallow, mullein, sow's thistle, and what else? We will talk about the medicinal value of these and other weedy friends in our gardens, how to use them for medicine and food, preserve them, and market them
  • Bring your favorite weedy friend (or enemy) to share!
• Direct Marketing Meat: Ruthie King, Thea Grusky-Foley, Jessie Taaning & Grace Magruder
  • In this roundtable, we will feature several meat producers who raise poultry, sheep, pigs and cattle and who have explored multiple sales channels. Whether you are considering getting into meat production or would like to expand your markets, this discussion will generate ideas, answers, and possibly more questions that you didn't even know to ask.
• MESA: Multinational Exchange for Sustainable Agriculture
  • Learn more about the MESA program and both its impact and opportunities in our community

12:00 PM: Locally Sourced Lunch

1:30 PM: Roundtable Session II:

• Food Hub Future Trippin': Haerah Baird
  • Learn about the business health of the Food Hub, current challenges, and discuss your ideas about moving into the future. This session is designed to collect feedback for the NCO Board presentation about farmer successes and challenges, what it's like working with the Food Hub, and the farmer vision for the Food Hub into the future
• Locally Adapted Plants: Seed Saving & Breeding for Adaptation - Julia Dakin
• A farm Is What You Make of It : the Many Enterprises on Which We Build Our Farms - Tam Adams, Mich Rueb Ellen Bartholomew & Caroline Radice.
  • Eco-tourism, farm tours, value added, tractor work, catering, school tours and camps, and feeding our community - it can all be in the mix.
• Building a Working Farm Team: Creating a Culture of Goodwill on Farm & Workplace: AJ Barrett
  • AJ Barrett has been helping guide discussions about leadership and workplace culture at the School of Adaptive Agriculture for 7 years. This presentation will share some tips for building a positive work environment at your farm.
• Farmer Wellness Yoga Session: Flourish & Flow
  • Flourish & Flow Mendo, your local Holistic Wellness & Fitness studio, invites you to relax and unwind with us. Join us for a transformative crystal bowl sound healing and meditation session, where you can immerse yourself in the healing frequencies of crystal bowls, and let the soothing vibrationswash over you as you journey within; findingpeace, stillness, and rejuvenation.
  • please bring a yoga mat or blanket to lay on

2:45 PM: Roundtable Session III:

• Feeding Laytonville: A Community Discussion - Casey O'Neil & Meadow Shere
  • Learn what Laytonville has done to feed itself after the closure of their only supermarket. Discuss what more can be done and how people can coordinate to meet local needs.
• Farm to School Seed Dating - Pamela Lee & Meerae Park
  • Growing relationships between Farmers and Cooks. Starting the conversation between Farmers and Food Service Directors to explore sales opportunities and agricultural education. Why selling to schools is a great opportunity. Getting to know one another on a personal level as well as professional level as the basis for working together.
• Farm Hack: Off-Grid Salad Mix Washing System - Keith Michelak
  • A farm tour and demonstration in the Buttercup field
• Land Access Discussion - John Bailey
  • Gathering feedback on a new land access model and farm accelerator program in development by Hopland Research and Extension Center and NCO
• Growing your Voice: Local Food Policy & How to Advocate - Lucy Bartholomew & Allegra Foley
  • Policies enable and constrain farmers and food systems. Join us to learn why policy matters and how to lift voices to advocate for a food system that reflects your values and supports small farms. Then, we'll dive into an overview on funding cuts to the Market Match program; what it means for famers and how to help save it

4 PM: Mixer

• Join us in the lounge (aka fireside room) to enjoy locally sourced hors d’oeuvres & deliciously concocted mocktailsThis is your chance to connect with fellow farmers, buyers, school food service directors, and supportersFarms are encouraged to bring samples to share with potential buyersSeeds will be available to take home, feel free to bring seeds to share!

* schedule is subject to change. Register now to stay up to date on speakers, roundtable sessions, and more!

The Farmers Convergence is a collaborative effort planned by a cohort of dedicated volunteers. This event is funded by ticket sales and the generous donations of attendees.

Would you like to volunteer? Contact lucy.bartholomew@sharecare.com to sign up.