Virginia Biological Farming Conference and Trade Show

February 1-2, 2002

Northern Virginia
4-H Education Center
Front Royal, VA

• What this Conference is About ...
• About our Speakers ...
• Program Schedule ...
• Youth Program ...

What this Conference is About ...

The Third Annual Virginia Biological Farming Conference is a two-day educational program about organic and natural farming systems. This year, the speaker program will include three tracks of presentations concerning livestock management, horticultural production and biological controls. A great deal of marketing and financial information will be included in these discussions.

Keynote speaker Elizabeth Henderson will share her experiences from 21 years of organic farming and her efforts to increase the dialogue between organic and non-organic farmers. She has written a number of books, including Sharing the Harvest: A Guide to Community Supported Agriculture.

Livestock producers will speak about subjects such as using different species of farm animals to benefit each other, developing sales of natural meats directly to consumers at retail prices, and alternative methods for feeding livestock and for maintaining herd and flock health. Dr. Chuck Talbott from North Carolina A&T State University will discuss a new opportunity for contract sales of hogs raised on dirt, out in pastures, rather than in confined buildings. Steve Muntz is particularly enthusiastic about raising and processing pastured poultry -- ask him about his mobile processing unit.

Vegetable and fruit growers attending the conference will learn about a number of down-to-earth topics, such as how careful crop succession can be used to increase vegetable yields, to increase soil fertility and to reduce insects, diseases and weeds; how successful growers earn income from selling organically grown berries; and how to extend the growing season through the use of high tunnels (unheated greenhouses).

Biological control, particularly of insect pests, will be featured in the third track at this conference. Scientists are making great strides in understanding the relationships between the insects that feed on crops and the predators and parasites that can be used to keep them under control. The intricate influences of pheromones and plant enzymes on the feeding behavior of both pests and predators is fascinating new science. An entire session will be devoted to understanding the ecology of flea beetles, the age-old nemesis of early season transplants; and Richard McDonald will be back by popular demand to continue the discussion about beneficial insects.

The other thread that runs through the Virginia Biological Farming Conference is community. In both of our plenary sessions, the presenters will stress the need for collaboration among growers, consumers, wholesale buyers, suppliers, university researchers, and government officials. And we have an entire program for young people at this conference to make sure they know how much we need their help to keep agriculture alive in Virginia. The greatest benefit of this conference is always the networking among participants.

Who Should Attend?

Market gardeners
Livestock farmers
Farm managers
Extension educators and teachers
Government agricultural professionals
Homeowners with an interest in pesticide-free gardening
Youth who like to garden and learn about the environment

About Our Speakers

Elizabeth Henderson has been producing organically grown vegetables for 21 years, and has worked actively to increase the dialogue between organic and non-organic farmers. She is a founding member of the Northeast Organic Farming Assoc. in Massachusetts (NOFA) and was one of the authors of their certification program. For many years she has been on the governing council of NOFA-NY and is the co-convenor of the steering committee of the NY Sustainable Agriculture Working Group. She also chairs the agricultural and farmland protection board in Wayne County, and has many publications to her credit, including The Real Dirt: Farmers Tell About Organic and Low-Input Practices in the Northeast, and also Sharing the Harvest.

Anthony Flaccavento is Executive Director of Appalachian Sustainable Development and a part time certified organic farmer. He holds a bachelors degree in ecology from the University of Kentucky and a masters degree in Rural Development and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh. He has several published articles and book chapters on subjects related to sustainability and local economies, and makes presentations around the country on these topics.

Chuck Talbott is the coordinator of the Small Scale Hog Producer Program at North Carolina A&T State University. The main focus of the A&T Swine Research Program is to enhance productivity and profitability of livestock systems for small scale hog producers. The research emphasis is on marketing the potential strengths and differences -- such as possible taste differences due to diet and genetics -- of small farmer products compared to corporate farm products.

Cindy Conner teaches Biointensive Mini-farming at the Goochland campus of J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College. She has been a market gardener for the past 10 years with experience selling to restaurants, subscription customers, and farmers markets. Cindy is involved in the GROW BIOINTENSIVE Sustainable Mini-farming Teacher Certification Program established by John Jeavons, and attended the teachers workshop at Ecology Action in Willits, California, in July 2001. Cindy heads the Richmond Area VABF Chapter.

Dr. Kimberly Stoner grew up in Waynesboro, VA, and earned her B.S. degree from Duke University in 1979. Since receiving her PhD. from Cornell in 1987, she has been the vegetable entomologist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, where she studies alternatives to insecticides for managing vegetable insects. She has been on the board of directors of the Connecticut chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA); since 1990, and is currently vice-president and chair of the Organic Land Care Committee. She was named "Person of the Year" by the seven-state regional NOFA in August 2001.

Steve Muntz became the Appalachia Program Manager for Heifer Project International (HPI) after managing the HPI ranch and learning center in Perryville, Arkansas. The non-profit HPI assists families in 120 countries and 30 U.S. states to become self-reliant through the gifts of income-and-food-producing animals and training to care for them. These families then pass on the gift of livestock and knowledge to other resource-poor families in their community. Steve previously worked with the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture in Poteau, Oklahoma managing their 4,000 acre ranch, conducting on-farm demonstrations and research, consulting with regional farmers and finally serving as Program Director. His formal education is in Agronomy from Texas A&M University. He currently has a SARE grant to study methods of improving the feasibility of range poultry expansion. He and his family operate a small farm in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, raising sheep and pastured poultry.

Paul and Alison Wiediger have been farming organically since 1974. Their 84-acre farm in Kentucky has been managed organically since 1989 and certified since 1991. They are in their seventh season of growing and marketing salad greens in unheated hoophouses throughout their zone 6 winters. Their diversified operation includes grass-finished beef, 2 acres of outside growing beds, cut flowers, potted perennials, and herbs. They utilize the hoophouses to extend their growing season and cash flow to 52 weeks a year.

Dr. Richard McDonald operates a consulting business, Symbiont Biological Pest Management, in North Carolina. He assists farmers in the development of habitats for beneficial predatory and parasitic insects that match the insect pests most common to their specific crops. He also provides guidance for farmers who want to use other biological controls in commercial crop production. His recommendations, based on scientific research, are focused on making biological control of insects practical.

Daniel Salatin is the son of alternative farmer and author Joel Salatin. Polyface Farm is a multi-generational, diversified farm, to which Daniel added a commercial meat rabbit enterprise at the age of seven. His rabbit business has grown over the years and last year he sold 1,000 rabbits to individual customers and restaurants in the Charlottesville and Harrisonburg areas. He also manages cattle, pigs, sheep, poultry, and egg production.

Dr. Joe Lewis has worked for 34 years as a scientist with the Agricultural Research Service of the USDA. He has focused on the fields of biological control and sustainable agriculture with research on parasitoid/host/plant interactions, behavioral and chemical ecology, and ecosystem principles. In addition to over 60 scientific publications his work has been highlighted by the popular press, including CNN, BBC/Discovery Channel, Business Week, New York Times, Organic Gardening, and National Public Radio.

Dr. Joseph Tritschler is the Small Ruminant Extension Specialist at Virginia State University. His formal education is in biochemistry and animal science, and he received his PhD. in ruminant nutrition from Univ. of Florida in 1981. His principal expertise and research areas have been in integrated control systems for internal parasites, and ruminant nitrogen, energy and mineral nutrition. For 12 years he was a Livestock Extension Specialist for Massachusetts, and spent 5 years as a Beef Cattle Range Specialist for Hawaii. He has also studied and taught animal nutrition in Latin America.

Charlie and Miriam Maloney operate an 18-acre farm in the middle peninsula area of eastern Virginia, and grow a wide variety of vegetables and small fruit. For the last 11 years their major market has been a CSA which has grown to nearly 100 members. They also sell to two restaurants and to Ukrops in Williamsburg. Both Charlie and Miriam have backgrounds in theological studies and counseling and share a strong commitment to small scale farming as a way of life that deepens meaningfulness and enlarges imagination.

VABF Conference 2002 Program Schedule

Friday, February 1^st

Saturday, February 2^nd

Youth Program

during the Virginia Biological Farming Conference and Trade Show

Children are invited to attend the conference too! Savanah Williams has organized a special program of activities related to farming that will appeal to many age levels (6-18 years old). The registration cost is $40 per child ($30 each additional child in a family) and it includes all activities, three delicious meals, and snacks. Carey Whitehead of Nelson County will again be the on-site coordinator, with help from Preston Williams of Washington, D.C. Raymond Dixon of Hampton will assist with planning, and Barry Fox of Virginia State University will return again this year to do nature workshops. College students will also help conduct this program. A sampling of the subjects we will explore follows.

Art on the Farm: Be an artist for a while. Create fun artwork that relates to the farm.

Explore Nature: Come dressed for the weather and prepare to have lots of fun examining what we can learn from nature, including wildlife habitat, the streams, and insects.

Fish Farming: Learn the various types of fish that can be grown on a farm. Learn how their living environments differ on the farm compared to life in the streams, rivers, and oceans.

Fun with Cultural Expressions: Movement and dance help us to express our relation to different surroundings, give form to our emotions, and represent many cultures. What can you represent with your body through movement? What dances can you teach and learn which represent specific cultures?

The Garden as a Place to Learn Everyday Things: We will do many activities that can be used in gardening with your family, your school, and your community to explore how nature is a part of gardening. Examine different types of soils, build a worm compost bin and watch how worms do their work, see how the sun and water help food to grow, and participate in other gardening activities.

Hatha Yoga: Exercise should be a part of your daily life. It contributes to a healthy mind and body. We will do physical postures to relax, tone, and revitalize.

Snacks and other Goodies: Help to turn apples, carrots, lettuces, and other vegetables and fruits into juices, salads, and healthy snacks. Crack nuts and make cookies. Sip herbal teas. Yummy.

Trade Show: Some people may think of a Trade Show only as a place to buy things. Visit several businesses represented here at the conference to see how they relate to agriculture and what they actually produce. Ask questions.

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