Virginia Biological Farming Conference and Trade Show

January 31 to February 1, 2003

Airfield Conference Center
Wakefield, VA

• What this Conference is About ...
• About our Speakers ...
• Program Schedule ...
• Youth Program ...
• See a slideshow of the 2001 Conference

What this Conference is About ...

This year's theme...

Healthy Foods through Ecological Production

Two days of education about:
producing field crops, horticultural crops and livestock in both organic and sustainable, low-input systems
selling field crops, locally-grown fruit and vegetables and livestock products that are ecologically produced

A diverse lineup of sessions offers information about new financial opportunities for both large-scale commercial farmers and for small-scale, part-time farmers. This is the first time the Virginia Biological Farming Conference has been held in Southeast Virginia. The conference planners chose Wakefield as the site for the 2003 program because the conventional agriculture in this region has been especially threatened by low profitability in recent years. There are very few organic farmers in Southeast Virginia but perhaps there should be many more.

It is evident that agriculture in the state of Iowa is emphasized at this conference. What does Iowa possibly have to do with farming in tidewater Virginia? There are currently 120,000 acres of certified organic farmland in Iowa compared to only 4000 acres under organic certification in Virginia. Many farmers in Iowa jumped on the organic wagon early because conventional farming in Iowa suffered terrible failure in the 1980s. The farming systems there were forced to change, and the Iowa State University agriculture programs had to change as well. The practical farmers of Iowa have brought agriculture out of failure into financial success in the last ten years by using organic and sustainable methods. The story of their struggle is quite relevant to the current farming situation in Virginia.

How can organic and sustainable, low-input agriculture help family farmers increase profitability? The products the speakers at this conference offer for sale include certified organic soybeans at $8-$12 per bushel, certified organic field corn at $5-$6 per bushel, certified organic sweet corn at $4 per dozen, certified organic cotton at $.75-$1.25 per pound, pastured pork at $.40 per pound live weight, certified organic eggs at $3-$4 per dozen, certified organic hamburger at $3 per pound, etc. Market demand for organically grown foods is increasing by 20% each year in the United States. It will not be easy and there are no guarantees, but family farmers in Southeast Virginia and in other regions of Virginia may be able to increase the profitability of their agriculture enterprises by using organic and low-input, sustainable production and marketing methods. That is what this conference is about.

Who Should Attend?

Any interested farmer or farm manager
Livestock producers
Market gardeners
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

Dr. Kathleen Delate has served since 1998 as an Extension Organic Crop Specialist in the departments of Horticulture/Agronomy at Iowa State University, and is also an assistant professor at Iowa State University where she helped develop a strong organic agriculture curriculum for students. Dr. Delate organizes a big organic farming conference in Iowa each year. She has conducted extensive research in production of certified organic crops such as soybeans in land taken out of the Conservation Reserve Program. She has published a number of articles in scientific journals concerning her research in organic management of both agronomic and horticultural crops. Kathleen has farmed organically in Florida, Hawaii, California and Iowa.

Curtis Bennett is a Merchandiser/Quality Assurance Controller with Clarkson Grain Company, Inc. in Illinois. Clarkson Grain buys certified organic corn, soybeans and wheat from farmers throughout the Midwest, and. sells organically-grown commodities world-wide. Curtis began his career in organic farming as a vegetable producer in 1992. In 1993 he co-founded a chapter of Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA) in Missouri and served for three years as Vice President/Certification Chairman. In 1994 he began growing certified organic grains as a member of the Heartland Organic Marketing Cooperative (HOMC). During the time he served as president of HOMC the cooperative grew to over 200 members to become the largest controller of Organic Food Soybean acres in the country.

Tom Christenberry has managed Vermi-Cycle Organics in North Carolina since 1992. He uses red wiggler worms to convert the manure from a 600 sow hog operation into vermi-compost and worm castings. He sells his worm castings in 50-lb., 10-lb. and 2-lb. bags, and also sells worms (his goal is to sell 15,000 pounds of worms in 2003). Several North Carolina farmers have gotten started in the worm business through partnership with Tom. He has received several awards for outstanding accomplishments in research conservation.

Bob Clark and John Burns will speak about contract production of certified organic eggs and the current demand for certified organic field crops by the organic poultry/egg industry. Bob is the Live-Production Manager for Braswell Milling Company in Nashville, North Carolina, an organic feed mill certified for organic feed processing by Quality Assurance International (QAI) in California. Bob has helped a number of landowners in North Carolina and Virginia get into contract production of certified organic eggs. The eggs are primarily sold under the Horizon label in health food stores and supermarket chains. John Burns is an independent organic certification inspector. He visits poultry/egg farms and makes sure that the production is in compliance with QAI organic certification regulations. He is a past-president of VABF, when he managed Goat Hill Vegetable Farm in Rappahannock County.

John Evridge is a member of the Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative, and has raised 500 acres of certified organic cotton each year for the last four years. The cooperative currently sells 5000 bales of certified organic cotton a year, through two companies: Cotton Plus and Organic Essentials. Cotton Plus primarily markets children's clothes, baby blankets, and sheets and pillowcases for young children. This market has developed because many parents know that young children like to put cloth in their mouths. Organic Essentials primarily markets cotton medical supplies.

Sandy and Rossie Fisher own and operate Brookview Farm, Inc. in Goochland County, Virginia. Sandy manages 600 acres of their own certified organic land plus 600 more acres of rented land, primarily marketing organic grass-fattened beef . He has 135 mixed brood cows that all have some Brahma blood - the Brangus and Brahma crosses exhibit resistance to heat stress. The Fishers also sell certified organic eggs, and Sandy operates a large farm-scale composting operation. Other products sold from Brookview Farm include ground organic corn, soybeans and flaxseed and cut flowers, organic vegetables and herbs. Brookview Farm's conservation easement protects their land from development, and they will also speak about farmland preservation at the conference.

Jim and Genny Jacobs manage Joyful Noise Farm in Virginia Beach, and have been organic truck farmers since 1972. The main crops they sell are tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, spinach and lettuce. Jim and Genny have also planted an orchard with 100 fruit trees, primarily Asian pears. At the conference Jim will mainly speak about his greenhouse vegetable production in large pots filled with compost. They will also talk about their wholesale marketing to health food stores and local stores in the Norfolk area. In addition they sell over the Internet at an on-line retail store. They hope to sell their Asian pears directly to consumers through computer orders.

Sybil Mays, and her husband, Rob, own Paradise Nursery, a small scale plant business specializing in figs and fruit plants for the Mid-Atlantic region. Sybil devoted her early years to teaching middle-school science and ecology while running a seasonal herb nursery and teaching herbal lore during the summers. After returning to school for a graduate degree in Agriculture/Horticulture, she spent three years at Norfolk Botanical Garden as Director of Education. Sybil lectures throughout the mid-Atlantic region and has published in local and national periodicals.

Chris Mullins has been a Horticulture Research Specialist at Virginia State University since 1999. His main area of responsibility is research and Extension education in commercial vegetable production, particularly high tunnels for season extension and greenhouses. He has also been directly involved with construction and retrofitting of approximately 80,000 square feet of greenhouse space in several different regions of Virginia. At the conference, Chris will primarily discuss how to buy materials and build a greenhouse and he will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different types of greenhouse structures.

Pam Westgate has worked for the past three years with Dr. Ruth Hazzard of the Univ. of Mass. Vegetable Extension Program on organic sweet corn production. She has conducted field experiments on the effectiveness of the direct-oil method for control of corn earworm as well as on-farm analyses working directly with commercial growers in their organic sweet corn production. She is presently conducting on-farm trials to test the effectiveness of the parasitic wasp, Trichogramma oestrinea, in controlling European corn borer. She is also involved in insect control programs in cucurbit crops.

David Stern owns and operates Rose Valley Farm in upstate New York. He is a nationally recognized expert in production of garlic and is the director of the Garlic Seed Foundation. Mr. Stern has spent over 30 years experimenting with various methods of organic weed control.. In addition to garlic, Mr. Stern grows asparagus, greens, root crops, blueberries and nut trees. He sells produce through Finger Lakes Organic, a member owned cooperative of 20 small organic farms. He will talk about using mechanical cultivation, flame weeding, natural mulches, cover crops and crop rotations to keep weeds under control.

Paul Willis is manager of Niman Ranch Pork Company, in Thornton, Iowa. Over 250 farmers in nine states produce pastured pork for Niman Ranch Pork Company, which sells within the Whole Foods and the Wellspring health food supermarket chains, and the Williams Sonoma Catalog. His company offers a very reliable marketing opportunity to farmers who are seeking an alternative to the vertically integrated total confinement system currently established for swine production in Virginia.

VABF Conference 2003 Program Schedule

Friday, January 31^st

Saturday, February 1^st

Youth Program

during the Virginia Biological Farming Conference and Trade Show

Children are invited to attend the conference too! A special program of activities related to farming 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. Here is a sampling of the subjects we will explore:

Explore Nature and Environment: Enjoy the conference site as we learn about its environment and animals. Can you identify the animals and what they eat? How many different types of trees can you name, and how do you tell one kind of tree from another? What are the benefits of having the buildings in their specific locations?

Aquaculture: Learn about the on-site pond ecology: What is growing in the pond? What does it take to maintain a pond? How do you build a pond? Learn what is meant by water quality.

Composting; fertilizer for your garden: Learn how to make tea compost and examine the results of worm composting. How do worms create castings? What are castings good for? What can we put in our compost pile from our meals?

Tools and technology to produce healthy food: Stop calling tools "that thing." We will learn their proper names and how to use them. How many gardening tools can you identify by name? Can you name 10 ways we can use computers in gardening?

Art for healthy minds: Create take-home art from clay, recycled containers, pots and pans.

Are you what you eat and drink? Learn to read and write food labels?

Wonderful world of bees and bee products

Production and marketing of berries, grapes and figs: Youth and adults learning together about small fruits.

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