Farmers, growers and consumers alike are invited to the 13th Annual Conference of the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota to be held at the Waldorf School, 70 East County. Road B, Maplewood, on Saturday, Feb. 21. “The New Pioneers, Breaking New Ground With Wisdom and Innovation” is the theme for the conference hosted by the Crow River Chapter of SFA which reaches from St. Cloud to Willmar to New Ulm and into the west Twin Cities. Dick Brocker of Experiment in Rural Cooperation keynotes at 9:45 a.m. with “What the public must not know about sustainable farming.” Breakout sessions include: Dairy options and reducing costs, innovations in dairy processing, what’s new in bovernment programs, poultry production and marketing;healthy Soil and how to get it, planning for a sustainable business, fruit opportunities, and what makes grazing work? “Taking honey off the commodity market” at 2:15 p.m. with Brian Frederickson is the afternoon keynote program. Brian is an artisan variety honey producer. A locally grown healthy lunch will be featured at 12:15 p.m. with Julie Bloor, an expert forager, assembling the meal. Exhibitors and farmer’s market vendors will also be on hand to share information with you. Registration fees are $30 for SFA members and $40 for non-members with a check payable to SFA of MN sent to SFA Executive Director, MaryJo Forbord at 29731 302nd St., Starbuck, MN 56381, or call your local chapter coordinator, Connie Lahr, in Maple Lake at (320) 963-3690. Connie welcomes your $20 annual membership to the Crow River Chapter whereby you will also be included in local up-dates/activities/tours and the quarterly state newsletter; you can also check www.sfa-mn.org for more information.
