Southern SAWG's
January 16 -19,
2008
Galt House Hotel and Suites
Louisville, KY
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The
complete pre-conference and conference program,
with registration information, is now posted on the Southern SAWG
website: www.ssawg.org.
Check it out!
This year we have shifted our schedule to start
one-half day
earlier. The two full days of regular conference sessions will start on
the
morning of Friday, January 18. The conference will conclude after the
big
banquet dinner Saturday evening. We’re excited to be offering
more programming
this year. Read on to see what we mean!
Sixty-Two
Educational Sessions
The conference will have a wide
variety of
sessions on sustainable agriculture topics, including: direct
marketing through CSAs, farmers’ markets, and
online; vegetable and flower production; eggs, goat, rabbit and beef
production; business practices; federal farm policies and farm
programs; community food systems; and more. We will run eight sessions
concurrently throughout the two-day conference. To help make it easier
for you to choose among the outstanding selection of sessions, one
session from each time slot is being offered at another time on the
program also. But still, you’d better bring a partner to get
even
more from this program!
Twenty U-Pick
Networking Sessions
This
year our conference program will offer the usual
thirteen state networking sessions, or you may choose to participate in
one of
several other new networking sessions we’ll also be offering
Friday afternoon,
January 18. You can get together with those from your state to discuss
issues
happening in your state or get together with people from around the
region to
discuss other issues of importance to you, such as marketing, livestock
production, organic production, community food systems, policy, etc.
We’ll
provide a room and a facilitator. You’ll make the discussion
meaningful.
Video Show
Throughout
the conference we’ll be showing videos from
Southern SAWG’s Natural Farming Systems
in the South series, as well as other presentations. This
provides yet another
way for you to learn about sustainable farming enterprises while with
us in
Louisville.
Hoop House Production
is the subject of the short course as well as the field trip led by
Alison and
Paul Wiediger. A video featuring the Wiediger’s farm, Au
Natural Farm, will also
be included in the video show.
Trade
Show
Between educational sessions, you can
visit the trade show. Exhibitors
will offer products and services to those seeking sustainable farming
solutions and those working to build local food systems.
Silent
Auction
The terrific selection of auction
items and the generosity of donors
and bidders make this an exciting event every year. This fun event
helps raise funds to support the critical work of Southern SAWG.
Donations of farm related items--supplies,
tools, equipment, value-added products, books, and more--are greatly
appreciated (as are high bids!). Click here to learn how you can make your donation.
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Through
a partnership with the
Kentucky Department of Agriculture, food produced by sustainable
farmers in Kentucky will be featured at this sit-down dinner on
Saturday, January 19. Through this partnership, we’ve had
exceptional dinners during the last two years that we’ve been
in
Kentucky. We are very grateful to the Kentucky Department of
Agriculture and Mac Stone in the Office of Agricultural Marketing and
Product Promotion for their incredible efforts to make this happen and
their tireless work to promote local foods and support family farmers.
Keynote
Address by Joel Salatin
Joel
Salatin will deliver the keynote address on the evening of Saturday,
January 19.
Joel Salatin’s
keynote address is entitled “Healing the Planet, One Plate at a
Time.” Joel is well-known for his pioneering farming operation
and his passion for family farms and local food systems. In this
keynote, he’ll explain the necessity of our work. Joel Salatin
says, “We are in the redemption business: healing the land,
healing the food, healing the economy, and healing the culture.”
Joel will also be leading conference sessions in which he will share
his farming and marketing practices.
A third generation alternative farmer, Joel Salatin returned full-time
to his family farm, Polyface Inc. (The Farm of Many Faces), in
Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley in 1982. He has authored many
popular books over the years. His speaking and writing reflect
dirt-under-the-fingernails experience punctuated with mischievous
humor. He passionately defends small farms, local food systems, and the
right to opt out of the conventional food paradigm.
Learn more about Joel Salatin and Polyface
Farms.
Pre-Conference
Conversation with
Wendell Berry
On
the evening of Thursday, January 17
there will be a special opportunity for readers of Wendell
Berry’s essays, fiction and poetry to participate in a
structured
conversation with him. Mr. Berry's writings about agriculture have
influenced and inspired many of us. We will talk with Mr. Berry about
why he and the rest of us in the sustainable agriculture community have
taken on this necessary work, what is the heart and soul of our
vocation, how we see ourselves in the larger cultural picture, what
gives us hope, and what sustains our love of farming.
Other
Pre-Conference Activities
The
day and a half of pre-conference activities will start Wednesday at
1:00 pm and will include:
* 8 whole-day intensive short courses offered concurrently
Wednesday afternoon through Thursday noon
* 6 new hands-on mini courses offered concurrently Thursday
afternoon
* 5 field trips offered at the same time as the mini courses
Thursday afternoon
| This
portable milker will be
shown on the Livestock Field
Trip. |
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Expert Presenters
We
have an outstanding array of
presenters again this year. All conference sessions, pre-conference
courses and field trips will be led by successful producers and
well-respected educators and organizers from around the region with
extensive knowledge and most importantly, practical
experience.
Over
1,200 people attended this event last year. See why! Join us this
January to learn from and exchange ideas with the most innovative
people in sustainable agriculture.
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American
Livestock Breeds
Conservancy
30th Anniversary Conference
November 2 - 4, 2007
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At Several Selected Local Farms and the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center
Sanford, North Carolina
Join
ALBC in celebrating 30
successful years of conserving livestock genetic diversity. Programs
will include hands-on workshops on husbandry, management, and selection
of rare breeds at local farms, as well as seminars on rare breed
production, processing, products, marketing, and breeding strategies.
There will be time allotted for members to network and share their
experiences, successes, and hopes. Plus, Friday and Saturday evenings
will feature special meals with opportunities to taste rare breeds. Learn more and register.
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Please remember that you have an opportunity
to help Southern SAWG’s work on behalf of Southern farmers,
communities
and our environment. Join us as we Take Back Our Food and
help raise
$25,000 to support our work.
We
are the
fortunate recipients of a $10,000 matching gift good through December
31, 2007, so your contributions received before the end of the year
will be equally matched!
To
make a donation online or download a form to mail to us with your
check, click here.
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Visit
Southern SAWG online at
We welcome your
feedback and suggestions--
Deadline to submit items for the November 2007 issue of the Southern
SAWG e-Newsletter is October 28. We welcome your feedback and
suggestions, and invite you to submit photos, articles, announcements,
events, stories, and other items that may interest the Southern SAWG
community for consideration.
Please write to us at news@ssawg.org
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