January 20–23, 2010 • Chattanooga, Tennessee

About the 2010 Conference

Our 2010 Practical Tools and Solutions for Sustaining Family Farms Conference will be held January 20-23, 2010 at the Chattanooga Convention Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee again.

Plan to come see why so many return to participate in this conference year after year!

“Practical Information.” “Excellent Networking.” “Great People.” “Simply Inspiring.” Year after year, attendees at Southern SAWG’s Practical Tools and Solutions for Sustaining Family Farms Conference come for the practical information and go home with so much more. While over 90% of past attendees reported they learned something they would use immediately, even higher numbers say meeting so many folks doing so many great things around the South was a highlight. With the high-rated practical sessions and pre-conference offerings and the great networking opportunities, this event attracts over 1,000 farmers and advocates every year.

This conference is an absolute must-attend event for those serious about sustainable and organic farming and creating more vibrant community food systems! Here’s what else attendees have to say.

“Good practical info with real examples delivered by people with real experience.”

“I learned a ton about many different aspects in profiting off a farm operation.”

“Most useful thing was the affirmation and validation from others like myself. Renewed confidence in my initial decision to farm.”

The popular, pre-conference events begin on Wednesday and include one-and-a-half day intensive short courses as well as several half-day field trips and a mini course. Pre-conference offerings include: farmers’ market management, start-up organic vegetables, hoophouses, community supported agriculture (CSAs) and management intensive grazing of beef.

The general conference, held on Friday and Saturday, offers eight tracks of highly essential conference sessions covering: organic and sustainable production of vegetables, flowers, seeds, honey, poultry, hogs and beef; direct marketing strategies such as farmer’s markets and CSAs; successful farm stories; community food systems; and new farm programs for sustainable farmers— a broad range of offerings for start-ups and seasoned producers alike.

In addition to the sessions and networking opportunities, the conference offers field trips, a trade show, silent auction, video show, Taste of Tennessee dinner and more.

A cross-fertilization of ideas awaits you in 2010. See you in Chattanooga!

Note to institutional and organizational leaders: it’s not too early to start securing funds for producers in your area to participate in the pre-conference and conference activities. If you need us to provide a letter of support to a potential funder, we’ll be happy to. Just contact us with the details.

If you need conference materials to distribute or use in media outlets,
go to www.ssawg.org/conference-media.html, or click here to email request.