January 20–23, 2010 • Chattanooga, Tennessee

2010 Special Events

In addition to the general conference sessions, we will provide you several other exciting ways to learn and grow. We have pre-conference short courses, a pre-conference mini course, pre-conference field trips, a virtual farm tour extravaganza, special presentations, special networking sessions, the Taste of Tennessee Dinner and more. Read on…

• Intensive Short Courses — Wednesday and Thursday
  If you are looking to start or expand a farming venture, our 1½ day pre-conference Short Courses are designed to give you the knowledge you most need to be successful. The 5 Short Courses we are offering this year are those in greatest demand — Start-Up Organic Vegetable Production and Marketing, Hoophouse Production, Management Intensive Grazing of Beef, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), and Starting and Managing a Successful Farmers’ Market. To learn more about these 5 Short Courses, click here.
  
  
• Special Training for Agricultural Professionals — Wednesday and Thursday
  We will offer a special 1 ½ day pre-conference training in Organic Horticulture for Extension, NRCS, FSA, State Agriculture Department and other institutional and organizational personnel serving farmers interested in organic production. This training requires separate registration. To learn more about this training and to register, please email Southern SAWG project coordinator Jesse Strassburg at jesse@ssawg.org.
  
  
• Special Meeting of USDA Program Managers with Organizations — Wednesday and Thursday
  Organizations working with farmers or on any other aspect of creating vibrant local food systems will have the opportunity to meet with a variety of USDA Program Managers to discuss funding options in this special 1 ½ day meeting. Participants must register separately for this special meeting and registration is limited. Limited scholarships available. To learn more about this meeting and to register, please email Southern SAWG executive assistant Julia Sampson at jsampson@ssawg.org.
  
  
• Special Networking Session: Organizations Banding Together For Strength — Thursday afternoon
  This informal discussion session is for organizational leaders to share ideas about how to survive these tough times and at the same time, how to take advantage of the unprecedented opportunities we now have to move our agendas forward. Come prepared to pitch ideas, build partnerships, offer suggestions and learn. Let’s build on our strengths and take advantage of this wave of public attention to grow this sustainable agriculture movement and achieve our goal of robust and vibrant food systems in every Southern community. (no ticket required)
  
  
• Hands-On Mini Course — Thursday afternoon
  Our ½ day Mini Course this year is Sustainable Pest Management for Vegetable Crops. This Mini Course will give participants an opportunity to get more in-depth information about Sustainable Pest Management. The course will have an interactive learning component, so be sure to bring your pests and learn what they are and how to control them. To learn more about this Mini Course, click here.
  
  
• Video Show: Virtual Farm Tour Extravaganza — Thursday afternoon
  Each of the nine 20 minute videos in Southern SAWG’s Natural Farming Systems in the South series will be shown. Tour nine farms all in one afternoon! Learn about Cut Flowers, Organic Vegetables, Meat Goats, Pastured Turkeys, Pastured Broilers, Pastured Beef, Pastured Dairy, and Cheesemaking. Videos will all be shown pre-conference on Thursday afternoon in a special viewing room and at the SSAWG Booth during the General Conference. (no ticket required)
  
  
• Field Trips — Thursday afternoon
  With five excellent field trip options, we’ve got an in-the-field learning opportunity for everyone! Field Trips are geared toward organic and sustainable production and marketing of horticultural crops and livestock and community food initiatives. To learn more about our field trips, click here.
  
  
• Special Presentation — Thursday evening
  On Thursday evening, we have a special guest coming to give a thought-provoking presentation on one of the hottest topics of the day — climate change.

“Ready to be a Hero? We Have the Power to Change the Relationship Between Climate Change and Agriculture”

Dr. Tim LaSalle, Rodale Institute

We know agriculture contributes to climate change and we’re already seeing the impacts of climate change on agriculture. Can we do anything about this? Dr. Timothy J. LaSalle, CEO of Rodale Institute, will explain the relationship between climate change and agriculture and will discuss exactly how sustainable farming practices, with emphasis on effective soil management and biodiversity, can reduce the negative impacts of agriculture on our climate and can also reduce the negative impacts of climate change on food and fiber production. Armed with the results of a major study undertaken by the Rodale Institute, which analyzed 30 years of soil carbon data, Dr. LaSalle will show why it now appears that an understanding and emphasis on sustainable soil management practices is even more important than we realized. According to Dr. LaSalle, “…agriculture is an undervalued and underestimated climate change tool that could be one of the most powerful strategies in the fight against global warming.” Those using sustainable farming practices and those supporting sustainable farmers as consumers, advocates, teachers, researchers, etc., may very well become our climate change heroes. Are you ready to be a hero?

• State Networking Sessions — Friday afternoon
  Gather with those working for sustainable agriculture from your state to learn what’s happening in your state, how you can benefit, how you can be involved and how you can make a difference. We’ll provide a room for each of the 13 Southern states and a facilitator. You make the discussion useful.
  
  
• Group Networking Sessions — Saturday morning
  You asked for time to network with your peers from across the region, so here’s your chance! As requested, we’ll provide a facilitator and a meeting room for the following: Hoophouse Production, Cut Flower Producers, Urban Farmers, Beef Producers, Small Livestock Producers, Pastured Poultry Producers, Seed Saving and Production, Young at Farming, Mid-Scale Farms, Farmers’ Markets, Education and Outreach, Ag Policy, and Faith-Based Connections. It will be up to you to make the discussion useful!
  
  
• Taste of Tennessee Dinner — Saturday evening
  Always a highlight of the event, food produced by sustainable and organic farmers in Tennessee will be featured at this plated dinner Saturday evening at the close of the event. Each conference registration includes a ticket for the Taste of Tennessee Dinner.
  
  
• Closing Keynote Address — Saturday evening
  We will close the conference with an insightful and inspirational presentation by one of the South’s legends.

“Eyes on the Prize: Looking Back to Effectively Move Forward”

Hollis Watkins has been a life-time activist in both the civil rights and sustainable agriculture movements. From this unique perspective, he will reflect on the progress made in sustainable agriculture and the potential we now have to bring about real change in our food system. He will draw parallels between the civil rights and sustainable agriculture movements, reminding us of the consequences of inaction.

Hollis grew up on a farm in Mississippi and became active in the civil rights movement as a young man in 1960. As the first Mississippi student to become involved in the Mississippi Voting Rights Project of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), he endured much in the fight for equality, but he has never let up.

Early on, seeing the connections between community empowerment and food and agriculture, Hollis got involved in creating a more sustainable and just food system in Mississippi and across the region. He helped found Southern SAWG and has served in various leadership capacities over the last 18 years, currently as a Board Member.

In this keynote address, the legendary Hollis Watkins will remind us how far we have come and will inspire us to keep up the good fight.

Bonus Event — Sunday Morning
Interest Meeting for New Organic Breeding Coalition: Breeding for Organic Production Systems
NCSU and RAFI-USA will convene a coalition of organic farmers, public plant breeders, and other members of the organic community to address the need for organically adapted varieties, and to open channels of communication between organic farmers and public plant breeders. This is part of a grant received by NCSU for the development of organic varieties for soybeans, wheat, peanuts and corn. This meeting requires separate registration. To register for this meeting, or for more information contact: sally@rafiusa.org, or visit the RAFI website: www.rafiusa.org

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.