Day 2: Blogging for 2008 SARE Conference

Off to s good start this morning for Day Two of the 2008 SARE Conference. Many Missouri producers and education staff at the conference and familiar faces all around.

Another busy conference schedule today with the first breakout session of the day starting in about 20 minutes.

Breakout Sessions Today Include:
Assistance and Education: Where are we in Organic?
As more farmers and ranchers think about going organic, training the trainers and educators is a top priority. Find out what agriculture educators and technical assistance providers are doing to educate themselves and farmers about sustainable practices and innovations.

• Rex Dufour, National Center for Appropriate Technology, California
• Vern Grubinger, University of Vermont, NE SARE
• Rose Koenig, Rosie’s Organic Farm/University of Florida

eOrganic Workshop
eXtension is a new national, web-based, information source for Land Grant University (LGU) faculty and Extension agents to consolidate research findings and outreach materials. Within the framework of eXtension, eOrganic is being developed as the new organic agriculture Extension Service website to provide accurate and up-to-date information for organic farmers, conventional farmers, researchers, and agricultural professionals. Join members of the eOrganic team for a sneak peek and tour of the eOrganic workspace.

Scale It Up: Growing Marketing Enterprises
How can we scale up local and regional markets so they better serve more (and larger scale) farmers and ranchers? Learn from those who’ve developed sustainable value chain models and experienced scaling up in action.

• Fred Kirschenmann, Leopold Center, Iowa
• Michael Rozyne, Red Tomato, Massachusetts

Stay tuned today for more Blogging for the 2008 SARE Conference…