2023 Presentations and Workshops
This year MOA is celebrating 30 years of empowering sustainable growers and grazers all across Missouri! Year after year we strive to build an impactful two days of programming to educate and inspire growers, grazers, homesteaders, urban gardeners, landscapers, and value added processors of all experience levels!
This year’s programming features two tracks that overlap, one highlighting topics of most interest to row-crop and livestock farmers, and the other with an emphasis on horticulture and specialty crops. But the foundation in all presentations is soil – because healthy soil raises the most nutritious crops, and works to sequester the over-abundance of carbon we create in the acts of daily living.
Conference Hours
Registration opens at 8:00 a.m. each day. Exhibit Hall will be open from 9 am to 5 pm.
Coffee will be available in the morning. Lunch will be served from 12pm-1:30pm.
Friday, February 3rd
Grand River Stage Area
9:00 Basics of Weed Control in Organic Farming
Gary McDonald
10:10 Agency Panel
Taylor Tuttle, MO Grown Joe Aull, USDA Farm Services Association Brad McCord, Nat’l Resources Conservation Services
11:10 Organic Transition Initiative: how it supports you
Allison Walent, Midwest Organic Association
Learn how MU’s Center for Regenerative Agriculture is working with farmers, landowners, researchers, and farm partners to catalyze adoption of regenerative farming practices on Missouri land. We will discuss our upcoming Missouri CRCL project, a new $25million USDA-funded program that will offer financial and educational opportunities for farmers and ranchers to adopt climate-smart practices.
12:00 Lunch -- Proceed to American Legion Hall Eat, Network, Visit Vendors in The Station
1:30 Investing in Missouri Farmers’ Success
Kelly Wilson, Center for Regenerative Ag
2:40 Organic Certification Panel
Hear from various speakers in this open session to discuss and answers any and all questions regarding organic certification and maintaining it longterm.
3:45 Break
4:00 The Future of Hemp
Dr. Babu Valliyodan, Lincoln University
5:00 MOA Annual Meeting -- American Legion Hall
All current MOA members are invited to attend the annual meeting to hear updates and actively participate in the future of the Missouri Organic Association!
American Legion Hall
9:00 Integrating Mushrooms in a Full-Cycle Farm
Matt Arthur, BLH Farm
In this presentation, Matt will discuss how mushroom byproducts are processed for use in a vegetable/flower farm with aerobic & worm composting. Matt and his family grow specialty cut flowers, leafy greens and mixed vegetables and follow a strictly no-till approach, using integrated pest management techniques to avoid insecticides. In 2022 they integrated a mushroom farm into the operation, currently growing 125 lbs per week of certified organic wood-eating mushrooms including blue & golden oyster, chestnut, and lion's mane.
10:10 Grow Native Edible Perennials as Specialty Crops
Dr. Nadia Navarette-Tindall, Lincoln University
Native plants are the foundation of nature’s web of life, providing food for many living things and you! Planting native plants in or near your vegetable and fruit gardens also helps to support pollinating insects that also pollinate your food crops–resulting in better harvests. Dr. Nadia Navarrete-Tindall is an Associate Professor at Lincoln University Cooperative Extension in charge of the Specialty Crops/Native Plants Program and will be sharing about how you get started in growing and harvesting native edible perennials.
11:10 20 Years of Change at Fair Share Farm
Tom Ruggieri & Rebecca Graff
Fair Share Farm was begun by Rebecca Graff and Tom Ruggieri when they moved to her family farm in 2003. For 20 years they have been working to build soil and community, including 18 years as a CSA farm providing vegetables for a membership of up to 150 families in the Kansas City area. In 2016 they constructed a commercial kitchen and began producing live-culture ferments with their vegetables. In 2020 they installed over 7,000 linear feet of berms and swales to better manage water on the farm, and improve the farm’s resiliency. In addition they planted over 400 trees and shrubs to provide nuts and fruits for sale and processing. Tom will discuss the work and planning that have shaped the farm’s many transitions.
12: 00 Lunch in American Legion Hall Eat, Network, Visit Vendors in The Station
1:30 Organic Transition Initiative: how it supports you
Allison Walent, Midwest Organic Association
2:40 Persimmon, Pawpaw & Elderberry Possibilities for Missouri Farms & Gardens
Patrick Byers, MU SW Research Station
Join MU Extension horticulture field specialist Patrick Byers for an in-depth presentation of three native woody plant species that are well suited for Missouri agroforestry practices – American Persimmon, Pawpaw, and American Elderberry. The presentation will discuss the potential of these species as profit centers on Missouri farms, and will cover aspects of sustainable production, including site selection and preparation, choosing cultivars, cultural practices, harvest and handling, and marketing possibilities.
3:45 Break
4:00 Farming Green for the Future & the Benefits of Regenerative Farming
Rick Clark, Farm Green
Rick Clark will be discussing his journey with regenerative organic as well as talking about weed suppression, crop rotations, understanding the principles of soil health, and making the connection between healthy soil and healthy humans.
5:00 MOA Annual Meeting -- American Legion Hall
All current MOA members are invited to attend the annual meeting to hear updates and actively participate in the future of the Missouri Organic Association!
Saturday, February 4th
Grand River Stage Area
9:00 Farming Green for the Future
Rick Clark, Farm Green
Rick will be discussing his journey with regenerative organic as well as talking about weed suppression, crop rotations, understanding the principles of soil health, and making the connection between healthy soil and healthy humans.
10:10 Supporting Natural Enemies: Farm & Garden
Caitlin Tucker, Rodale Institute
Natural enemies are essential for managing pests on the farm and in the garden. Success with natural enemies requires an understanding of an insects’ life cycle, habitat, and interactions with other organisms in the environment. When we understand the complexity of these relationships, we can adjust our farming practices, to support and even enhance pest control. In this session participants will learn how to identify common natural enemies on the farm, how to conserve natural enemies through habitat management, and best practices for augmenting pest control with purchased insects.
11:10 Multi-Species Grazing: the many benefits of increasing diversity across your enterprise
Noah Earle, Brush & Trouble Farm
Noah Earle and his wife operate Brush & Trouble Farm, a pasture-based livestock operation where they raise pigs and broiler chickens on pasture, supplementing with non-GMO feed and rotating regularly to fresh green forage. In this session Noah will discuss the ways his land has benefited from each species of livestock that he raises, How the livestock themselves have benefited, and how his business has benefited from the diversity of products they offer. He will also talk about his knowledge of the natural foods industry and how it has afforded him a diversity of viewpoints from which to approach farming.
12:00 Lunch -- Proceed to American Legion Hall MOA Birthday Celebration Eat, Network, Visit Vendors in The Station
1:30 Regenerative Poultry Production
Wil Crombie, Organic Compound
Create a plan to restore your land, livelihood and community with Regenerative Poultry Production. Learn from Wil Crombie how he is transforming his family's land and supporting the growth of this silvopasture based system in the Midwest. Wil is a co-owner of the Tree-Range® Chicken brand, and along with many partners manages over 40 acres of agroforestry with rotationally grazed chicken at the center of the operation.
2:40 Small Scale Wholesale Q & A
Paul Webber & Emily Wright, 3 Creeks Farm+Forest
Ask us anything! Come learn about the tools, systems, marketing approaches, and resources we’ve used to build and grow our wholesale specialty vegetable and flower operation on limited acreage. We’ll also highlight new directions for our farm, including value-added ferments and perennial agriculture, and we invite you to share your own resources and challenges in a conversation with fellow growers!
American Legion Hall
9:00 Seed Saving for Increased Self-Sufficiency
Tim Bartin, Regenerate Life Acres
In this talk, Tim will discuss some of the basics of saving popular garden seeds and some methods used for saving these seeds.
10:10 Natural Beekeeping That Works
Dr. Leo Sharashkin, Horizontal Hive
Keeping bees can be simpler than growing tomatoes. Come learn the tested methods that allow you to add any number of hives to your farm or garden with minimal cost. Start with free local bees that are resilient and productive, choose a hive model that is bee-friendly and requires minimal management, and let the bees do the rest. This visually rich presentation is packed with practical information that you can easily apply in both rural and urban settings.
11:10 Finding the “Right Size” for Your Farm
Curtis Millsap, Millsap Farms
What truly is the "right size" for your operation and how can you maintain it? In this session Curtis Millsap will cover:
- The epiphany that Curtis had one day tilling dust on his farm of where his true priorities should be
- The three legs of revenue that every farm should have
- The process Curtis and his farm team use each year to improve their crop plan, to more closely match market demand.
- Figuring out when good enough is perfect, but also continuing to improve year after year.
- How the on-farm airbnb has brought in 5 figures of new income to the farm
- How building a lifestyle farm has allowed Curtis to take 6 weeks off every year!
12:00 Lunch -- Proceed to American Legion Hall MOA Birthday Celebration Eat, Network, Visit Vendors in The Station
1:30 Organic Orcharding in MO: Successes, Failures & Future Strategies
Brandt Schisler, Hickory Ridge Farm
Brandt Schisler and his wife Kelsey opened Hickory Ridge Orchard in 2018 and have grown it to be a successful operation and tourism spot. Hickory Ridge Orchard is a U-Pick Apple Orchard that was previously known as 'Binder's Apples & Alpaca's'. The first apple trees were planted in 1993, and the farm now boasts approx 850 apple trees and 24 varieties of apples. This session will be about what they've learned growing Organic fruit trees in Missouri's sub-tropical climate. Main focus will be on soil health, their growing techniques, and the natural strategies they have used to help us succeed thus far.
2:40 Your Edible Yard
Crystal Stevens, Grow Create Inspire
Learn about all that your yard has to offer! Crystal Stevens is the published author of Grow Create Inspire, a comprehensive guide that focuses on step-by-step approaches to accumulating skills toward self sufficiency such as advanced growing tips, preparing and preserving harvests, and more. In this session, Stevens will discuss a variety of interesting fruits, vegetables, flowers, and herbs that will transform your yard / farm into an edible oasis