2022 Mid-America Organic Conference – Leave it Better Than You Found It!

“Small but strong”

Between continued restrictions and a surprise blizzard that brought 6” inches of snow to the Lake of the Ozarks, the 14th annual Mid-America Organic Conference was smaller than past years but certainly not any less impactful. As we like to say, “small but strong.”

The 2022 MOA Conference was held February 1-3 at the Regalia Hotel & Conference Center. We loved the beautiful location and the wide open vendor hall where we were able to also enjoy lunch in the same space each day.

For this year’s conference we focused on the theme “Leave it better than you found it.” We thought this was the perfect theme to envelop the lingering sentiment we hope our conference attendees return home with. For us at the Missouri Organic Association we believe it’s not enough to just try to not cause further damage but instead find ways to give back to the earth so that we can hope to also restore some of the damage that has been caused through more harsh practices.

We were delighted to host two and a half days of programs and speakers that conveyed this message through their various presentations. Here are just a few comments shared from some of our attendees!

“The networking opportunities are invaluable.“

“Good info! Will be using this on our farm & telling other urban farmers about it!“

“So much info! He [Nate Schneider] knows what he is talking about and passionate about it.“

What changes do you plan to make with what you learned?

“Tell my husband to stop plowing our vegetable plots. Do more cover crops.”

On Tuesday evening we held our annual MOA membership meeting kicked off by Edwin Blosser, a longtime instructor in the art of crafting and utilizing high-quality compost in production-scale agriculture and founder of Midwest Bio-Systems. We dived into the importance of our mission and looked on to exciting new opportunities and the future of MOA. We wrapped up that meeting by electing our new Board of Directors leadership positions and bringing on three new board members. We can’t wait to see what each will bring to our organization!

If you’re interested in learning more about the opportunities and benefits of becoming a MOA member, take a look at our Membership Page!

The snow also started Tuesday evening and continued on down to the last presentation on Thursday. While it certainly led to an interesting breakdown and loading process for our team of volunteers, we were so appreciative of our incredible speakers, vendors, attendees, and volunteers who stuck it out until the end.

We are looking forward to some exciting new changes for next year’s conference! Subscribe to our email list to stay tuned for the release of the 2023 conference dates! (Location TBD)

Learn more about the Mid-America Organic Conference and see more about some of our past conferences on our MOA Conference Landing Page.

Below you can find the complete lineup of the 2022 Mid-America Organic Conference presentations and speakers.

Presentations

• State & Federal Assistance for Organic and Specialty Crop Producers – Missouri Department of Agriculture and the NRCS
• Intro to Regenerative Ag: A Common Sense Approach to the Future of Farming – Dan Krull
• The Organic Certification Process – Mark Seeley
• Treecrops Breeding and Selection for Regional Agroforestry Systems – Mark Shepard
• 5 Women on Tiny Ranchers Sequester Soil Carbon – Susan Jaster
• Alternative Sales Outlets for Small Farms: How We Quit the Farmers Market and Still Increased Our Sales – Katie Nixon
• Labor & Hiring on a Small Scale Diversified Vegetable Farm – Liz Graznak
• Regenerative Cannabis – Nate Schneider
• Specialty Crop Production Practices for Soil Health Regeneration and Preservation: A Historical Timeline – Dr. Linda Hezel, R.N. & Dr. Robert Kremer
• Using Essential Oils in High Tunnels for the Control of Aphids, Spider Mites, and Thrips – David Middleton
• The Economics of Restoration Agriculture – Mark Shepard
• High & Low Tunnel Production – Liz Graznak
• Herbalism Workshop – Crystal Stevens
• Being Sustainable While Building for the Future – Edwin Blosser
• Cover Crop-Based, Rotational No-Till Organic Grain Production: How to Make it Work – Lea Vereecke
• Maintaining Livestock Health Organically – Dr. Tom Roskos
• Soil Regeneration for Climate Resilience and Nutrient Dense Food – David Yarrow
• Creating Natural Cleaning Products – Crystal Stevens

Panels

• Row Crops – Transitioning to Organic
• Adding Value to your Farm Business
• Composting

Breakout Sessions

• Farmer and FarmHer Hacks with Susan Jaster and Cathy Geary
• Organic Certification Q &A with Mark Seeley