Kerr Center Events

Conference: 28th Annual Horticulture Industries Show :: January 16-17

Other Events

Workshop: Cooking Fresh :: January 16

Workshop: Build Your Own Tumbling Composter :: January 17

Public Comment Deadline: Deregulation of Genetically Engineered Corn (USDA-APHIS) :: January 20

Conference: 2009 Practical Tools & Solutions for Sustaining Family Farms (Southern SAWG) :: January 21-24

Workshop: Go Green – On the Cheap :: January 31

Conference: Farmers’ Markets as a Community Collaboration (and Annual Meeting of the Arkansas Farmers’ Market Association) :: February 6-7

Conference: From the Ground Up: 2009 Texas Conference on Organic Production Systems :: February 6-8

Workshop: Build Your Own Tumbling Composter :: February 7

Workshop: Building an Adaptable, Low-Cost Cowherd :: February 17

Workshop: Growing Your Own Food in Small Spaces :: February 28

Conference: Sustainability: A New Declaration of Independence (Oklahoma Sustainability Network 8th Annual Conference) :: March 20-21

Conference: Changing Lands, Changing Hands: A National Conference on Farm and Ranch  Land Access, Succession, Tenure and Stewardship :: June 10-11, 2009

 

Kerr Center Events

Conference: 28th Annual Horticulture Industries Show

January 16-17
Fort Smith, AR
Holiday Inn City Center (700 Rogers Ave.)

“Conserving the Future - Managing Risks” is the theme for the 28th Arkansas and Oklahoma Horticulture Industries Show. This two-day grower meeting and trade show is sponsored by the University of Arkansas, Oklahoma State University, Tulsa Community College, the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation and the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture. It has consistently provided growers the latest information on vegetables, fruit, herbs, Christmas trees, farmers market crops and public gardening issues. Growers from Oklahoma, Arkansas and surrounding states are welcome to attend.

On Friday and Saturday, each day will feature a keynote speaker following with six different grower organizations of HIS providing concurrent educational programming on the following topic areas: Christmas Trees, Vegetables, Fruit, Herbs, Farmers’ Market Growing/Sustainable Agriculture, and Public Gardens/Master Gardeners. Attendees to the two-day event will receive a CD-ROM containing all programs presented during the event.

For more information, monitor this space, visit www.hortla.okstate.edu/his.htm or contact Donna Dollins at donna.dollins@okstate.edu or 405.744.6460.

Other Events

Workshop: Cooking Fresh

January 16
Turtle Rock Farm
Red Rock

Come for the afternoon and we'll cook a smorgasbord of fresh food for supper. Learn simple ways to cook healthy, fresh and delicious meals using whatever is freshest at the local market, food coop or in the garden.  For more information or to register, visit www.turtlerockfarmretreat.com.

Workshop: Build Your Own Tumbling Composter

January 17
Turtle Rock Farm
Red Rock

We will help you build your own tumbling composter, share information about composting and work with vermi-composting (composting with worms).  For more information or to register, visit www.turtlerockfarmretreat.com.

Conference: 2009 Practical Tools and Solutions for Sustaining Family Farms (Southern SAWG)

January 21-24
Chattanooga, Tennessee

Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group’s (Southern SAWG) 18th annual conference will be held January 21-24, 2009 at the Chattanooga Convention Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee and will headquarter at the adjacent Marriott Hotel.

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 mini courses. Then on Friday and Saturday, the general conference will offer eight tracks of conference sessions, a trade show, silent auction, video show, Taste of Tennessee dinner, and more.

The general conference offers sustainable production and direct marketing information for horticultural and livestock producers, enterprise management lessons, farm policy education, community food systems development training and the opportunity to have a nice, long chat with peers from across the South.

The complete conference program and registration information are available at www.ssawg.org, or call  (678.494.0696) or email Shari Hawley, Conference Publicity Coordinator, to request a brochure.

Public Comment Deadline: Deregulation of Genetically Engineered Corn (USDA-APHIS)

January 20

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is seeking public comment on a petition to deregulate corn genetically engineered (GE) to produce a microbial enzyme that facilitates ethanol production.  APHIS has regulated the corn through its notification and permitting process since 2002.

The petition for deregulation, submitted by Syngenta Seeds, Inc., is in accordance with APHIS' regulations concerning the introduction of GE organisms and products and is available for the public's review and comment.  As part of the decisionmaking process, APHIS also has prepared a draft environmental assessment (EA) for review and comment.

Following the comment period, APHIS makes a determination of nonregulated status if it can conclude that the organism does not pose a plant pest risk.  If APHIS grants the Syngenta Seeds, Inc., petition for deregulation, the GE corn and its progeny would no longer be regulated articles.  The product could then be freely moved and planted without the requirement of permits or other regulatory oversight by APHIS.

This action was published in the Nov. 19, 2008, Federal Register.  APHIS is seeking comment on the petition and on the EA.

Consideration will be given to comments received on or before Jan. 20, 2009.  Send two copies of postal mail or commercial delivery comments to Docket No. APHIS-2007-0016, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit  118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238.  Comments can be submitted on the the Federal eRulemaking portal at http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2007-0016. Click on "Add Comments" to view public comments and related materials available electronically.

Comments are posted on the Reglations.gov Web site and also can be reviewed at USDA, Room 1141, South Building, 14th St. and Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.  To facilitate entry into the comment reading room, please call 202.690.2817.

Workshop: Go Green – On the Cheap

January 31
Turtle Rock Farm
Red Rock

This retreat gives participants a day to get away and focus on the next two things they want to do to decrease carbon in our environment and live more sustainably.  There will be a wealth of information to help you take inventory of your carbon footprint, consider possible changes and their costs, choose what's most important to you right now and "pick the next two that you can do." It's a day dedicated to confronting the go-green issues in your life head-on, get loads of valuable information and take the next important step for our good Earth (and ourselves). For more information or to register, visit www.turtlerockfarmretreat.com.

Conference: Farmers’ Markets as a Community Collaboration (and Annual Meeting of the Arkansas Farmers’ Market Association)

February 6-7
Fayetteville, Arkansas

The Kerr Center’s Doug Walton will speak in a session titled, “Maintaining and Growing a Small Market: Importance of community support, building collaboration,” during this two-day event.

Other session topics include sales taxes, market and board liability, market management, market evaluation, market promotion and customer outreach, vendor recruitment and retention, and electronic tools for farmers’ markets.

Registration costs $20 through January 16 and $30 thereafter.  A special conference rate of $89 per night is also available at the Cosmopolitan Hotel for reservations made by January 16. 

For more information, contact Heather Friedrich by phone (479.575.2798) or email.

To register, contact Shelly Walters by phone (479.521.5776) or email.

More information and a registration form are also available here.

Conference: From the Ground Up: 2009 Texas Conference on Organic Production Systems

February 6-8
Killeen, Texas

Keynote speaker Joel Salatin will highlight the annual Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (TOFGA) conference.  The event will also feature over twenty additional speakers on a diverse range of topics including dairy cheese production, square foot gardening, pollinators, rainwater harvesting, and more.  Registration fees are $175 single/$300 couple for TOFGA members, $200 per person for non-members.  For more information and to register, visit the TOFGA website.

Workshop: Build Your Own Tumbling Composter

February 7
Oklahoma City University

We will help you build your own tumbling composter, share information about composting and work with vermi-composting (composting with worms).  For more information or to register, visit www.turtlerockfarmretreat.com.

Workshop: Building an Adaptable, Low-Cost Cowherd

February 12-13
Vinita

Gearld Fry will teach how to determine which animals have what it takes to survive and thrive in the cattle business.  Registration is $225.  For more information, contact Kim Barker of the Oklahoma Land Stewardship Alliance (OLSA) by phone (580.732.0244) or email.

Workshop: Growing Your Own Food in Small Spaces

February 28
Turtle Rock Farm
Red Rock

Learn how to grow your own organic vegetables in a small space, with few weeds and a minimal amount of work. Bring the family and enjoy the country while discovering how to bring the country to your own home.  For more information or to register, visit www.turtlerockfarmretreat.com.

Conference: Sustainability: A New Declaration of Independence
(Oklahoma Sustainability Network 8th Annual Conference)

March 20-21
Edmond

Oklahoma Sustainability Network and Sustainable Edmond invite you to the 8th Annual Oklahoma Sustainability Network Conference, “Sustainability: A New Declaration of Independence.”  The Nigh University Center, at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, will host the two-day event. As Oklahoma’s signature sustainability event, the annual conference brings together a diverse crowd to work toward the common goal of making Oklahoma a more sustainable state.

Keynote speaker William Greider was the National Affairs Editor at Rolling Stone magazine, and a former assistant managing editor at the Washington Post. His most recent book is The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to A Moral Economy. A delegation from Greensburg Kansas, the town that responded to a devastating tornado by dedicating itself to rebuild its business, government and community based on sound sustainable principles, will be present at the conference.

In addition to the keynote speaker, the conference features a lineup of lively and informative sessions. Friday will primarily focus on business and governmental interests, including topics of commercial and residential development, agriculture, energy, sustainable business strategies, and government policy. Saturday’s focus is more on individual interests, as well as issues of community and personal change. Topics range from the big picture of sustainability and what individuals can do in their personal and business lives, to issues such as land use and transportation, ethics, religion, and advocacy.

Early registration (before February 13) costs $50, with discounts for students and single-day attendance.  Lunch is $10 per day.

For more information or to register, visit oksustainability.org/2009conference.php

Conference: Changing Lands, Changing Hands: A National Conference on Farm and Ranch Land Access, Succession, Tenure and Stewardship

June 10-11
Denver, Colorado

Educators, agricultural service professionals, agency staff, farm and other non-governmental groups and policymakers are invited to attend this national conference to address the critically important issues of farm/ranch land access, tenure, succession and stewardship.

The conference will feature successful and new approaches and tools that address how farms and ranches are acquired, held, cared for, and transferred.

It will address challenges such as land affordability and management transfer, and strengthen regional and national service networks to improve assistance to farming and ranching families and new entrants.

More details and registration information are available at www.farmlastsorg/conference.htm.

For more information, contact Kathy Ruhf or 413.323.9878.

This conference is hosted by the FarmLASTS Project, a USDA/National Research Initiative project of the University of Vermont.