This has been a difficult time for Small Farm Today magazine. Healthcare problems have put us way behind. On the bright side, I am getting better and you will get all the issues you paid for. Thank you for your patience.

I am sure many of you are having the same farm problems I am—rain, rain, rain, rain, and rain. Last year I planted potatoes on March 15; this year it was April 5. In general, everything is about a month behind. What was planted is coming up and doing well; we just need more warm weather and sunshine (and hopefully no drought).

We are preparing for the 16th National Small Farm Trade Show & Conference on November 6-8 in Columbia, Missouri [see ad in center]. As usual, we have a great lineup of speakers and activities. Joel Salatin (Virginia) and Greg Judy will give you the latest on intensive grazing. Eugene Canales of Ferrari Tractor CIE (California) will talk about small farm equipment. John Ikerd will inspire you at the Show’s beginning and give you food for thought to take home at the end. Kelly Klober and Matt John (Kentucky) will give you great tips on poultry production and marketing. Tim Carroll (Minnesota) has a wonderful Power Point presentation on logging with draft horses. Dan Dykema (Iowa) will show how to make your own biodiesel for less than you can buy it at the station. John Avery will talk about walnut production, while Patrick Byers will speak about organic berry possibilities. Rob Myers from the Jefferson Institute will speak on alternative crops, and Len Pense will again speak on cinder block raised bed gardens. Roger Kropf and Dennis Feezor will discuss composting and soil fertility. Andy Pressman (Pennsylvania) and Tammy Hinman (Montana) give a short course on SPINing and PLANting. We will also have seminars on rare breeds, high tunnels, sawmills, and food defense.

The Farmers Forum is again loaded with great talks, ranging in subject from marketing shrimp to peonies to berries to alley cropping to organic farming. Other talks are about nutritious staple food crops, the Ozark Seed Bank, windbreaks for mint, apple insect monitoring, honeybees, heritage hogs, heirloom vegetables, dense grazing, CSAs, ethnic marketing, alpacas, alternatives for natural livestock production, and agritourism.

We once again feature our annual Stock Dog Clinic by Danny Shilling the day before the Show. There are meetings of the Rare Breed Swine Initiative, Missouri Organic Association, and Red Wattle Hog Association. There are demonstrations on emu egg carving and stock dogs. Aside from all this information, there will be poultry, cattle, hog, horse, sheep, goat, and rabbit exhibits, plus exhibitor booths filled with equipment, books, products, and ideas. If you want good breeding stock, buy it here. If you do not go home with a bushel basket of ideas on how to make and save money on your operation, you must have been sleeping. DonÕt miss the greatest small farm show in the nation! See the center of this issue or go to our website, www.smallfarmtoday.com for more details.