Academics
Academics
Forum Agenda
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Drake Forum on America’s New Farmers: Policy Innovations and Opportunities –March 3 – 5, 2010, L’Enfant Plaza Hotel, Washington DC
March 3rd - Wednesday evening
5:00 – 8:00 - early registration and welcome reception, hotel
March 4th – Thursday – Day One
7:00 – 7:40 - Registration and breakfast
7:45 – 8:20 Opening Keynote – America’s New Generation of Farmers, Tom Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
8:30 - 9:00 - Continue registration and breakfast
9:00 - 10:00 – Welcome and conference overview – Opening session – setup the context of forum, importance of the challenge, goals – comments from forum organizers
- Prof. Neil Hamilton, director, Agricultural Law Center, Drake University
- Janie Hipp, advisor to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture on Tribal Relations
- Barbara Leach, Associate Administrator, USDA Risk Management Agency
- Pat Leavenworth, Interim Director of the Office of Advocacy and Outreach, USDA
10:00 - 10:15 – First networking break, visit to exhibits
10:15 - 12:00 Panel One – Hearing From America’s New Farmers – What Critical Obstacle Do They Face? - Panel of new farmers speaking on policy challenges
Moderated by Jerry DeWitt, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State
- Matt Russell, co-owner, Coyote Run Farm, Lacona, Iowa,
- Debra Eschmeyer, Kellogg Food and Society Fellow, New Knoxville, Ohio
- Katy Sartwell, Collegiate FFA Agricultural Ambassador, Farmington, Maine
- Zoe Bradbury, Langlois, Oregon
- Aimee Vue and Xe Susane Moua, St. Paul, Minnesota
Policy reporter - Traci Bruckner, Center for Rural Affairs, Nebraska
12:00 – 1:20 Lunch and Keynote speaker – Sen. Tom Harkin, Iowa – What Congress Can do to Support New Farmers
1:20 – 2:30 Panel Two – 2008 Farm Bill and New Farmers – What works, 2012 lessons? Moderated by Ann Wright, Deputy Under Secretary, Marketing and Regulatory Programs, USDA
- Traci Bruckner, Center for Rural Affairs
- Mark Halverson, agricultural advisor for Senator Tom Harkin, former chief of staff of Senate Agriculture Committee during the 2002 and 2008 farm bill enactments.
Policy Reporter - Ferd Hoefner, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
2:30 – 2:50 Networking break
2:50 – 4:15 Panel Three – Land Access, Leasing, Land Trusts and more
Moderated by Michael Sands, Liberty Prairie Foundation, Prairie Crossing Farm Business Development Center, Illinois
- Judith LaBelle, Glynwood Center, New York Keep Farming, Hudson Valley project
- Julia Freedgood, Farmland and Communities Initiative, American Farmland Trust
- Kathy Ruhf, Land For Good
- Avery Anderson, Quivira Coalition, Sante Fe, New Mexico
Policy Reporter - Aimee Witteman, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
4:15 – 5:40 Panel Four - Finance and Credit
Moderated by Gary Matteson, V.P., Beginning, Small Farms, Outreach, Farm Credit
- Dave Boone, Exec. V.P., Farm Credit Eash (formerly First Pioneer), program manager, Farmstart LLP
- Meredith Compton, Owner-Operator, Peaceful Valley Orchards, New Jersey
- Poppy Davis, USDA Risk Management Agency
Policy Reporter - Susan Stokes, executive director, Farmers Legal Action Group, St. Paul, Minnesota
6:00 - 7:30 Reception featuring local and regional foods - sponsored by: FRESHFARM Markets, Wholesome Wave Foundation, Seed Savers Exchange, and Food Routes – Buy Fresh Buy Local - Hosted by Chef Michel Nischan, Dressing Room Restaurant, Connecticut and President and CEO of the Wholesome Wave Foundation, and Gus Schumacher Wholesome Wave Foundation, and Ann Harvey Yonkers and Bernie Prince, FRESHFARM Markets
8:00 – 10:00 New Farmers, New Films, organized and moderated by Curt Ellis showing films like Big River and Greenhorns
March 5th - Friday
7:00 – 8:00 breakfast
8:00 – 9:15 Panel Five – Producer Education, Training, Urban Ag, Farmer Corps – new opportunities with various training and education programs
Moderated by John Fisk, director, Wallace Center, Winrock International, Virginia
- Brett Melone, executive director, Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association, California
- Curt Ellis, Ameri-Corps school garden initiative, and Crissie McMullan, NCAT - Montana Food Corps
- Meredith Freeman, Detroit program manager, Fair Food Network, urban farms
-Tom Spaulding, executive director, Angelic Organics Learning Center, Chicago
Policy Reporter – Dustin Miller, Dev. Dir. Harvest Initiative, Crow Creek, South Dakota
9:15 – 10:15 Panel Six - Land Link Programs: Lessons from Farmers and Landowners
Moderated by Chris Beyerhelm, Deputy Administrator, Farm Loan Programs, USDA Farm Services Agency
- Steve Schwartz – California Farm-link, Sebastopol, California
- Isaac Phillips, young Iowa Farmer
- Weldon Sleight, Dean, Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture, Curtis, Nebraska
Policy Reporter - John Baker, Director, Beginning Farmer Center, ISU Extension
10:15 – 10:30 – Networking break
10:30 – 12:00 Panel Seven – New Farmer Communities – Women, Tribes, Immigrants, Veterans, and Students - The Potential, Who Wants to be a New Farmer?
Moderated by Janie Simms Hipp, senior advisor to Secretary Vilsack for tribal relations
- Melina Shannon-DiPetro, executive director, Yale Sustainable Food Project
- Michael Kotutwa Johnson, Hopi Nation, Arizona
- Calvin King, Sr., Arkansas Farm and Land Development Corporation
- Eleazar Juarez, ALBA farmer, California
- Severine von Tsharner Fleming, Greenhorns, National Young Farmers Coalition
Policy Reporter – Matt Russell, Food Policy Coordinator, Drake University
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch
1:00 – 2:15 Panel Eight– Markets, Sustainability, Health, and Rural Revitalization Innovations – what creative marketing and rural employment efforts are working?
Moderated by Doug O’Brien, senior advisor to Secretary Vilsack, rural revitalization
- Ann Harvey Yonkers, FRESHFARM Markets, DC, using markets for new farmers
- Mike Faupel, Agile Agriculture, Center for Applied Sustainability
- Keith Langenhahn, board chair, Marathon County Wisconsin, chair Rural Action Caucus, National Association of Counties
- Rosanna Bauman, Renewing the Countryside Youth, Garnett, Kansas
Policy Reporter - Prof. Neil Hamilton, director, Agricultural Law Center, Drake University
2:15 – 2:30 Networking break
2:30 – 3:30 Closing Plenary – The Road Ahead – Comments from national organizations Moderated by Ferd Hoefner, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
- Dan Durheim, Young Farmer and Rancher Program, America Farm Bureau Federation
- Amy Bacigalupo, Land Stewardship Project, Farm Beginnings, Minnesota
- Brittany Jablonsky, National Farmers Union
- Ricardo Salvador, program officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Michigan
- Bill Even, South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture
3:30 - 5:00 Policy reports and audience discussion - identify next policy steps
August Schumacher, Jr., moderator, Prof. Neil Hamilton, facilitator
Policy Opportunities - What are the critical needs for a new agenda of policy to support new farmers; Specific examples of legislation and policy change, e.g. New Farmer Corps
Forum Adjourns
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E-Mail questions regarding the forum to americasnewfarmer@drake.edu or call 515-271-4956
