Organic Farmers Grow Organic Food! Chemical Farmers Grow "Natural" food. by Dag Falck
Organic farmers are losing sales to products with a "Natural" label and research is showing that many consumers trust the word “natural” over organic”. This session will look at how this confusion is happening and what it means to the organic farmer.
Organic Standards? A no holds barred session where no question will remain unanswered with Rochelle Eisen
Have a question that no one else wants to grapple with? Following a 3 year stint as BC's Organic Extension Agent where she covered the entire province and all production and processing systems, Rochelle has heard it all and is game for whatever you can throw at her. She has also gained signficant experience as an active member on the Canadian General Standards Board Technical Committee for organics and has recently joined the federal Standards Interpretation Committee. If she doesn’t know the answer, she will know where to find it or who to talk to.
The Soil Biology - Soil Quality Link by Diane Knight
Find out about the role that soil organisms play in soil development, soil quality maintenance, and nutrient supplying ability in low input organic systems. Management strategies that optimize beneficial soil organisms and minimize soil degradation will be discussed.
Cost of Production, Pricing and Profit: It's all about the numbers (almost!) by Gwen Simpson
How do you know what to charge your customers if you’re not sure what it’s costing you to produce? How do you distinguish the importance of one (animal, vegetable, crop) line to the next if you’re not sure which is profitable? Yet how do you find time to ‘work the numbers?’ This session is about why it’s so critical to know the numbers, gives you simple tools to use, and briefly looks at application of holistic decision making principles. Spreadsheets with real numbers will be demonstrated and discussed, and helpful sources will be provided. This is particularly pertinent to direct farm marketers but also to all small/medium producers.
What does 'farming for and with resilience' mean? by Brenda Schroeder
After living and eating abroad for over 10 years, experiencing at least 6 food systems, Brenda recently moved home to Alberta in order to complete her MSc in Holistic Science, exploring the concept of ecological resilience and applying those insights to farming in East Central Alberta. She is now coming to share some of her insights and experiences with the Organic Alberta community.
Cuba: A Food Production Revolution by Becky Lipton
Revolution in Cuba has not just been about politics. Learn about the amazing revolution that occurred in food production including a sweeping shift towards organic agriculture. Viva la revolucion!
COG Record Keeping For Organic Farmers by Maureen Bostock
One of the most important aspects of organic certification is the requirement to maintain recordswhich enable the inspector to conduct a field to table audit of organic production. This one-day workshop will help you learn the best way to set up a record keeping system, what types of records you need to keep and how your farm operation can benefit from improved record keeping. This course is targeted to producers who are: 1) already organic, 2) in transition to organic, or 3) interested in transitioning to organic.
