Week 23 (February 18, 2013)

This week the entire class and instructors attended the 2013 MOSES Organic Farming Conference.  MOSES stands for "Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service".  In addition to the M-State Fergus Falls Sustainable Food Production Program students there where an additional 3,300 + other persons in attendance.

Part of one of the exhibit floors which got crowded during the breaks between workshops

One of the cool pieces of equipment on display were these walk behind tractors.

This one had a mower attachment that could be used for cutting hay.

After cutting the hay they had attachments for raking hay and bailing it
into these small round bales.  There is even an attachment for wrapping
the bales to make baleage.

Another cool piece of equipment was this weed flamer.
Used for getting rid of weeds without spraying chemicals.

In addition to the exhibits there were social events in the evenings and an impressive number of workshops one could attend to learn about various aspects of organic and sustainable farming.  Below is a list of all the workshops.  Additional information about the conference and MOSES can be found at their website.
http://www.mosesorganic.org/

2013 MOSES Organic Farming Conference

Keynote Presentations
2013-01 What We Learned Making GMO OMG
2013-03 Why an Organic Food Production System?
Soils & Systems
F1C Expand Your Cover Crop Options
F1M Bringing Biodiversity Back to the Farm
F1S Steiner, Albrecht: Conflict and Commonality
F2P The Basics of Soil Testing
F2T Fallow to Fertile: Converting CRP to Organic
F2A Organic Treatments in Cropping Systems
F2N Introduction to Farm-Scale Permaculture
F3C Biodynamic Agriculture
F3N Composting
S1D Providing Habitat for Predators of Crop Pests
S1T Rolling Rye for Organic No-Till Crops
S2N Farming’s New Future: Climate Change
S2M Unraveling the Mystery of Compost Teas
Field Crops & Small Grains
F1B High Quality Pastures and Forages
F3T Precision Organics: Improved Field Operations
S1C Organic Small Grains—Too Important to Overlook
S2P Weed Control in Organic Field Crops
S3P Flame Weeding Research
S3N Transitioning to Organic Crop Production
Market Farming
F1D Certifying the Organic Orchard
F1T Vegetable Crop Rotations
F1P Weed-Control Equipment for Vegetable Farms
F2Y Alternative Small Fruits
F2B Growing Great Potatoes
F2M Scaling Up: Wholesale Markets
F2Z Innovative Irrigation Ideas
F3R Cash Grain Crops at the Farmers' Market
F3D Identification & Control of Insects
S1N Managing Water & Fertility--Hoophouse
S1P Time & Labor Saving Equipment
S2T Capitalizing the Market Farm: First 5 Yrs
S2S Profitable Diversification for Market Gardeners
S2R Local Foods on the Menu: Chef Panel
S2D Organic Hops Production
S2C Transplant Production Systems
S3S Draft Animal & Human Powered Vegetable Prod.
S3M Growing Seed Crops
S3A Vegetable Crops-Nutrient Density
S3C Organic Sweet Potato Production
Livestock
F1N How to Select & Develop Bovine Genetics
F1R Pastured Meat Chickens
F1A Organic Grain Supplementation for Dairy Cows
F2D Expand with Meat Processing
F2C Maintaining Low Herd Somatic Cell Counts
F3M Making Friends with Honeybee Swarms
F3P Moving Towards a No-Grain Organic Dairy
F3S Nurturing the Next Generation panel
S1Y Integrating Livestock into Veggie Operation
S1M Real Life Experiences: Organic Hog Production
S1R Transitioning to Organic Dairy
S2A Keys to Finishing Beef Cattle on Grass
S3D Living with Parasites
Business
F3Y Local Food Processing & Distribution Hubs
S1A Credit for Start-up or Expanding Farms
S1B Power of Social
S2Y Building Your Team—Building Your Business
S3R Managing Farm Finances
Miscellaneous Workshops
F1Z Messages Matter: How to Talk Organic
F1Z Encore Farming for Women F2S Machinery for Beginning Farmer F2R Organic Research and Promotion Program
F3A Organizing Data for Organic Certification, GAPs
F3B Changing Farm Policy from the Ground Up
S1S ABCs of Organic Certification
S1Z Marketing Contracts & Long-Term Leases
S2Z Funds for Farmers
S2B Tools for Transition panel
S3Y Dialogues with FFA S3Z Beginning Farmer Resources & Coalition Building
S3B The Power of Storytelling S3T Understanding GMO Testing