SESSIONS & WORKSHOPS

This year’s conference is packed with incredible sessions, workshops, farm tours, and more.

Explore the details below and plan your experience.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

MONDAY

ABRA BERENS

Abra’s talk is titled It's the People, Silly because it really is all about the people. As a chef at Granor Farm and a former farmer, her approach to cooking starts with getting to know the people who produce each ingredient. Abra's bestselling, James Beard-nominated cookbooks also tell the stories of farmers throughout the Midwest and beyond.

TUESDAY

BRIDGET O’BRIEN & DR. CHARLIE BRENNAN

Bridget and Charlie manage Gateway Farm in Plymouth, MI, and are Co-Directors of Garden Juju Collective, where they offer education and consulting on permaculture and more. They’ll be speaking about Designing Healthy Future Farms.

FARM TOURS

MONDAY AFTERNOON + TUESDAY MORNING

Farm tours are what make a summer conference so impactful. We’re offering multiple options to choose from each day of the conference. Transportation will be provided from The Leelanau School. Tours must be booked in advance during registration.

CONFERENCE SESSIONS

MONDAY SESSIONS

  • Cultivating Change: How Farmers Sow the Seeds of Social Change

    AMBER HASAN

  • Mindfulness and Preventing Farm Burnout

    NICOLE MEZESKE

  • A Biological Path from Conventional to Ecological Production

    ERIC PAWLOWSKI

  • Whole Farm Planning: Healthcare and Health Insurance

    CHERI BURK and KELLY MCCLELLAND

  • From Laws to Farm Stands: Getting to Know Michigan's Right to Farm Act and GAAMPs

    MARY REILLY
    This material is based upon work supported by USDA/NIFA under Award Number 2023-70027-40444.

  • Annie's Project: Farm Education for Women

    KRISTINE RANGER

    This material is based upon work supported by USDA/NIFA under Award Number 2023-70027-40444.

  • Success Strategies for CSA Newsletters: Connect and Engage with Your Community

    CLAIRE BUTLER

  • Building Community into Your Farm

    JOANNEE DEBRUHL

  • Mushroom Log Cultivation for the Northern Hardwoods

    ROBERT KRAEMER

  • Heart Soil

    PAUL ERHARD, BERNIE WARE, NICOLE MEZESKE

  • First Steps of Farm Food Safety

    BREANNA HANNULA

  • Ojibwe Corn Ashing Demonstration

    SALLY ROOK

  • Creating Flower Essences for Emotional Healing

    NAOMI CALL

  • Facilitating Farm to School and Connecting Students to Local Food and Agriculture

    CLARENCE RUDAT, MARIEL BORGMAN, GARRETT ZIEGLER, ROB SIRRINE, KELLY MCCLELLAND

    This session is supported by Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities.

TUESDAY SESSIONS

  • Constructing the Detour: Land-Based Socially Engaged Art

    SARA ALSUM-WASSENAAR

  • Practicing Reciprocity: Could Community Land Trusts and LandBack help mend the gaps in farming? A “What If?”

    TERI VANHALL

  • Communicating with Farmers

    REMINGTON RICE, MISTY OEBEL, SAMANTHA WOLFE

  • Homestead Apple Culture

    PAUL HOLCROFT

  • Fish Waste Fertilizer Production; Honoring Anishinaabe Tradition

    WILLIAM DEROUIN

  • Ecological Pest Control

    ERIC PAWLOWSKI

  • Farm Safety on the Road

    LAUREL HARDUAR MORANO

  • Adapt & Design

    BRIDGET O’BRIEN AND DR. CHARLIE BRENNAN

  • The 'Shroom Collective: Sharing Our Experiences and Data

    TODD GERARDOT, VONNIE SAGE

  • Hands, Heart and Soil: A Forest School Approach to Farmer Wellness

    DERRIENNE REESE

  • So, You Want to Sell at Market? Direct Market Relationships and the Meaning of Organic

    JOE SCRIMGER AND ALEX CACCIARI

  • Agritourism: Making the Business Work

    PARKER JONES, DR. NINO SACHALELI

  • Cultivating Perennial Herb and Flower Crops on Your Farm

    PATTI TRAVIOLI

  • City to Country + Cultivating the In-Between: A First Generation Farming Story

    JASMINE HAIRSTON, RIS STEPHENS

  • Getting Local Food to Food Pantries to Increase Food Access

    CHRISTINA BARKEL

  • Facilitating Farm to School and Connecting Students to Local Food and Agriculture

    ROB SIRRINE, CLARENCE RUDAT, MARIEL BORGMAN, GARRETT ZIEGLER, KELLY MCCLELLAND OF MSUE

    This session is supported by Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities.

  • Farmer to Farmer Mentorship Opportunities

    SAM WALLACE

    This session will be included in the tour of Lively NeighborFood Market and Lakeview Hill Farm.

  • Key Insights from Food Service Directors Panel: Moderated by Cori Fitzpatrick

    FOOD SERVICE DIRECTOR PANEL INCLUDES: MARY ROSE OF SHELBY PUBLIC SCHOOLS, KAITLYN SUTTON OF MONTAGUE SCHOOLS, EMILY MILLE OF NORTHPORT SCHOOL, SAM MAGEE OF COURTADE ELEMENTARY, AND BETH KAVANAUGH OF PETOSKEY SCHOOLS

    This session is supported by Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities.

  • Alternative Financing

    ANNIE OLDS

  • Integrating Agroforestry Practices on Your Farm

    SHANNON BRINES, NATHAN AYERS, MILAN ANDERSON

  • Healing Self/Healing Land

    BRIDGET O’BRIEN AND DR. CHARLIE BRENNAN

  • Summarize the Next Steps for Farmers who want to Connect with Schools

    GARRETT ZIEGLER, BROOKE JUDAY, MAY TSUPROS, LAKE MI SCHOOL FOOD INNOVATION HUB GRANTS

    This session is supported by Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities.