Pre-register by End of Day on Jan. 6, 2012 and Save!

After January 6, plan to register at the event.

  SSAWG Conference Logo

 

 

You will love the program we have put together for the 2012 Practical Tools and Solutions for Sustaining Family Farms conference. We are looking forward to gathering in Little Rock, Arkansas with like-minded folk. Hope to see you there!

Dig Into Our 1½ Day
Intensive Short Courses

If you are looking to start or expand a farming venture, our short courses are designed to give you the knowledge you need to be successful. These intensive courses combine 1½ days of instruction from experienced, successful farmers — who are also great teachers — with extensive take-home materials. We’re told the take-home materials alone are worth the price of the courses!

• Start-up Organic Vegetable Production and Marketing with instructors Cathy Jones, Perry-winkle Farm (NC) and Daniel Parson, Parson Produce (SC).

• Advanced Organic Production and Marketing of Vegetables with instructors Alex Hitt, Peregrine Farm (NC) and Ellen Polishuk, Potomac Vegetable Farms (VA).

• High Tunnel Production and Marketing with instructors Alison and Paul Wiediger, Au Naturel Farm (KY).

• Mixing and Matching Cattle, Sheep and Goats on Pasture with instructors Ann Wells, Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Ozark Pasture Beef, LLC (AR), Greg Brann, USDA/NRCS (TN) and Earl Jones, Louisiana Pride Meat Goats (LA).

• Choosing Your Markets with instructors Lynn Pugh, Cane Creek Farm (GA) and Jon Taggart, Burgundy Pasture Beef (TX).

Short Courses

About Our Presenters

All our conference sessions, pre-conference courses and field trips are led by successful producers and well-respected educators and organizers from around the region with extensive knowledge and most importantly, practical experience. Read below and click here to read the expertise our presenters are bringing to this program.


Some of our short course presenters have recently been published or are in the news. Read more about them below.

Alex Hitt is one of the long-time leaders of our movement. Alex and Betsy were featured in a North Carolina Public TV documentary called "Environmental Heroes" This link introduces the program and has the whole 26 min. program available for view. The segment on Alex and Betsy starts at the 10 minute mark.

Late in 2011, Southern Foodways Alliance did an oral history on the Carrboro, NC farmers market and has a clip of an interview with Alex and Betsy Hitt on YouTube.

Paul and Alison Weidiger's farm was featured in Food to Fork, an online news source from WKU's School of Journalism & Broadcasting. Their story is here.

Last year, Greg Brann was published in the Tennessee Grazing Coalition Forage E-News You Can Use on May 13, 2011. The article is titled Risk and Benefits of Annuals.

Rancher Lassos Natural Market is a story by Susan Davis at agriculture.com. It features Jon Taggart's transition from conventional to 100% grass-fed beef.

Comments from Prior Short Course Participants

“I really liked that the leaders of the course [Cathy Jones and Daniel Parson] came from different sustainable farming perspectives; one more academic/scientific and the other more relaxed/experiential.”

"I liked this [short course] presentation with Ellen and Alex together. They each had such different perspectives and operations. It was highly valuable and entertaining."

"If I went home today, I would be satisfied with just having taken this [high tunnel] class."

So sign up for a short course and stay for the information-packed general conference, too!

Make Lodging Reservations by Jan 7 for the Best Rates

The Peabody Little Rock hotel is our lodging headquarters. Our group rate is just $89.00 per room, plus taxes. If The Peabody fills up, we also have discount lodging available one block over at the Doubletree Hotel. Click here for complete lodging details.

To be guaranteed our discount rate, you should state that you are with the Southern SAWG Conference group and book your lodging by January 7, 2012. Prices may increase after this date.

Keep up with Southern SAWG through our social media outlets. We are on Facebook and Twitter, connecting with our friends and supporters. Use the hash tag — #SSAWG — to show your support at the conference!

SSAWG logo

www.ssawg.org