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Registration Opens for Practical Farmers of Iowa 2012 Annual Conference

AMES, IOWA — Practical Farmers of Iowa is now accepting registrations for its 2012 Annual Conference, “Made from Scratch” to be held January 13 – 14 at the Iowa State Center Scheman Building in Ames, Iowa. The event promises to “cook up” a blend of benefits for farmers and consumers as conference sessions explore ways to increase profitability while growing healthful food, strong communities, and clean air and water. Conference check-in will begin at 11 a.m. on Friday. The first session will start at 12:30 p.m.

“We are looking forward to rekindling old friendships and making new friends at the conference,” says Irene Frantzen, New Hampton area farmer, adding, “There is so much knowledge packed into every session. Every year we go, we learn something new.”   

For the first time this year, Practical Farmers of Iowa will be offering an in-depth Soils 101 course at ISU Agronomy Hall before the official start of the conference. Soils 101 starts Thursday, January 12, 1–8 p.m., and will continue on Friday, January 13, 8–11:30 a.m.

The conference will feature keynote speaker Fedele Bauccio, who set out to revolutionize the food service industry when he co-founded Bon Appétit Management Company in 1987. Bauccio was determined to bring fresh, made-from-scratch food to the contract market. Today, the company spends more than $55 million annually on food from within a 150-mile radius of each café, uses only sustainable seafood, sources turkey breast and chicken raised without antibiotics as a routine feed additive, features natural beef burgers and leads the industry in using cage-free shell eggs. In 2007, the company debuted its Low Carbon Diet, the first program to make the connection between food and climate change. Bon Appétit is now a $500 million company with more than 400 cafés in 28 states serving more than 80 million meals a year.

Twenty other in-depth workshops will cover topics ranging from “Farm Strategies for Saving Energy and Money” to “Cover Crops” on Friday and “Real Life Business Plan Vetting” to “Increased Sales Through Season Extension” on Saturday.

The conference is open to the public and registrations are being taken now. Those who register by January 4 will save $10 per day. You can register online or by contacting Patrick at 515.232.5661 or patrick@practicalfarmers.org. 

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Founded in 1985, Practical Farmers of Iowa is an open, supportive and diverse organization of farmers and friends of farmers, advancing profitable, ecologically sound and community-enhancing approaches to agriculture through farmer-to-farmer networking, farmer-led investigation and information sharing. Farmers in our network produce corn, soybeans, beef cattle, hay, fruits and vegetables, and more. For additional information, call 515.232.5661 or visit www.practicalfarmers.org.