OPENING DOORS
Conference offers young adults ways to learn more about organic farming
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.
» Many of the more than 1,000 attendees at a large organic farming conference are young adults trying to learn what the industry is all about before getting involved.
The 36th annual NOFANY Winter Conference continues Saturday at Saratoga Springs City Center with a theme, “Healthy People, Healthy Planet.”
Most participants are from the Northeast, although some have traveled from as far as California for networking opportunities, dozens of workshops and a first-ever Wellness Fair.
“We get a lot of beginning farmers,” said Robert Perry, chair of the event’s large trade show with dozens of vendors on hand. “It’s a great learning experience for young adults that maybe don’t have an agriculture background, and haven’t had those learning opportunities. They’re coming here looking for tools.”
Perry owns a farm in Homer, Cortland County, and helped found NOFANY (Northeast Organic Farming Association-New York) in the 1980s.
Since then, organic farming has become more widely practiced and mainstream, thanks in large part to continued growth of the local food movement.
The expansion of farmer’s markets and community supported agriculture (CSA) programs has fueled interest in organic produc-
tion as well.
“You have a lot of young educated people who are attracted to healthy eating and agriculture,” Perry said. “It looks like a fun job in the summer, being a farmer.”
But it also requires a great deal of hard work, long hours and careful planning to be successful. Plus, there are a variety of challenges from financing to expensive land values, especially in the Mid- and Lower-Hudson Valley, close to New York City.
So while encouraging young people to pursue agriculture, Perry also wants them to know what to expect.
“They need to have a farm business plan,” he said. “I recommend they go work on a farm for a year or two to make sure it’s what you want to do.”
Jody Bolluyt and JeanPaul Courtens, of 425-acre Roxbury Farm in Columbia County, were recognized as Farmers of the Year on Friday.
With more than 1,000 members, it was the Capital Region’s first CSA and remains one of its largest. From five acres in 1990, the farm now produces 34 acres of vegetables, another 30 acres of cover crops, 100 acres of hay, and has 100 acres of pasture for cows, sheep and pigs.
In addition to on-site work, Courtens has spent the past three years developing a professional farming training program (ProFarmer) at the Hudson Valley Farm Hub in Kingston.
Keynote speakers, scheduled to address conference attendees on Saturday, are David R. Montgomery and his wife, Anne Bikle, of Seattle.
Montgomery is an internationally-recognized geologist who studies landscape evolution. He has written two books, “Dirt,” which explores the relationship between soil and farming, and “Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life.”
Bikle is a professional biologist with experience in environmental planning and public health. Her studies focus on the connections between people and their environments.
Bikle and Montgomery co-authored the book, “The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health.”
The conference, in addition to learning opportunities, has book signings, film screenings and entertainment.