Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service: Nation’s largest organic farming conference continues to grow

The nation’s largest organic farming conference, hosted by the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) had approximately 2,700 organic farmers and agriculture professionals attend this year’s Organic Farming Conference (OFC) from all over the United States, as well as Armenia, Thailand, Austria, Canada, South Korea and Germany.

Held in La Crosse, Wis., Feb. 25-27, the OFC featured a record 65 organic farming workshops and 150 exhibitors. “We’re pleased this conference continues to grow in size and scope of subjects addressed,” said MOSES Executive Director Faye Jones.

“As always, attendee feedback will be carefully analyzed and considered as we plan for the next year’s event,” said Jones.

Some additional highlights from the conference include:

* MOSES Farmer of the Year Award – Presented Thursday night to John, Jane and Janaki Fisher-Merritt, who own and operate Food Farm, an organic vegetable farm near Wrenshall, MN.

* Updated USDA Organic Pasture Rules were released February 17th so understanding the rules and how they affect new and veteran organic farmers was a popular discussion topic throughout the conference. Jim Riddle explained some of the main changes at the press conference on Friday afternoon.

* Keynote presenters on Friday and Saturday at the general session were Chuck Hassebrook, Executive Director of the Center of Rural Affairs and Dr. Margaret Mellon director of the Food and Environment Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The OFC continues to be one of the primary sources of organic farmer networking, training and resource services in the upper Midwest.

Visit the MOSES website at http://www.mosesorganic.org for more information about upcoming events and next year’s conference, February 24 – 26 in La Crosse, WI

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Media Contact:

Eric Hatling

715- 778-5775

eric@mosesorganic.org