Spend all day learning with an instructor and dive deep with a small classroom environment. Choose one or two full-day workshops, each of which will give you a unique chance for advanced eco-ag learning, classroom discussion and intimate Q&As.
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Eco-Ag U Workshops include:
Foundations and Advances in Biological Farming
John Kempf
John Kempf is a leading crop health consultant and designer of innovative soil and plant management systems. John is the Founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture, a leading crop nutrition consulting company, and a Managing Partner at Zeno Capital Partners — a investment fund working in the areas of agriculture, food production, medicine and clean energy. John Kempf grew up on a fruit and vegetable farm in northeastern Ohio and experienced first-hand the challenges faced by crop producers everywhere. Growing fresh market vegetables since 1994, he witnessed intensifying disease and insect pressure on crops that did not respond to the usual pesticide treatments. He began seeking to understand the underlying causes of disease and insect pressure on crops and learned how to prevent pest damage to plants by enhancing natural plant immunity with nutrition. Learning from many leaders in the field of crop consulting and plant health, Kempf began building a comprehensive systems-based approach to plant nutrition, solidly based on the sciences of plant physiology, mineral nutrition, and soil microbiology. Today, Kempf is an internationally-recognized teacher on the topic of biological agriculture and plant immunity. Since 2006, Advancing Eco Agriculture has been a leader in the area of soil and plant nutrition, working with farmers internationally. John is a member of the Amish community and lives in Middlefield Ohio.
John Kemp, Advancing Eco-Agriculture
Monday, December 6
In this workshop, John Kempf will describe the principles and science of regenerative farming ecosystems that harness much more of the energy coming into the system, and produce Olympic athlete-level performance. When a truly regenerative ecosystem is functioning well, the need of external inputs becomes less and less.
In order to develop regenerative agriculture eco-systems in which soil health is quickly regenerated, crop yields and quality constantly improve, pest pressure becomes less of a challenge, and crops are much more resilient to climate extremes, we simply need to implement what is already known. With these farming strategies we can increase soil and crop performance by several levels of magnitude and reduce the need for external inputs.
Managing Mineral Nutrition & Plant Disease to Create Resilient Crops
Dr. Don Huber
Dr. Don Huber, Professor Emeritus, Purdue University, has filled classrooms for years at Eco-Ag conferences. Attendees will learn from his 55 years of researching the epidemiology and control of soilborne plant pathogens with emphasis on microbial ecology, cultural and biological controls, nutrient-disease interactions, pesticide-disease interactions, physiology of host-parasite relationships; impact of GMOs and pesticides on soil, crop, animal and human health; and techniques for rapid microbial identification. He is author or co-author of more than 300 journal articles and three books.
Dr. Don Huber, Professor Emeritus, Perdue University
Tuesday, December 7
World-famous speaker, author and soil scientist Dr. Don Huber will address critical soil management techniques involving mineral nutrition, and how balancing the right minerals in your soil will help decrease disease pressure, among other many benefits. Go deep with Dr. Huber as he explores both primary minerals, and the secondary minerals that really drive crop health. This session will be perfect for anyone who is looking for specific soil health techniques, is trying to crack the case on common plant diseases, and/or is in need of an advanced education on soil minerals.
Successful Soil Health Management, Diagnostics, & Triage
Nicole Masters
Nicole Masters is an independent agroecologist, systems thinker, author and educator. She has a formal background in ecology, soil science and organizational learning. She has been providing agricultural consulting and extension services since 2003. Nicole is recognized as a knowledgeable and dynamic speaker on the topic of soil health. Her team of soil coaches at Integrity Soils work alongside producers in the U.S., Canada and across Australasia. Supporting producers who work with over 1.1 million acres to take their operations to the next level in nutrient density, profitability and environmental outcomes. She is one of a growing number of people who are facilitating a rapidly expanding world of quality food production and biological economies. Her book titled “For the Love of Soil” showcases examples of the tools and principles producers are using to regenerate their soils. Describing a step-by-step triage of actions, so that you too can regenerate your land. www.integritysoils.co.nz
Nicole Masters, Integrity Soils
Monday, December 6
Agroecologist Nicole Masters will walk through the 5 M’s of successful soil health management – Mindset, Management, Minerals, Microbes and organic Matter, show workshop attendees how identify the biggest drag on their operation, and help them to identify the most critical point to leverage for the biggest impact.
Designing and Building a Successful Permaculture Operation
Mark Shepard
Mark Shepard is a farming consultant. He and his family have transformed a typical 140-acre row-crop dairy farm into a permaculture-based perennial-agricultural ecosystem using oak savannah, successional brushland and Eastern woodlands as ecological models. In all, they have planted 100,000 trees on this property. The result is one of the first and finest farm-scale models of permaculture in the United States. New Forest Farm features chestnut, hazelnut and fruit trees, a variety of other fruits and vegetables, chickens, ducks, pigs and other animals. He is the author of Restoration Agriculture and the subject of the video Restoration Agriculture in Practice. He is currently working on a new book for Acres U.S.A. on water management.
Mark Shepard, Farming Consultant
Tuesday, December 7
Mark Shepard is the author of the books Restoration Agriculture and Water for Any Farm. He and his family have transformed a typical 140-acre row-crop dairy farm into a permaculture-based perennial-agricultural ecosystem using oak savannah, successional brushland and Eastern woodlands as ecological models. In all, they have planted 100,000 trees on this property. The result is one of the first and finest farm-scale models of permaculture in the United States. New Forest Farm features chestnut, hazelnut and fruit trees, a variety of other fruits and vegetables, chickens, ducks, pigs and other animals.
