ACORN Conference

10th Anniversary Conference & Trade Show:

Celebrating A Decade of Growth!

FULL PROGRAM

Keep Checking back for updates on the 2010 Conference. March 4th-6th at the Rodd Charlottetown Hotel on PEI.

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2010 – ORGANIC BERRY SYMPOSIUM & ACORN CONFERENCE ANNIVERSARY KICK-OFF CELEBRATION

9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

Introduction/Welcome to the Atlantic Organic Berry Symposium (Georgian) Host: Dr. Derek Lynch, Canada Organic Agriculture Chair (Georgian Ballroom)

9:30 a.m. –11:30a.m.

Wild Blueberries: Battling Pests and Weeds, followed by grower discussion and Q&A with David Yarborough (Kent Room)

9:30 a.m. –11:00 a.m.

Highbush Blueberries and grower discussion with Dr. David Handley (Georgian Ballroom)

11:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.

Weed and Fertility Management of Establishing Black Currants with Dr. Andy Hammermeister and Karen Nelson of the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada (Georgian Ballroom)

1:00 p.m. ­– 2:00 p.m.

Raspberries and Blackberries with David Handley (Georgian Ballroom)

3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Berries and Beyond: The best berries, shrubs and vines for Maritime climate with Ken Taylor and Steve Leroux (Georgian Ballroom)

10th Anniversary Kick-off Celebration:  Celebrating a Decade of Growth panel discussion with Atlantic Canada’s organic pioneers!  Following will be birthday cake and musical entertainment provided by members of the Smokin’ Contra Band

(7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. Georgian Ballroom)

Organic Pioneers:  Jeff Moore (NS), Norbert Kungl (NS), Clark Phillips & Susan Tyler (NB), Fred Dollar (PEI), Stu Fleischaker (NB) & Gary Ogle (PEI)

FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2010

7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.

-       Baking with a wood-fired oven – a workshop with Doug Brown (Richmond Room)

8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.

-       Opening reception with a talk by ACORN Vice-President, Gary Ogle and ACORN’s first Executive Director Kevin Jeffreys (Georgian Ballroom)

9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.

-       *Beyond Expectation–Value, Value Added and the Value/Cost Ratio with Gwendolyn Simpson (Georgian Ballroom)

-       Love, Money and Your Small Farm Dream–Strategies for Getting Started with Jamey Coughlin and Roxanne Beavers (Richmond Room)

-       Innovative Weed Management Strategies for Organic Cereal Crops Dr. Ellen Mallory (Grafton Room)

-       Livestock Grower Discussion:  Poultry (Kent Room)

10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

-       *Certifying your value-added operation with Brian Ives (Georgian Ballroom)

-       Plant and Pick: Less work, more money, Ken Taylor and Steve Leroux (Richmond Room)

-       Composting for Field Crops with Roger Henry (Grafton Room)

-       Livestock Grower Discussion:  Sheep (Kent Room)

11:30 a.m. –12:00 p.m.

-       International Export Information Session with the Organic Trade Association’s Matt Holmes (Boardroom II)

1:15 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.

-       *Value-Added Assessment–Are you ready? with Steve Owen (Georgian Ballroom)

-       Increasing Small Farm Capacity: Introduction to Small Scale Farm Machinery/Equipment with Rupert Jannasch (ACORN Organic Transition Specialist) (Richmond Room)

-       Weed Control and Organic Field Rotations with Roger Henry (Grafton Room)

-       New Solutions to perennial problems: Pasture & Fencing Management for Livestock Producers with Peter Maxner (Kent Room)

3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

-       *Running a Value-Added Business:  Making a Living on a Tiny Farm with Jude Major (Georgian Ballroom)

-       Designing Your Farm With Systems in Mind: A look at how to incorporate organic foundational principles in lieu of input reliance with Av Singh and Rupert Jannasch (Richmond Room)

-       Bringing Out the Best in Your Soil–Organic Soil and Fertility Management with Dr. Ellen Mallory, U. of Maine (Grafton Room)

-       Solutions to increasing livestock profitability: Grass-Fed Beef with Ron Gargasz (Kent Room)

4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

-       OACC Forum (Grafton Room)

-       Back by popular demand: Audit Trail Workshop with Roxanne Beavers and Rowena Hopkins (Richmond Room)

10th Annual ACORN Conference Celebratory Banquet and Keynote Talk:  Beyond Organic Standards: Where we go from here by Marty Mesh

& Canadian Premiere Film screening of What’s “Organic” About Organic?

(6:00 p.m. –10:30 p.m. Georgian Ballroom)

SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 2010

ACORN Annual General Meeting

(7:30 a.m. Georgian Ballroom)

9:45 a.m. – 11:30a.m.

-       Increasing and Diversifying Organic Greenhouse Vegetable Production (Part 1) with Dr. A.P. (Tom) Papadopoulos (Georgian Ballroom)

-       Cold Storage – Panel on root crop storage methods with Norbert Kungl and Allison Grant (Richmond Room)

-       Money DOES Grow on Trees: How to make a big profit with tree fruit (Part 1) with Ken Taylor and Steve Leroux (Grafton Room)

-       Using New Media Technology to Capture Customers:  A facilitated discussion with Shelley Rogers, producer of What’s Organic About Organic” (Kent Room)

-       Seedy Saturday in Lobby

1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.

-       Organic Greenhouse Vegetable Production (Part 2) with Dr. A.P. (Tom) Papadopoulos (Georgian Ballroom)

-       Innovative Organic Landscape Management: The New Business Reality with Richard Eaton (Richmond Room)

-       Money DOES Grow on Trees (Part 2) Ken Taylor and Steve Leroux (Grafton Room)

-       Working The Numbers – Challenges And Practicalities Of Running A Niche Ag Operation with Gwendolyn Simpson (Kent Room)

-       Seedy Saturday in bar/foyer

2:15 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.

-       Persuading the Public to Pay More…For Your Food with Gwendolyn Simpson (Georgian Ballroom)

-       Agricultural Justice Project: Fair Trade For Farmers with Marty Mesh (Kent Room)



 

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