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• Sponsor Commitment for 2025 Future Harvest Conference

  • Start
    26 Mar 2024
  • End
    20 Jan 2025

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  Our event would not be possible without your support! 

  Every winter, more than 500 farmers, educators, agriculture service providers, and foodpreneurs gather for Future Harvest’s annual conference — an extra special three days of workshops, lectures, peer-to-peer experiences, delicious farm fresh meals, all-star lineup of speakers, and lots of learning and networking.  
  

  We hold so much gratitude for you as a sponsor who makes our work of strengthening farming and the regional food economy; protecting our land, water, and air; and providing nutritious food that sustains the region’s communities, possible. From all of us at Future Harvest, our deepest thanks.

  If registering after December 7, 2024, please note that exhibitor booths and program advertisements are no longer guaranteed as we may have reached capacity. Please contact sponsors@futureharvest.org or grace@futureharvest.org for more details. 

  
  

  
  

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• Soil Health to Go! with Leopold Award Winning Burrier's Linganore Farm

  • When
    8 May 2024
  •  
    12:00 PM - 12:30 PM (EDT)
  • Location
    Zoom

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  On May 8, 12-12:30, the Million Acre Challenge hosts Soil Health to Go! with David and Belinda Burrier of Burrier’s Linganore Farm in Union Bridge, Maryland. Earlier this year, the couple won the 2024 Maryland https://sandcountyfoundation.org/our-work/leopold-conservation-award Leopold Conservation Award, a program designed to recognize and celebrate extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation by agricultural landowners.

  David’s story begins with always knowing he wanted to be a farmer and learning about the need for conservation practices from his father.  On rented land, he improved his no-till production methods by addressing soil compaction and installing grassed waterways to reduce sediment loads in nearby waterways. 

  A severe back injury and two unsuccessful surgeries eventually left him totally immobile, so he stopped farming and applied his skills as an agronomist to his work with a fertilizer company. Decades later, after a miracle surgeon was able to repair his back, David and his wife Belinda purchased the 109-acre farm where he’d grown up, and in 2007, David returned to farming.

  Both David and Belinda have taken on leadership roles with agricultural organizations, cooperatives, and foundations, including Belinda’s tenure on the executive committee of the United Soybean Board.

  Today, they grow corn, soybeans, wheat and hay. Using no-till, cover crops, stream buffers, pollinator habitat and other conservation practices, David has doubled the amount of organic matter in their fields, simultaneously boosting water holding capacity, suppressing weeds and improving soil health. As a result, they’ve seen a 30% yield increase and a 25% input reduction on the farm. The Burrier's operation was recently featured in a Soil Health Case Study prepared by American Farmland Trust, which we'll also touch on during the event. 

  Join this free, virtual session to learn more about how the Burrier’s have kept soil health as their primary goal and how it has paid off in the long term health of their operation.

  
  

  
  
  

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• Planting Green Workshop

  • When
    9 May 2024
  •  
    9:30 AM - 2:30 PM (EDT)
  • Location
    Central Maryland Research and Education Center, Beltsville Facility, 12000 Beaver Dam Rd, Glenn Dale, MD 20769
  • Spaces left
    17
  • Registered
    33 registrants

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  Join Dr. Ray Weil and Cassandra Gabalis from University of Maryland to learn about their latest research on planting green techniques and methods to mitigate slug damage in planting green systems. Training will take place at two field plots within the Central Maryland Research and Education Center, Beltsville Facility. Activities will include: Planting green demonstration, biomass and root sampling activities, soil pit investigation, slug scouting and control methods, and discussion of single species and mixed cover crop plantings on sandy and clayey soils.

  Field day will include coffee, light breakfast, and lunch. Field day is free to all participants.

  
  

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• Soleado Lavender Farm Field Day

  • When
    25 May 2024
  •  
    11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
  • Location
    Soleado Lavender Farm: 23611 West Harris Road, Dickerson, Maryland 20842
  • Spaces left
    40
  • Registered
    Be the first

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  Join Future Harvest, Common Grain Alliance and Fields4Valor at Soleado Lavender Farm to learn about value added products and producing lavender plants aquaponicly.

  About the farm

   The farm has been managed sustainably, and free of chemicals since 1963. While lavender is a departure from the dairy, and grain farming practiced by previous generations, we continue the principles of stewardship instilled in our family. The farm is managed as a sanctuary, Increasing the innate healing energy of the land by growing lavender and healing plants. 

  About the farmers

   A family of artists and farmers, Kevin and Sophia have made a life caring for the farm and raising their son to follow a family tradition of land stewardship. While lavender is a newer development, the farm has been farmed organically by three generations of Sophia's family since it’s purchase in 1962. Artisan Farming, hands on from start to finish, lavender is grown from cuttings the couple start Aquaponicly, harvesting and essential oil distillation all happens by hand! Kevin is the first person credited with growing lavender in aquaponics. 

  What to bring:
  

  Please bring a water bottle and dress in comfortable clothing.

  Lunch will be provided for ALDI participants only

  Questions? Contact monica@futureharvest.org

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• Grapewood Farm Field Day

  • When
    1 Jun 2024
  •  
    12:00 PM - 4:00 PM (EDT)
  • Location
    Grapewood Farm: 362 Federal Farm Rd. Montross, VA, 22520
  • Spaces left
    40
  • Registered
    Be the first

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  Join Future Harvest, Common Grain Alliance and Fields4Valor at Grapewood Farm to learn about producing USDA certified grain and stoneground flour

  About the farm

   Located in the historic Northern Neck, Grapewood Farm proudly offers "Virginia Grown, Virginia Ground" organic small grains and superior stone ground flour for customers in the Mid-Atlantic region.  

  Grapewood Farm is dedicated to the good stewardship of the land and to managing its natural resources in a sustainable manner.  We utilize practices such as no-till and reduced tillage, cover crops and crop rotation to help reduce damage and rebuild soil fertility. This healthy soil results in healthier crops, and more nutrient packed grains that are then stone ground into "Virginia's Finest" wholegrain and sifted flours. 

  In addition to our cropland, Grapewood Farm also comprises a certified tree farm for loblolly pines, mixed wood lots, fruit orchards, wildlife set asides, borders around our fields, wildflower meadows, streams, ponds and marshland in all its Virginia splendor. 

  The farm is owned and operated by the Sachs family.

  Each year our understanding of the soil food web improves as we test new practices and achieve new levels of insight through results. While we consider ourselves students of the traditional methods, we also pass modern inspection review by our partner organizations.

  In 2007 we began transitioning our first fields that were certified USDA organic (by PCO) in 2010. We then partnered with the Rodale Institute to develop regenerative 3 year organic crop rotation. In 2021, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services included Grapewood Farm into their list of "Virginia's Finest". 

  ​The relationships with bakers, millers, producers and artisans of the Common Grain Alliance has allowed Grapewood Farm to join a diverse local food network,  Our reputation is built on the trust of those relationships and we are proud to hold ourselves to the highest standards

  What to bring:
  

  Please bring a water bottle and dress in comfortable clothing.

  Lunch will be provided for ALDI participants only

  Questions? Contact monica@futureharvest.org

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• BFTP Level 1 Hands on Day Garlic at Owl's Nest Farm

  • When
    29 Jun 2024
  •  
    8:00 AM - 11:00 AM (EDT)
  • Location
    2612 Ritchie Marlboro Rd, Upper Marlboro, MD 20774
  • Spaces left
    12
  • Registered
    8 registrants

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  Learn about garlic harvesting and braiding with Owl's Nest Farm

  About the Farm

  Owl's Nest Farm is a worker-owned cooperative that grows diverse vegetables, fruit, herbs, and flowers on 5 acres. 

  The land we lease has been managed according to organic guidelines since 2011 and it has been Certified Naturally Grown since 2013.

  Here's a quick overview of our growing practices. If you’d like additional information, please let us know.

  • Soil fertility: We test our soil annually and amend it according to those test results. We maintain soil fertility by rotating crops, planting cover crops, and applying organically-approved fertilizers and micronutrients. The products we use include blood meal, fish emulsion, compost, lime, kelp, and a number of mineral supplements.

  • Weed control: We block weeds with landscape fabric (woven, reusable, plastic fabric), BioTelo (biodegradable plastic), straw mulch, and cover crops. When weeds appear among our vegetable crops, we remove them by hand, with hoes and other hand tools, and with tractor-mounted cultivators.

  • Pest control: We plant flowering farmscapes and cover crops to attract beneficial insects to the areas around our crops. We hand-pick pests and sometimes buy beneficial insects that we can release where pest populations are damaging crops. When necessary, we spray our crops with organically-approved controls, including Bacillus thuringiensis and Safer Insecticidal Soap. Rotating our crops also helps us control insect pests. We use electrified fences to deter deer, and sometimes trap groundhogs.

  • Plant diseases: We manage plant diseases by balancing soil nutrients, rotating crops, planting cover crops, and removing severely infected plants.

  Event Details

  We suggest that attendees wear weather appropriate attire, and closed-toed shoes you don't mind getting dirty. Be sure to bring a water bottle and sunscreen! Rain date, June 30th. 
  

  Questions? Contact amymullan@futureharvest.org

  
  

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