February 11, 2022 @ 2:30 - 5:00 PM PST

Panelist Speakers

John Ellis, Owner/Farmer, Farmer John’s (Boulder, CO) - John has been working to keep local agriculture alive in Boulder County since he started farming while still a student at Fairview High School. Over the decades he has helped launch the Boulder County Farmers Market, supported sustainability efforts, served on countless committees and worked to make sure there is a next generation of Boulder farmers. He has a 76-acre farm near Niwot where he grows hay, wheat, pumpkins and other vegetables. He also owns a 6-acre peach orchard in Palisade. He sells his produce and freshly ground wheat flour at the markets in Boulder and Longmont. Two notable restaurants, The Kitchen and Arcana, use his wheat on their menus.

Josh Volk, Owner/Farmer, Slow Hand Farm (Portland, OR) - Josh Volk is the best-selling author of Compact Farms and the proprietor of Slow Hand Farm in Portland, Oregon. He has been working on and managing small farms around the country for the last 20 years, studying the systems that make them efficient. He travels in the United States and abroad, consulting with farmers and researchers, teaching farm apprentices and new farmers, presenting workshops at agricultural conferences, and writing articles for publications, including Growing for Market magazine.

George Wright, Owner/Farmer, Castor River Farm (Ottawa, ON) - George is a third-generation farmer in Ottawa, Ontario specializing in growing organic grain. The farm was originally soybeans and wheat sold to the local grain elevator. However, when the grain elevator stopped buying his wheat and his other buyers transitioned to a new business, he had to find a new market. His location on the urban edge opened up new opportunities for him, and in 2006 he diverted his market to selling directly to consumers at farmers markets. Now he grows a mix of buckwheat, rye, barley, triticale, flax, spelt and Red Fife wheat some of which he mills and other which he sells as is.

Helen Skiba, Owner/Farmer, Farmette Flowers (Boulder, CO) - Farmette Flowers is a ecology-focused flower farm and floral design studio serving Boulder, Lyons, Longmont, Berthoud, and the Colorado Front Range. It is owned and operated by Helen Skiba, a Colorado native, former English major, and returned Peace Corps Volunteer. She is a dedicated grower and tender of soil, and brings a background in soil science and poetry to her field work, as well as a passion for intricate color and texture in her designs. She volunteers as the Education Chair for the Flatirons Young Farmers Coalition to help others create strong, sustainable farm businesses and grows and designs at the Treehouse Farm Collective, just north of Boulder, Colorado. Farmette shares land with their farm family: Cody and Melissa of Speedwell Farm & Gardens and Matt Kuebbing of the Jolly Radish Farm.

Ian Calder-Piedmonte, Co-Owner/Farmer, Balsam Farms (Amagansett, NY) - Balsam Farms’ was founded in 2003 and grows on 200 acres of land, spread out over 15 fields separate fields on the East End of Long. Benefiting fromm a temperate climate and world class soils, Balsam Farms’ production is very diverse, consisting of over 1,000 varieties of crops, including baby greens, mixed vegetables of all types (with over 75 varieties of tomatoes alone), annual and perennial herbs, annual fruits, grains for human consumption, and popcorn. In addition to these crops, Balsam Farms has an expanding line of value-added products which include many types of pickled vegetables, hot sauces, jams, sauces, salsas, and more. Balsam Farms has two retail locations: the original Farm Stand in Amagansett, NY, that opened in 2003 when the farm was founded, as well as a brick and mortar store, Balsam Farms Montauk Market in Montauk, NY that opened in 2018. In addition to these retail locations, Balsam Farms participate in several Local farmers markets, offers a CSA (community supported agriculture) for local pickup or delivery, sells wholesale to local restaurants and markets, and more recently launched a website for shipping value added products such as pickles, jams, sauces, etc.

Edward “Eddie” Hill, Co-Director, Black Food Sovereignty Coalition (Pacific Northwest) - Edward Hill is an innovator and driver of work at the intersections of food justice, food systems improvement, and BIPOC food economies for Black and Brown People in the Pacific Northwest. Starting as an organic small-acre farmer apprentice in Olympia, WA, he continues to promote and demonstrate how community-based food systems, equity, and green workforce development intersect. He has advocated for innovative environmental and food-based programs and business development for the Black community in the Northwest, helping to launch the Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Red Barn Ranch Farms for Tilth Alliance, working at Growing Power with Will Allen, and consulting internationally on urban design, equitable development, and urban farm projects as a food systems planner.

Geoff Scott, Co-Owner, Marion Acres (Hillsboro, OR) - Shortly after beginning a land lease in Woodburn, OR, Marion Acres purchased 32 broiler chicks (We bought all they had!) to raise natural-style on pasture in the sunshine, eating bugs & fresh, green grass daily, just as God intended.  As you might imagine, the finished chickens sold fast at harvest and the desire to continue farming grew in John, Geoff and their families.  After harvest, doors were opened to move to a larger plot of land in Hillsboro, OR to amp up for a bigger season. Marion Acres became an LLC shortly after and we prepared to purchase 500 broilers, which, to our amazement, completely sold out.  Since then, we have been steadily growing.  In 2016, we added beef, pork, turkey, eggs & various pickup locations and we began offering our chicken to chefs & restaurants all over Portland.  This year, we plan to continue the process of building our own poultry processing facility (that will be open to the public) and farm market on our new 47 acre plot of land. When Geoff isn’t managing all the behind the scenes work at the farm or building new chicken tractors with John, he enjoys volunteering at his church, duck hunting, deep sea fishing, hiking, foraging, reading, and spending time with his wife, Amy, and their two daughters.

Navigating Tight Quarters

Conference Session 4 will be all about how peri-urban farmers navigate farm operations and business viability on increasingly constrained production acreages near residential communities. Crops and strategies for producing raw agriculture products with potential for returning high per-acre gross values, value-added innovations, and other non-crop/production farm assets that support production and/or add resilience to restricted-acreage farms. We also will discuss challenges and successful innovations taken by farmers in how they navigate relationships with thier neighbors and local peri-urban communities . Guest speakers and discussions will provide attendees with insights to strategies others have taken to improve production efficiency in close proximity to residential communities and highlight where farmers go for help in farm-planning challenges.