The final agenda has been set for the Kansas Rural Center’s 2013 Farm and Food Conference, “Farming as if People Matter: How to Feed Ourselves, Build New Farms and Adapt to a Changing World.” The conference will be held at the Meridian Center, 1420 E. Broadway Ct., Newton, Kansas, Saturday, November 2, from 9 am to 5 pm.

The daylong event includes fourteen workshop sessions covering five topic tracks: Farm Transitions, Farm Management, Local Food Marketing, Community Food Solutions, and Food & Farming Policy.  

Workshop sessions will include regional experts in a wide range of fields to cover information on family farm transitions; farming with limited access to land, credit and capital; pricing of farm products for local markets; encouraging pollinators; Farm to School; emerging policy issues in Kansas; building soil health; crop insurance for specialty crops and organic; establishing community gardens and more. A full list of workshops offered during the day can be found at kansasruralcenter.org/conference.

The conference will feature keynote speaker Wes Jackson, founder and President of the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas. Jackson, an internationally recognized leader in sustainable agriculture and author of several books, will present on “When Ecology Replaces Agronomy for Food Production.”

The day will also provide an opportunity for networking with others who share the same interests, concerns, or challenges. This will include a “Lean In” inspired session for women on the farm, and a session intended to connect beginning and established farmers. An exhibition will be available throughout the day which will feature over 16 businesses and organizations offering information of interest to attendees.

To register, please visit www.kansasruralcenter.org. Registration is $45 per person, which includes conference materials and a lunch made from locally sourced ingredients.

This conference is an annual event presented by the Kansas Rural Center. Sponsors this year include Kansas Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension, Kansas Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Alternative Crops, Farm Aid, and Heartland Mill, Inc.

The Kansas Rural Center is a non-profit organization that since 1979 has promoted the long-term health of the land and its people through research, education and advocacy that advances economically viable, ecologically sound, and socially just food and farming systems.

A conference agenda, list of exhibitors and sponsors and other upcoming events are available at www.kansasruralcenter.org. Or contact conference coordinator, Natalie Fullerton, nfullerton@kansasruralcenter.org or 402-310-0177 for more information.