OAK 2025 Conference Agenda

The 14th Annual OAK Conference Grounded in Organics: From Soil to Market agenda is below. The 2025 Conference offers Pre-Conference workshops on January 23, followed by two full days of sessions on Friday January 24 and Saturday January 25. Session descriptions and additional agenda details are coming soon. We look forward to seeing you at the conference!

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View Agenda At-A-Glance

Agroforestry in Practice: Adding Perennials to the Farmscape (9:00am - 12:30pm ET)

Jesse Frost, Rough Draft Farmstead; Daniel Mays, Frith Farm; Ian Zeglin, Greenacres Foundation

Native perennial plantings can reduce erosion, pest, weed and wind challenges; create pollinator and wildlife habitat, enhance farm aesthetics for farmers and agritourism and add product diversity to farms. This workshop provides farm success stories, resources for native plant selection and details on technical and financial assistance available for on-farm implementation.
Jesse Frost will moderate the workshop and conversation, pulling from his farming experience and gleanings from dozens of farmer interviews.
Daniel Mays will present his perennial hedgerows and border garden systems, including design and species selection, establishment and maintenance and new revenue streams. Daniel will also highlight his multi-year dynamic crop plan with herbaceous and woody perennials alongside annuals, providing fruits, herbs, medicinals, flowers and beneficial insect habitat.
Ian Zeglin will share his experience with hedgerow siting and placement, plant selection and propagation, considerations when incorporating with livestock and different methods of using hedgerows on the farm. Ian will also share Greenacres Foundation’s ecological data collection of insect and bird populations before and after hedgerow installation.
Join this workshop to learn about successful agroforestry practices with pragmatic applications on any Kentucky farm.

Walk-Behind Tractors A to Z: History, Applications, Use and Maintenance (9:00am - 12:30pm ET)

Joel Dufour - Earth Tools; Maggie Dungan - Salad Days Farm

What IS a walk-behind tractor? What can it DO? What CAN'T it do? Joel Dufour brings 40 years of experience with walk-behind tractors to this hands-on workshop, where farmers will learn the ins and outs of this machinery with useful applications on many Kentucky farms. Farmer Maggie Dungan will share her tips and experience with walk-behind tractors on her diversified vegetable farm. In this workshop, farmers will learn when walk-behind tractors are the right machine for their farms and take a deep dive into how to use and maintain them. This workshop will start with a presentation indoors and conclude in one of the shop buildings with a hands-on maintenance session. This workshop will take place partly outdoors; please dress for the weather.

Dealing with the Squeeze: Finding Profit When All Input Costs are High (9:00am - 12:30pm ET)

Ellen Polishuk - Plant to Profit

Post-COVID, the boom for local food has subsided, and labor is hard to find and more expensive than ever. Getting a profitable bottom line is tough. This workshop explores what “levers” diversified vegetable farmers can use to pull the proverbial profit rabbit out of the hat of their farm business. Join this workshop with renowned educator Ellen Polishuk, who will help farmers conceptualize where they can exert leverage to pull profit from their farms and explore how capturing farm metrics can lead to profit-making farm plans. Topics covered in this workshop will include: getting clear on what profit is, levers of price, cost and yield, and a crop-costing exercise to help “expose” winners and losers. Farmers who participate in this engaging deep-dive into farm business management will walk away with an increased understanding of where their farms may be losing money and which record-keeping best practices and priorities can bring them one step closer to the goal of operating a profitable and fulfilling farm business.

Silvopasture in the Eastern Hardwood Forests (1:30 - 5:00pm ET)

Brett Chedzoy, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Schuyler County / Angus Glen Farms LLC; Greg Brann, Greg Brann Consulting / Big Spring Farm

Silvopasture practices in many forms and scales are expanding across farm landscapes in the Eastern US, allowing graziers of pastured livestock to provide shade, diversify market products and protect woodlands and water quality. Join this workshop with Greg Brann and Brett Chedzoy for an in-depth conversation on successful experiences creating and managing silvopastures on typical grazing operations, including:
- Adding (planting) and subtracting (thinning) trees to create opportunities for silvopasturing
- Establishing productive forages under existing trees and balancing proper shade and sunlight levels
- Using livestock as the workforce to improve system productivity over time and reduce the presence of noxious plants
- Working with technical service professionals to make larger projects happen
This comprehensive silvopasture workshop will help beginning and intermediate graziers alike to take their practices to the next level.

Storage Crop Success: Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes and Winter Squash (1:30 - 5:00pm ET)

Jeff Poppen - Long Hungry Creek Farm

Storage crops can add market possibilities to a farm’s off-season business, providing a steady income for the lean months. In this workshop, Jeff Poppen will share decades of production experience with potatoes, sweet potatoes and butternut squash. Jeff will cover soil preparation techniques for potatoes like cutting, chitting, planting, cultivating and hilling so that no one needs to step into the field from sowing until harvest. He will use fifty years of sweet potato experience to illuminate saving “seed,” making beds, cutting slips, planting in ridges, thorough cultivation, digging and storage in detail. Jeff will explore soil preparation, varietal selection, planting, cultivation, harvest and storage of butternut squash to make it a profitable addition to farmers' crop production. Join this workshop for a comprehensive exploration of growing these three popular storage crops using organic practices on your market farm.

Mini-Mastermind for Experienced Growers (1:30 - 5:00pm ET)

Ellen Polishuk - Plant to Profit; Sarah Geurkink - OAK

Join the dynamic facilitator and teacher Ellen Polishuk and fellow farmers in a mini version of the renowned Mastermind, an invaluable group learning experience. This workshop will help experienced vegetable producers find new solutions to shared farming problems. Participants will discuss challenges, resources and creative solutions in diversified vegetable production. Participants will determine workshop topics in a pre-conference survey and feedback during this engaging workshop. Examples include production hot spots (weeds, pests, diseases, rotation, variety selection, crop system), recordkeeping, sourcing (tools, equipment, technical assistance), labor management, software, quality of life and more. Ellen Polishuk brings 30 years of experience in profitable production farming and a proven system for creating comfortable spaces where farmers push one another toward their goals. Participants will leave this workshop with practical and actionable next steps toward a more profitable, enjoyable, sustainable farm business.

Mini-Mastermind for Experienced Growers Participant Requirements:

Complete a pre-workshop survey to guide discussion topics and content (survey will be emailed upon registration completion).
Participants must meet 3 of 5 of the following criteria: 8+ years in business growing diversified vegetables; farming is the primary occupation of at least one member of your household; farming is the primary income source for your household; growing 5 acres or more; Kentucky Farm Share Coalition farmer.
This workshop is not intended for observers. Actively participate, build conversation and share - giving and receiving.

Opening Session: Organic Farmer Panel (9:00 - 10:15 am ET)

Details coming soon

Strategies to Eliminate Fertilizer and Improve Profitability on KY Cattle Farms (10:30 - 11:45 am ET)

Greg Halich - University of Kentucky

Soil Solarization in High Tunnels for Management of Diseases, Nematodes, and Weeds (10:30-11:45 am ET)

Nicole Gauthier and Rachel Rudolph - University of Kentucky; Ron McMaine - McMaine River Farm

Farmer-Led Trials: How to Plan, Conduct and Fund On-Farm Research (10:30 - 11:45 am ET)

Brian Geier - Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF); Maggie Dungan - Salad Days Farm

Ginger & Turmeric: From Root to Value-Added Product (1:15 - 2:15 pm ET)

Jesse Buie - Ole Brook Organics

Resource Roundtable: Organic Horticulture in Kentucky (1:15 - 2:15 pm ET)

Ric Bessin - University of Kentucky; Cindy Finneseth - University of Kentucky; Sarah Geurkink - OAK; Kim Leonberger - University of Kentucky; Kirk Pomper - Kentucky State University; Rachel Rudolph - University of Kentucky

Farmer Roundtable: Rotational Grazing (2:45 - 4:00 pm ET)

Brett Chedzoy - Cornell Cooperative Extension of Schuyler County / Angus Glen Farms LLC; Greg Halich - University of Kentucky; Cody Rakes - Loretto Motherhouse Farm

PFAS: What Kentucky Farmers Need to Know (2:45 - 4:00 pm ET)

Tom "Fitz" FitzGerald - Kentucky Resources Council; Nima Kulkarni - Kentucky State Representative (House District 40); Jason Unrine - University of Kentucky; Jamie Young Wise - University of Louisville