In Tap into double-digit organic growth, we outlined the multifaceted program of the Growing Pennsylvania’s Organic Farms Conference that opens tomorrow. Program organizers say walk-ins are welcome. Here’s why conventional growers and especially dairy farmers may be interested.

The GPOF conference runs Tuesday and Wednesday at the Sheraton Harrisburg Hershey Hotel in Harrisburg, Pa. It targets Northeast and mid-Atlantic farmers with the best organic farming information available. Attendees include beginning and existing organic farmers, conventional farmers and those transitioning from conventional farming practices to organic.

2 reasons it’s a dairy ‘must-do’
Featured speakers for the organic dairy track include Larry Tranel, Iowa State University Extension dairy specialist. Tranel is a national expert on robotic milking. He developed the Millionaire Model Dairy Farm project, the Dairy Trans financial software program and the Trans Iowa low-cost parlor. He’ll tackle the economics of organic and organic no-grain dairies. And he’ll address doing extreme makeovers of milking and cow facilities.

Paul and Phyllis Van Amburgh, organic grass-fed dairy pioneers and co-managers of Dharma Lea Organic Grass-fed Dairy & Beef Farm, Sharon Springs, N.Y., will present a comprehensive overview on their holistic management to grazing operations with a focus on dairy. They’ll also explore how processes effectively direct resources and actions that enable dairy producers to weather difficult markets. This will include an in-depth, high level discussion on creating long-season, productive and healthy pastures.

ORGANIC FAMILY FARM: New York’s Van Amburgh family has a multifaceted organic livestock farm.

Tranel and the Van Amburghs will have several dairy track sessions on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning.

What’s inside the 5 tracks
Based on available preliminary details, there’ll be five commodity track programs — dairy, field crops, fruit, poultry and vegetables. Here’s what’s slotted:

• Dairy. This tract includes sessions on organic grass milk production, organic dairy economics and converting tie stalls to a parlor.

• Field crops. These sessions will cover organic production and processing of fiber and oilseed crops (hemp, flax, sunflower, etc.), organic crop financing and marketing, production equipment and storage, and an inside look at a large-scale organic farm.

• Fruit. They’ll explore organic Concord grape production, organic blueberry production, “compost tea” for wine grape disease management, wine grape growing, stink bug control tactics, and new cultural and fungicidal control options for Concord grapes.

• Veggies. Planned sessions include organic disease management in tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, expanding profit margins via mechanization, biological pest management, disease diagnosis, problem-solving via variety selection, and labor efficiency strategies.

• Poultry. These sessions include an update from organic poultry integrators, a poultry certification primer, pasture poultry nutrition, growing your pasture flock scale and marketing pasture poultry.

Visit gpofconference.org for the latest schedule update and to register. The full two-day conference with meals costs $160; without meals, $80. There are also one-day rates. Walk-in registration is available.

Still got questions? Contact Michele Brookins at 717-787-5319 or email [email protected].

This conference is a collaborative effort of Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Pennsylvania Certified Organic, Pennsylvania Farm Link, Organic Valley Dairy, Rodale Institute, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service and consumer advocacy groups.