Attendees at the Kansas Rural Center’s November 17-18 Farm and Food Conference will be treated to a social “hour and a half” and networking opportunities on Friday evening November 17 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.  Conference-goers will have access to conference speakers and sponsors, and will be able to bid on the Silent Auction featuring items from local artists, farms, authors and more. Light snacks made with locally sourced food will be available along with local beverages.

The conference, “Driving the Change that matters: Practical and political solutions for our farm and food future”, will be held November 17 – 18, 2017, at the Four Points Sheraton, 530 Richards Drive, Manhattan, Kansas. Cost to attend the conference is $70 per day, or $135 for both days.  A special student rate and scholarships are still available. Registration will remain open until Monday, November 13.

Register To Attend! 2017 AGENDA Apply for a Scholarship

The Silent Auction will be open for bidding from Friday morning through Saturday afternoon.  Items for auction include gift certificates from Kansas farmers and restaurants, artwork (*including the turkey pictured above – see below for more info), meat bundles, books, and gift baskets featuring locally made items. Bidders do not need to be present to win. Proceeds from the auction will benefit KRC’s programs that support diversified agricultural production, community food solutions, and public policy advocacy.

Lunch featuring locally-sourced ingredients will be provided each day, offering conference attendees a hearty, healthy meal and time for networking and visiting exhibitor booths in order to connect with and learn more about the great people and exciting things happening in farming, food production and the environment, in Kansas and beyond.

The two-day conference will feature a track titled “The Farmer Forum.” This track will highlight SARE-funded farmer research projects, with presentations by six farmers from across Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.

Keynote presenters and breakout sessions will illustrate the theme, “Driving the Change that Matters: Practical and Political Solutions to Our Farm and Food Future.”  Keynote speakers include Women Food and Agriculture Network founder and longtime Iowa farmer, Denise O’Brien, Senior Strategic Advisor for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition; Ferd Hoefner; and Pastor Adrion Roberson, faculty at the Kansas Leadership Center and co-pastor of Berean Community Church in Kansas City.

Each day will also include a dozen breakout sessions featuring presentations and panel discussions of how we transform our farms and our food system to better meet future environmental, economic and social challenges. Sessions will also include practical production and marketing information, farm transition ideas for the next generation, conservation practices and management, and informative sessions on state policy, community organizing efforts in Kansas, and more.

To learn more about the agenda, registering, or scholarships at this year’s conference visit http://kansasruralcenter.org, or call Natalie Fullerton at 866-579-5469, or email info@kansasruralcenter.org.

*The Traveling Turkey, a farm implement sculpture by the late Bob McGranahan, will be back in the silent auction again! For the past two years, the winning bidders have agreed to steward the turkey for a year and return it the following year to be bid on again!

Here’s a sneak peek at this year’s conference program!

Download (PDF, 7.55MB)