ABOUT US
A New Generation of the Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference
We couldn’t be more excited for the new iteration of this longtime event, bringing the conference to the farm at the height of the season for an immersive, hands-on experience.
New Beginnings
Like so many other things in life, the post-COVID era brought both challenges and the opportunity to design something fresh and new. Returning to a conference center would have required significant increases to ticket prices, and we’re committed to remaining affordable for small farmers.
We’re excited to share this conference experience with farmers from across the state and beyond, and we hope you’re excited too. We’ll be moving the conference between a handful of northwest Michigan locations from year to year, offering something fresh each time around.
We know stepping away from your farm at the height of the season is not a small ask. We’re confident that the valuable lessons learned during this conference will have you excited to get back to work for an even better end of your season.
A Look Into Our History
2000
The Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference started in 2000 after a number of Michigan State University Extension educators identified a need for a farming conference appealing to smaller farms. In the early years, the conference was hosted by a dedicated committee of volunteers. Joel Salatin was the keynote speaker for that very first conference!
2006
In 2006, the conference was held at the Grayling High School, where space allowed for more workshops and an expanded trade show.
2009
In 2009, a youth track was added to the conference.
2010
In 2010, Crosshatch became a partner, later taking over as the fiduciary and lead planning partner in 2012.
2014
In 2014, the conference had outgrown the Grayling High School space, and the high school was also moving in a new direction. Moving to the Grand Traverse Resort allowed the conference to add an expanded youth track, daycare options, and more workshops than ever before. This format of the conference continued to grow and evolve over the years.
2021
In 2021, the conference was forced to move online due to COVID, with two years of a virtual conference bringing plenty of incredible knowledge to the table, but an expected challenge in building the personal connections that make a conference so meaningful. You can explore the archive of our online sessions here: Online Conference Archive
2023
Excited to tackle something new, we returned to an in-person event in 2023, with an August conference at Providence Organic Farm. Additional on-farm workshops were held at Danu Hof, Buckwheat’s Market Garden, Harwood Gold, and Rocky Top Farms. This format will be continued in future years, moving between multiple locations each year.
About Crosshatch
Crosshatch Center for Art and Ecology is rooted in the truth that the arts and ecology are intertwined and essential to enriching community. They provide resources for their community to become stronger, more self reliant and more native to place. This includes organizing workshops, courses, conferences (like this one!), guilds of like-minded individuals, and much much more.
Conference Acknowledgements
This material is based upon work supported by USDA/NIFA under Award Number 2023-70027-40444.
This material is funded in partnership by USDA, Risk Management Agency, under award number RMA23CPT0013391.
