By Susan Brouillette
A northern California farmer who integrated grain crops into his commercial vegetable operation has been invited to give the keynote presentation at the eleventh annual Grain Growers Conference, March 18.
Paul Muller, a co-owner of Full Belly Farm, a 350-acre certified organic farm and vegetable and CSA (community supported agriculture) in Guinda, will address how he and his farm partners successfully blended growing grains into their vegetable crop rotations along with their direct marketing strategies. The conference, open to anyone interested in growing grains in the Northeast, will be held at the Essex Resort and Spa in Essex from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
The fee for the conference, which is organized by the Northern Grain Growers Association (NGGA) and University of Vermont (UVM) Extension, is $45 for NGGA members, $50 for non-members. Lunch is included.
Registrations will be accepted online at www.uvm.edu/extension/grainconference until March 13. Anyone requiring a disability-related accommodation to attend, should contact Susan Brouillette at (802) 524-6501, ext. 432, or susan.brouillette@uvm.edu by Feb. 25.
The program also features a talk by Scott Fisk on the University of Oregon's barley breeding program to develop winter barley varieties for malting and food. Fisk will share research results on disease resistance, winter hardiness and end-use quality.
Other sessions will cover a range of topics from growing hull-less oats, heirloom grains and grains for animal feed to distilling, equipment and marketing. Bakers from Misery Loves Company, Winooski, and the Red Hen Baking Company, Middlesex, will give cooking demonstrations using locally grown grains. The conference will conclude with a networking and social hour.