Registration Information
We are excited to welcome you to West Virginia Small Farm Conference in February. You will have the opportunity to learn, network, and have fun all at the same time. We have a wide variety of sessions and topics to meet your needs. Annually, the conference boasts a variety of useful topics, unique events and informative speakers across dozens of sessions. Learn how to improve production, understand more about marketing, and find out ways to feed local communities and beyond.
Online registration deadline is Monday, February 20, 2023. Walk-in registration will be available at the event.
Goals for Conference
- Unlock the potential of West Virginia small farms to produce food profitably.
- Help small farms transition from commodity production to food production for community and local consumption.
- Support West Virginia's 23,000 small farm families by:
- Providing reliable, tested knowledge about current trends, needed skills, and latest production and operation information
- Building an understanding of how to develop a successful small farming enterprise.
- Support and further develop West Virginia's food system and local communities by encouraging local production, processing, wholesale and retail marketing, and consumption.
Conference Scholarship
If you are a first-time conference attendee you may be eligible for a scholarship. Our conference scholarship program prioritizes beginning farmers and completely covers the cost of registration.
Winter Blues Farmers Market
The annual Winter Blues Farmers Market will be held Saturday, February 25, 2023 from 1-5 pm at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center located at 200 Civic Center Drive, Charleston, WV.
This indoor event is held in partnership with the West Virginia Department of Agriculture to showcase the bounty that West Virginia can produce during winter months. During the four hours of operation, thousands of shoppers from the Kanawha Valley and beyond shop a diverse array of products - fresh vegetables, maple syrup, meats, soaps, salsa and more! This event is free to the public, included live music, and activities for children. Shoppers will have the chance to talk to vendors and find out how they grow, make or produce their goods. Many vendors will also be sampling their products.
The Winter Blues Farmers Market has been proven successful with sales topping $69,000 in 2022. If you would like to become a vendor for this event, the application is available online. Winter Blues Farmers Market is a producer-only market, we do not permit resale or consignment.
Maple and Sycamore Producer, President of WV Maple Syrup Producers Association, Treasure of Lincoln County Farm Bureau and Active member of Lincoln County FFA Alumni.
A twelfth-generation West Virginian, Chef Marion Ohlinger was raised on his family’s ancestral farm in Mason County. After two decades cooking around the country, he opened West Virginia's first fully farm-to-table Appalachian-centric restaurant in 2009.
Candace Nelson is a marketing professional living in Charleston, W.Va. She is the author of the book “The West Virginia Pepperoni Roll” from WVU Press. In her free time, Nelson blogs about Appalachian food culture at CandaceLately.com.
Mark Peiffer, RPO serves as Program Manager at Community Markets Inc., a nonprofit in Charles Town, WV, whose mission is to connect locally grown food to families in need.
Operation Welcome Home is a Veterans Support Facility at Mylan Park in Morgantown, WV. We serve the North Central West Virginia population of Service Members, Veterans, and families by providing essential support to empower them to live their best life.
Chris Yura is the Chief Executive Officer of WV Harvest. West Virginia Harvest is a family business that celebrates the uniqueness of Appalachia by offering delicious Farm & Forest-to-Table Specialty and Institutional Food Products.
Dr. Dave McGill is the Forest Resources Extension Specialist at West Virginia University. Since 2001, he has developed programs in forestry outreach education for private forestland owners in WV and conducts a broad range of applied forestry research.
Abbey Hart is a Business Programs Specialist for USDA Rural Development. Her main work is in the Business & Industry Guaranteed Loan Program, Rural Business Development Grant, and Value-Added Producer Grant.
Adam Hudson, is the Senior Director of Agriculture at Coalfield Development. Adam earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture and Natural Resources in 2017 from Berea College in Kentucky and has worked at Coalfield since the summer of 2017.
As a West Virginia University alum, owner Anthony Pappas has years of experience managing public land for the benefit of both wildlife and the eventual realization of economic returns on timber.
Sarah Geurkink does Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) outreach as an Extension Associate at the University of Kentucky (UK) Department of Agricultural Economics.
Participants will be trained in all areas related to beef quality and will obtain Beef Quality Assurance certification.
Dr. Rahman conducts applied research and provides leadership for statewide educational/informational programs in plant pathology that include disease identification, management recommendations, and integrated disease management.
Through its three major program areas of Housing, Business & Cooperatives, and Utilities, USDA Rural Development finances affordable loans and grants for the improvement of the quality of life in the communities that serve our agricultural sector.
Kate Fotos works with the maple syrup industry across Appalachia, raising consumer awareness, increasing production, and fostering new producers.
John Fike is a professor in Virginia Tech's School of Plant and Environmental Sciences. He primarily focuses on forage-livestock systems and he has a long history of work on temperate silvopastures.
35 years experience propgating, growing, breeding, and value adding fruits and nuts for adaptability and financial feasibility for the Appalachain region.
Dr. Webb is a 4th generation beef producer & resides on her family's operation, Flying W Farms in Burlington. She enjoys creating educational opportunities in the Potomac Highlands Region & is proud of newly developed ag workforce training programs.
Joell has over 25 years of food science experience within the industrial, regulatory and academic sectors. Currently, she is works with the food processors to provide technical assistance for producing high quality, safe, and innovative food products.
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Through its three major program areas of Housing, Business & Cooperatives, and Utilities, USDA Rural Development finances affordable loans and grants for the improvement of the quality of life in the communities that serve our agricultural sector.
Fertrell is a manufacturer of natural and organic feed supplements and fertilizers.
The USDA-National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) a statistical and data collection agency that is the official source of comprehensive data on farms in the U.S.
Davis Insurance Group / WV Agri-Women
Davis Insurance and the WV Agri-Women are sharing a booth. Stop by to learn about the resources offered by both organizations for you and your farm!
WV Agricultural Land Protection Authority
The Agricultural Land Protection Authority seeks to preserve West Virginia's abundant natural resources by conserving farmland.
We are committed to leading the way in development & initiative for the conservation of soil & water resources. Serving all of Kanawha County, providing unique programming to urban producers, and traditional farming operations.
Dutch Miller Ram of South Charleston
Sales in farm vehicles such as flatbeds, dump beds and service bodies along with 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton trucks
Full service honey bee farm 7 varieties of Hawaiian and West Virginia honey Beeswax products Veteran Owner Eric- Retired Army, wife Mary and daughter Abigail
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