MEXICO, Mo. – Veterans interested in agriculture are invited to attend the Armed to Farm program, 9-11:30 a.m. Oct. 24 at the Small Farmers Trade Show and Conference at Midwest Exchange Regional Stockyards in Mexico, Missouri. The event runs Oct. 23-25.
The program features a viewing of the award-winning 2013 documentary “Ground Operations: Battlefields to Farmfields.” A panel discussion follows the showing. Panelists are Brian Andrews, a veteran and beginning farmer from Springfield, Missouri; Cody Waters, a veteran and farmer in Missouri and Illinois; Mark Mudd, senior loan officer at the USDA Farm Service Agency office in Fulton; and Karen Funkenbusch, University of Missouri Extension state safety and health specialist and director of Missouri AgrAbility Project.
Panel members will talk about the programs for veterans who are interested in agriculture.
Tim Reinbott of the MU’s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) kicks off the event on Oct. 23. Reinbott, superintendent of CAFNR’s Bradford Research Center, will talk about cover crops and community gardening.
Throughout the event, there will be seminars, demonstrations, exhibits and association meetings. Topics include carbon-smart farming with biochar, integrating cover crops into farming systems and aquaculture, invasive plant species, vermiculture, mob grazing, hair sheep, bees, and alternative poultry.
Small Farm Today magazine sponsors the event with support from the National Center for Appropriate Technology, Lincoln University, Truman State University, the Midwest Exchange Regional Stockyards and the Farmer Veteran Coalition.
The event is one of the largest small-farm conferences in the United States.
For directions and an agenda, go to www.smallfarmtoday.com/trade-show.html. For more information about the Armed to Farm program, contact Ann Y. Robinson at [email protected].
Read more http://extension.missouri.edu/news/DisplayStory.aspx?N=2354
