Presenters
Jesse Frost
Keynote
Jesse Frost, aka Farmer Jesse, is a certified organic market gardener, freelance journalist, and the host of The No-Till Market Garden Podcast. He is also a co-founder of notillgrowers.com, where he helps collect the best and latest no-till insights from growers in the United States, Canada, the UK, and Europe. He and his wife, Hannah Crabtree, practice no-till farming at Rough Draft Farmstead in central Kentucky. Specialty: Soil Carbon
Find Jesse Frost's book at the Red Acer. Bookstore
The Living Soil Handbook is centered around the three basic principles of no-till market gardening: 1) disturb the soil as little as possible, 2) keep it covered as much as possible, and 3) keep it planted as much as possible. Jesse guides readers in applying these three principles for their own garden environment to meet their own goals.
Andrew Mefferd
Presenter
Andrew Mefferd is the editor of Growing for Market magazine, and the author of The Greenhouse and Hoophouse Grower’s Handbook, The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution, and Practical No-Till Farming: A Quick and Dirty Guide to Organic Vegetable and Flower Growing.
He spent seven years in the research department at Johnny’s Selected Seeds, consulting with researchers and farmers on the best practices in greenhouse growing. He worked on farms in Pennsylvania, California, Washington State, Virginia, and New York State before starting his own farm in Maine.
Alison Einerson
Presenter
Executive Director, Urban Food Connections of Utah, A Project of the Downtown Alliance
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Workshop
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Stanford Jenson
Presenter
Stanford Jensen is an Engineer by trade and left the office to farm with his family on the farm he grew up on. He is transitioning his 500 acre agrochemical farm to a healthier chemical free regenerative agriculture farm. He added grass-fed beef to his operation in 2020 to help with this transition. He has been modeling his practices from the work of Joel Salatin.
His farm has been in an extreme drought for the last two years, with 2021 being the worst drought in a generation. Over the drought Stan has been interviewed about the effects of the drought by the Salt Lake Tribune, KSL News and has been on Utah Insight to discuss water rights and agriculture. He also serves on his local irrigation board where he has secured a Utah grant to improve local water efficiency and wrote a software program to simplify and improve the Companies’ water use and record keeping.
Stan is a proud lifetime member of Red Acre Center and is grateful for the opportunity to serve on their board.
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Keynote
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T.K. Kern
Presenter
T.K. spent 10 years working in the software industry and graduated with honors from Neumont College with a degree in Computer Science. After confronting the impacts of rising technology on the environment and culture he changed courses and threw himself into the weeds of building communities around small-scale agriculture.
Using the skills acquired from what feels now like a former life, he uses his analytical nature to his advantage by collecting data and crafting spreadsheets to coordinate his efforts at Red Acre Farm as the Director of Botanical Affairs.
Ivy Kiley
Yoga Instructor
Ivy received her 200 RYT certificate from The Yoga Shack in Sarasota, Florida in 2017 and since then has continued her training completing her 300 hour through Love Hive Yoga in Portland, OR in addition to specialized programs such as adaptive yoga and yoga psychology. She hopes to support students in finding their own practice and version of each pose. In her classes she loves to focus on strengthening both the mind and body while slowing down and allowing the flow of your breath to guide your movements. Ivy’s classes incorporate all kinds of yoga, meditation and restorative poses at the end of each class. Her classes are thoughtfully put together with fun music, candles, always extra blankets, and lavender oil for a sweet escape.
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Early Morning Yoga
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Friday
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Zach Hartlyn & Kristen Kropp
Presenters
Zach and Kristen are the third owners of Bug Farms in Salt Lake City. They just wrapped up their fourth season on this small-scale veggie farm, where they've been putting to test all of the skills and experiences they've accumulated over the last decade working in food and agriculture in Vermont, Colorado and Utah. They love farming because it keeps them on their toes, and connected to the outside world and --most importantly-- to their community of fellow growers and eaters. They are parents to a lively two year old, who is a top notch cherry tomato harvester and an avid taste-tester of various composts and soils.
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Keynote
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Joseph Lofthouse
Presenter
I usually call myself a seed keeper. But titles are sometimes better given than chosen. Plant breeder, seed saver, popular speaker, and regular contributing author for Mother News magazine. Josephs's seeds can be purchased at some of the finest heirloom seed companies, and co-ops.
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Workshop
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Lloyd Nelson
Presenter
Lloyd Nelson has been practicing the art of Biodynamic (BD) Agriculture for over twenty years. He is a BD preparation maker, builder, artist, farmer, arborist, BD educator & consultant. He is co-founder of Biodynamic Source - a Colorado based non-profit specializing in high potency BD preparations - and he owns and operates a Biodynamic spray, fertilizer and consultation service. He has worked with small and large scale farms, vineyards, and orchards to transition to sustainable Biodynamic land management and Demeter BD Certification.
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Pre-Conference Workshop
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Workshop
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Symbria Patterson
Pre-Conference Presenter
Symbria spent a lifetime working in the nonprofit sector. After her daughter started an organic farm, she and her late-husband saw the possibilities and left their employment to work full-time building a sustainable farm. Their focus was to make local food accessible and to create a community educated about healthy food and responsible sources. As her experience grew, so did her vision, and she saw the need for an organized effort in promoting and protecting farmers, farms, and local food economies. She and her daughter started another adventure, while continuing the first, and co-founded Red Acre Center in the midst of farming. She says she has never worked a day in her life. "I always find myself engaged in a cause and loving what I do!" The mother of four and grandmother of nine, she loves, to walk, read, farm, eat good food and be anxiously engaged in a good cause.
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Pre-Conference Events
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Keynote
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Sara Patterson
Presenter
Sara, a farmer, chef, activist, and entrepreneur who started a CSA at 14, is the owner of and runs Red Acre Farm CSA, a successful very diversified 2-acre Biodynamic farm, farm stand, farm kitchen, and farm stay. With her mom, she established Red Acre Center for Food and Agriculture in Cedar City, Utah. Since 2015 has passed more than 11 bills directly related to small agriculture and artisan producers.The Center host the Utah Farm and Fodd Conference in its 6th year. She is the 2015 winner of the Gravel Road Gang Award for activism FTCLDF, 2016 the Unsung Hero Award from State Policy Network, in 2017 the Cedar Chamber of Commerce’s Young Citizen of the Year Award, and The Young Farmer of the Year Award from Weston A Price . She advocates that everyone should be able to start a small business and have access to local nutrient-dense food. She is a popular speaker and loves sharing her journey.
Tony Richards
Presenter
Tony Richards is a native of Northern Utah and the fifth generation on the family’s centennial farm. He has a bachelor's and master degree from Utah State University indegrees in Crop Science / Agronomy and Plant Science
He has worked with the local conservation districts in Northern Utah assisting local conservation districts and farmers in planning conservation projects to protect the natural resources in the area. His work included irrigation system improvements, soil health systems, weed, and pest management, and water quality protection.
He has been involved in agriculture development, conservation planning, and regenerative agriculture research for over 12 years working in Utah, Arizona, Illinois, Ethiopia, and Uganda. He has worked previously for the Howard G Buffett Foundation,Sequoia Farm Foundation, Morrell Agro Industries, and is currently a board member of A.R.I.S.E. International. He is a founding member of the Utah Soil Health Partnership.
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Pre-Conference
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Keynote
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Workshops
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Marc Roberts
Presenter
Marc Roberts grew up in Provo Utah. Served a 2 year mission for his church in Argentina. A Civil Engineer graduate from Brigham Young University and played on the BYU basketball team.
Elected to the Utah State Legislature in 2012 and served for 8 years in the Utah House of Representatives. Marc served on the Business and Labor Committee, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee, Political Subdivisions Committee, the Sentencing Commission, as Chair of the House Government Operations Committee and Co-Chair of the Administrative Rules Committee. Marc was a consistent advocate for local farming, agriculture and food production. He sponsored and passed several pieces of legislation including the Homemade Food and Consumption Act ("Food Freedom"), Cow Sharing, Mobile Raw Milk Sales, and Shell Egg and Poultry Amendments.
Co-founder and COO of a payment technology company in Spanish Fork, Zift and serves as a board member for the Red Acre Center for Food and Agriculture. He currently lives in Salem Utah with his wife Casey and 5 kids.
Workshop
Chandler Rosenberg
Presenter
Chandler Rosenberg is the Managing Director of The Utah Food Coalition. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor’s degree in Public Policy. She grew concerned with food policy issues in high school and has continued to educate herself and those around her about the problems with corporate control of the food system, food access, regenerative agriculture, and the benefits of a whole foods diet. Chandler is also the managing director of Plant Based Utah and cofounder of Save Our Great Salt Lake.
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Keynote
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McKinley Smoot
Presenter
McKinley is an Accredited Professional with the Savory Institute and shares their mission to facilitate the large-scale regeneration of the world's grasslands and the livelihoods of their inhabitants through Holistic Management. Additionally, McKinley is one of the founders of 3 Springs Land & Livestock which produces very high-quality pasture-finished beef & poultry while simultaneously regenerating large landscapes through Holistic Management. Along with that, McKinley is also in the midst of becoming a certified Soil Biology Consultant with the Soil Food Web School.
McKinley also operates a research greenhouse with his family in Marion, Utah researching food systems in harsh climates and regenerative crop farming practices. He continues to help his family on the ranch he was raised on to improve the health of large landscapes.
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Pre-Conference
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Aldine Strychnine
Seed Exchange / Panel Moderator
Radio host of weekly Urban farm report, 7 years running at community station KRCL 90.9 FM in Salt Lake City. Seed saver and urban farmer. An advocate of regenerative, sustainable farming, and the importance of where our nutrient dense food comes from, and the benefits we all can reap from eating it.
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Special Events
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