Presenters

Dale Batty
Presenter
Dale Batty is a 5th generation Utah farmer. He has lived and worked on his farm in Vernal for over 60 years. When his father managed the farm they did what all of the neighbors did; they made hay and raised cows. However, Dale is an avid reader and loves to learn, especially about farming. He learned about management intensive grazing and began to implement it over 20 years ago. The yield on the pastures increased significantly. Since then, he has continued to apply things he has learned, shaking up everything his family has ever done and making the neighbors wonder if he lost his marbles. He tore down the old pig pens and started letting the pigs run the pastures with the cattle. He found and bought a flock of hair sheep and turned them loose with the cows and pigs. And then he introduced chickens. Not the 10 or 12 he always kept for eggs. Hundreds of chickens. He raised chickens for meat and chickens for eggs. And he moved those through the pastures as well. Dale turned the Battys from "respectable cattle men into Chicken farmers." And it paid off in huge ways.
His wife, three of his six children, a daughter-in-law, and four grandchildren actively work the farm. They raise around 2,000 meat chickens, and 300 turkeys each year, along with about 1200 laying hens, 20 pigs, 50 cows, 30 sheep and 10 llamas.
Dale has helped write legislation and has fought for small farms and homesteads and their right to produce and sell direct to consumers. He loves to educate future generations to be successful farmers, and providing them with all the years' of knowledge he wishes he had when he was younger and had more energy.
Links

Michael Bishop
Panelist
Michael Bishop grew up in Bountiful, Utah on an acre of land with his 4 siblings and parents. They grew vegetables and had chickens, ducks, dogs and cats through Michael’s childhood. At 11 Michael moved to St George, Utah where his family continued to grow a smaller garden. His mother and father cultivated Michael’s love for farming which has continued to grow through adulthood.
Michael first met his wife Liana in their high school ceramics class but reconnected in their college ceramics class and were married prior to Michael continuing his education at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania where he earned a Masters of Fine Arts in Ceramics.
Michael and Liana were heavily influenced by Justin Rhodes and Joel Salatin and raised their first batch of meat chickens and grew their first garden together in Pennsylvania. They were both hooked.
After finishing his degree the Bishops moved back to Utah and settled in Veyo. Michael is a full time ceramics teacher at Crimson Cliffs High School and farms during the summer break. He follows the no till garden method and organic practices. Michael’s main goal in farming is providing sustainable food to his local community.

Laura Bledsoe
Presenter
Laura and Monte Bledsoe are the owners of Quail Hollow Farm. Laura started the farm using the CSA model, growing organic vegetables. The farm has been in continuous operation nearing 20 years! In the farming world, that is one of our biggest triumphs. We are still going!!! We are ever learning and ever being challenged. We have seen farming fads come and go, and we have learned that often the simplest solutions are the best for meeting challenges. The farm has made subtle changes over the years, adapting to the needs of ourselves, our family and our community. Working in tandem with growing nutritious food, Laura has a developed a passion for the healing and medicinal power of plants. This is her focus for the conference this year. So many amazing stories to share!

Paige Collett
Presenter
From sourcing produce and peeling carrots to printing labels and building websites, Cache Canning is run entirely by Paige. A Utah native, when she's not in the kitchen she can be found wandering around in the desert or in the garage building big art.
Pre-Conference Events
Links

Corinne Cornet-Zinn
Presenter
Fromager Corinne Zinn originated from Belgium and moved to Colorado over 20 years ago. To her surprise, nobody was making cheese. She was missing cheese and looking to find a way to make some just for herself. She bought goat milk from a local farmer, searched online on how to make her favorite cheeses, connected with a forum of French cheesemakers, and learned all the secrets to making cheese. She created a consultant company called "Fromage Without Borders" with the idea of helping farmers create European-style cheeses. She sold her goats and moved to Utah, where Deer Valley hired her to make their own cheese at the resort.
They built her little cheese room right on the ski slope, and for four years, she skied in the morning and made cheese in the afternoon, which was a dream come true. In 2018, she launched Park City Creamery and created Utah terroir cheeses, specifically selecting local milk from nearby dairies. Corrine's award-winning cheese is found in specialty shops, restaurants, and several farmers' markets in Utah.
Pre-Conference Events
Links

Russel (Blackstone) Crawford
Presenter
Russell (Blackstone) Crawford has been involved in local food systems since 2008 and has a passion for creating relationships, offering education and finding ways we can take daily action to live closer to the Earth. Over the last decade, Russell established a coffee roastery and market farm in northern Minnesota; created orchards, vineyards and greenhouses in northern Arizona and was blessed by the opportunity to run an organic, commercial farm on Maui. Now in 2025, Russell is a contributing writer for the Josephine Porter Institute, a Stillness Touch Legacy practitioner and co-steward of the Sedona Stillness Sanctuary, a one acre Biodynamic orchard and meditation center in northern Arizona.

Senator Kirk Cullimore
Town Hall
Senator Kirk A. Cullimore Jr. has represented District 9 in the Utah State Senate since he was elected in 2018.
He received an Associate’s Degree in music from Utah Valley University. Kirk then served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Philippines. After returning, he continued his education and received a Bachelor’s Degree in music from Brigham Young University. He subsequently taught music for six years and managed a music teaching studio. He then went on to pursue a law degree at the University of Oklahoma. He began his law career in Oklahoma primarily in Federal Indian Law including tribal business transactions, gaming law, organization and development of tribal policies and procedures, and administrative law. His practice in Oklahoma also included areas of general business and contract law, property management, fair housing, homeowner association and collections.ator Kirk A. Cullimore Jr. has represented District 9 in the Utah State Senate since he was elected in 2018.
He received an Associate’s Degree in music from Utah Valley University. Kirk then served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Philippines. After returning, he continued his education and received a Bachelor’s Degree in music from Brigham Young University. He subsequently taught music for six years and managed a music teaching studio. He then went on to pursue a law degree at the University of Oklahoma. He began his law career in Oklahoma primarily in Federal Indian Law including tribal business transactions, gaming law, organization and development of tribal policies and procedures, and administrative law. His practice in Oklahoma also included areas of general business and contract law, property management, fair housing, homeowner association and collections.
Keynote
Town Hall
Links

Karl Ebeling
Blessing
Known as the "Mister Rogers" of farming, Karl Ebeling, or “Farmer Karl,” leads with compassion and a mission to empower individuals through sustainable agriculture. After 33 years of corporate experience, he founded Eden Streets in 2020 to help people relaunch their lives through farming. His current project, Grow Ogden, is an urban farm offering job training as part of a transitional-employment program for vulnerable individuals. In 2021, Farmer Karl worked with women facing homelessness at Wasatch Community Gardens’ Green Phoenix Farm. Eden Streets' charter, The Declaration of Common Ground, aims to unite community-based farming efforts to address social challenges worldwide.
Alongside Eden Streets, Farmer Karl and his wife Rita operate Faircrest Farms, which cultivates exceptional, organic vegetables while contributing to a vibrant local food community.
Special Event
Blessing
Links

Wade Eliason
Keynote
Wade Eliason is the former Vice President for the Utah Farm Bureau Federation and has been a Sanpete County sheep rancher since 1995. He previously represented District 6 on the Utah Farm Bureau Board of Directors. Prior to being elected to the Board of Directors, Wade served as the Sanpete County Farm Bureau President.
Keynote
Links

Madison Goodman
Keynote
Madison Goodman is a market farmer in Oakley, UT. He farms year round with the help of high tunnels and determination. He started Madsnacks Produce in 2019 and runs it with his wife and two gritty daughters.

Al Grossi
Seed Exchange
Radio host of weekly Urban farm report, 9 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.
Special Events
Links

Mayor Mollie Halterman
Welcome
As Mayor I will work hard to find common ground, bring people together to take care of our assets and each other to strengthen Parowan.

Stan Jensen
Panelist
In 2019 Stan took over his multi-generational family farm in Centerfield. He is inspired by those that build soils and practice regenerative agriculture. You can find him on his farm with his 4 children and wife working to raise his family and build soil though cover crops and intensively grazing cattle, pigs, egg layers and meat chickens.
He is Red Acre Center Board Member and an advocate for better agriculture practices and stronger local food economies.

Max Kane
Presenter
Max Kane is an American entrepreneur, local food activist, author, engaging speaker, natural health advocate, and a leading expert in non-toxic, raw dairy production. Max is the CEO of three privately held companies including farmmatch.com, and the author of several books on food and health. Max has over $50M in marketing experience driving revenue to small farms, and has apprenticed under hundreds of farmers around the United States learning about food production. Max is the first person to bring affiliate marketing to local food and believes that true wealth is found in health, relationships, and spiritual connection. Max buys and sells real estate, studies political philosophy, eats a raw food animal-based diet, and is a savant at the game Othello

TK Kern
Presenter
T.K. spent 10 years working in the software industry before pursing the life of a farmer.
Using the skills acquired from what feels now like a former life, he crafts systems and spreadsheets as a small part of his role at Red Acre Farm as the Director of Botanical Affairs. He has worked full-time as a grower since 2016.
Pre-Conference Events
Links

Phil LaRocca
Presenter
Phil LaRocca is the owner of LaRocca Vineyards and the CCOF Board Chair. He became the first certified organic apple grower in the United States in 1975 and created the first certified non-sulfite wine back when most people said it was not possible to do either. Over the years, LaRocca Vineyards has sold over a million bottles of non-sulfite organic wine, and created an industry space for others to follow. He was active in creating the California Food and Production Act, and participated in formulating the national organic rule on organic wine. In 2017 the National Organic Trad Association awarded Phil National Organic Farmer

Councilwoman Dannielle Larkin
Town Hall
I was raised in Salt Lake City, Utah and am proud resident of St. George for the past 32 years. I have a great love for the desert landscape and the people who reside in it.
My husband Darrin and I own a commercial contracting business and raised four children on an acre in Little Valley (back when Little Valley could be considered “rural”).
After loving the rural life for 25 years, we moved to downtown St. George. We have loved the opportunity to experience the beauty, sights and sounds of our lovely downtown core.
I have a dog, two cats, a love for container gardening, a podcast addiction, and a garage full of bicycles. I enjoy cycling with my husband, hiking in our beautiful environment, collecting and promoting art, loving people and recognizing their inherent goodness, creating safe community spaces, and volunteering for and promoting our local not-for-profit groups.
Keynote
Town Hall
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