Farming for the Future Conference

PASA's 21st Annual Farming for the Future Conference

Breaking Ground for a New Agriculture:
Cultivating Versatility and Resilience

February 1, 2, 3 & 4, 2012 ~ State College, PA

Click HERE to view the current conference programming and details!

Join us as we Break Ground for a new wave of learning and growing. The trail ahead will be challenging as we define and create a New Agriculture. After a year of changing politics, weather patterns and economics, it is clear that our community must be both Versatile and Resilient to persevere and bring about through local actions solutions to the global challenges we face. The conference will pull together many ground-breakers for a series of lectures, tracks and workshops that will send you home ready to dig in and cultivate your way to a more sustainable future. Our new Friday schedule includes a third workshop slot - that means you’ll have over 100 workshops to choose from! - and we’ve built in more time for you to network with our sponsors and exhibitors, speakers and fellow conference goers. Mark your calendars now, and we’ll see you in February!

Visit the conference website here to see the program and register. Click here!

Sponsorship information for the 2012 conference is available, please click here!

The annual Farming for the Future conference is PASA's signature event and our main vehicle for community building. Widely regarded as the best of its kind in the East, this diverse event brings together an audience of over 2,000 farmers, processors, consumers, students, environmentalists, and business and community leaders annually. The sheer numbers and diversity of business and organizations that are associated with the conference are notable, through sponsoring, exhibiting and presenting. Typical conference workshops focus on such practical topics as poultry production, cheese making, riparian buffers, organic certification and raw milk marketing. The very popular day-long "Pre-Conference" tracks offer in-depth exploration of special topic areas.

The conference does not focus entirely on practical training for farmers. Keynote speeches in recent years have featured such visionaries as human rights advocate Anuradha Mittal, environmental leader William McDonough, world humanitarian Vandana Shiva, Native American activist Winona LaDuke, environmental activist Diane Wilson, ag economist extraordinaire John Ikerd and peak oil specialist James Kunstler.

The Farming for the Future conference continues to bring the PASA membership a high quality program with knowledgeable field experts, acclaimed keynote speakers, and special events. Year after year, conference staff and volunteers do their best to plan and provide this inspiring event, always with an eye to improve things as we can. Special features of the conference include; youth & teen programming, a babysitting program, a triumvirate of benefit auctions, the Sustainable TradeShow and Marketplace, and conference meals featuring sustainably, organically, and regionally raised foods from over forty PASA members throughout our region.

Enjoy these photos from the 20th Annual Farming for the Future Conference.
You can listen to audio recordings from the conference here.

Beginning with the 20th annual conference, the closing session took a new turn with the introduction of the PASA-bilities Series. Read more about this exciting innovation here.

PASA is committed to ensuring that farmers can attend this event, regardless of their financial situation. The Arias M. Brownback Memorial Scholarship Fund provides assistance to aspiring, beginning and long-time farmers. The fund continues to grow with the support of PASA members and conference attendees.

Do you have ideas for the conference programming, would like to partner with PASA on educational programming or want to be a speaker? Visit the Suggestion Box.

To become a sponsor please click here!

Past Conference Information:

PASA's 20th Annual Farming for the Future Conference was held February 2, 3, 4 & 5, 2011 at the Penn Stater Conference Center in State College, PA. To order recordings of workshops, click here.

PASA's 19th Annual Farming for the Future Conference information. To order recordings of workshops, click here.

PASA’s 18th Annual Farming for the Future Conference information. To order recordings of workshops, click here.