Ogallala Commons (www.ogallalacommons.org), in partnership with Central Plains Organic Farmers Association and Kansas Civic Network, invites farmers, ranchers, food producers, and the interested public to attend an Organic Certification & Transition Farm Tour on Thursday, March 13th at Bear Creek Coffee (107 N. Baughman St) in Ulysses, KS, from 9:30am-2:00pm Central Time. The event will provide information as well as a tour of an organic grain handling facility. Discussion from an afternoon organic farmer panel will provide peer-to-peer learning for those involved or interested in organic agricultural production.
Doors will open at 9am for registration and light refreshments. After a welcome and overview at 9:30, Wade Berlier from Lakin, KS will give a presentation entitled “Understanding Organic Grain Handling & Storage”. At 10:20am, Mr. Berlier will lead a driving tour out to his facility two miles north of Ulysses. The group will reconvene back at Bear Creek Coffee for a chicken-fried steak lunch at 11:45am.
After lunch, three farmers will share their experiences as part of an organic farmer panel. The trio will consist of Matt Issac, newly certified organic farmer, from Ulysses, KS; Jeremy Yoder, a producer of organic feed grains and laying hens from Trinidad, CO: and Edward Reznicek, a farmer from Goff, KS, and member of Central Plains Organic Farmers Association, who will also discuss cooperative organic grain marketing.