Photo credit: Breakfast of Champions by arvindgrover on Flickr.

Ninth Immigrant and Minority Farmer Conference: Feb. 1 and 2 — Register now!

Posted on January 9, 2014

St. Paul, Minnesota— Minority and immigrant farmers are invited to participate in the 9th Annual Immigrant and Minority Farmers Conference. Hosted by the Minnesota Food Association, USDA-Farm Service Agency and USDA- Natural Resources Conservation Service, the two-day conference provides education and resources to small farm operators and fosters relationships between farmers and community partners. Major sponsors of the conference include AgriBank, AgStar Financial Services, USDA- Farm Service Agency, United FCS, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, National Immigrant Farmers Initiative, The Farley Center and University of Minnesota Extension.

The theme of the 2014 Conference is “Planting Seeds for Success on your Farm.” The keynote presenters are Juan Garcia, FSA Administrator, on Saturday, February 1 and Rigoberto Delagado, Executive Director of the National Immigrant Farmers Initiative on Sunday, February 2. Mr. Delagado’s presentation is titled “The Contributions of Immigrant, Refugee Farmers and Farm Workers to Rural Development.

Women and immigrants are among the fastest growing sector of farmers. The conference supports these new and aspiring farmers and their contribution to building an adequate supply of local foods, local economic development and healthy communities.

The 9th Immigrant and Minority Farmers Conference will be held on Saturday and Sunday, February 1 & 2 at the University of Minnesota Continuing Education and Conference Center, 1809 Buford Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Registration is on-line at Minnesota Food Association, or by calling Joci Tilsen at 763-234-4445. Hmong speakers may call Mai Yang at 651-373-9077.

The conference is free to farmers. Language interpretation is available in Spanish, Hmong, Karen, Bhutanese, and Somali. The cost for other interested people is $50 per day.

We ask people to register by January 17, 2014, but no farmers will be turned away. Interested farmers and Community Based Organizations who have questions should contact:

  • Joci Tilsen at 763-234-4445 or e-mailjocitilsen@gmail.com

or

  • Nigatu Tadesse at 651-602-7705 or email nigatu.tadesse@mn.usda.gov.

 

 

 

 
 

Farmers' Legal Action Group is a nonprofit law center dedicated to providing legal services and support to family farmers and their communities in order to help keep family farmers on the land.