2011 Conference, Farm Tour

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 Children's Program

5th Annual FARM TOUR

With special guest speakers Will Winter and Jerry Brunetti

Monday, November 14, 2011
7:30 am – 5 pm (please make note of the time – for your travel planning)

Cost including lunch and transportation:  $75/person
Space is limited.  Registration required.

Bring coolers if you would like to purchase farm items, comfortable shoes, water

Tour Speakers:
We are happy to announce that Will Winter and Jerry Brunetti will join our tour again this year.   As we drive to the farms their talks will cover many aspects of farming that will be of interest whether you farm or not.  With their wealth of knowledge and enjoyable manner, they are able to explain extensive details about soil management and farming in a way that is understandable and can increase the appreciation for what farmers do daily to provide us with quality food.  

Will’s experience as a veterinarian, founder of the American Holistic Livestock Association and consulting with Jerry on livestock and forage issues combined with Jerry’s being the managing director of Agri-Dynamics which is engaged in ecological systems approaches to livestock, crop and horticultural programs makes this a perfect and impressive pair to lead our tour.  They are both excited to get out of the classroom and speak about what they love while visiting farms where it is happening.  

Farms:
We will be visiting three farms each offering something different based on its focus, location and size.  First, we will tour a dairy farm to learn about the production of raw cow milk.  Next we will visit a 300 acre farm focusing primarily on chickens but also having beef, lamb, pork, turkeys, eggs and goat milk and a farm store.  We will have a delicious nutrient dense lunch while at this farm.  Finally, we will visit a 40 acre farm which has a processing plant for chicken and sausage.  The day will be packed with great information about soil, plants, and a variety of animals.  Other topics to be covered include running a farm store and processing plant, keeping out of debt, selling to restaurants and farmers markets, and handling too much demand.

Bring your comfortable shoes, coolers (if you want to purchase items) and an appetite both for learning and good food.  Be ready to have fun learning while meeting interesting speakers, farmers and fellow-tourists.   

Itinerary:
Registration & Load bus at Hotel 7:30, DEPARTURE 7:45

For the good of the trip and the group, please be prepared to follow the schedule.

First Stop:  
Lavon Farms
Todd & Deanna Moore
3721 N Jupiter Rd
Plano, TX  75074
Lavonfarms.com

Lavon Farms, located in Plano, Texas, is owned by Todd & Deanna Moore and their two sons, Madison and Mason, along with Todd’s brother Jonathan. In the summer of 2010 a new facility was completed in Emory, Texas and a majority of the milking herd as well as the young stock were moved to this new location where they have endless amounts of grass to eat and several cooling ponds to keep them happy & cool. A small group of cows remain in Plano to provide you fresh & tasty Raw Milk, which is available in our Farm Store. Our cows not only provide you with delicious fresh milk and other dairy products, but they look good doing it! Over the years we have had the good fortune to exhibit quite a few National Show winners and All-Americans, as well as a few National Champions. At the 2007 National Guernsey Show in Louisville, Kentucky we were honored to win Grand Champion, Reserve Grand Champion and Premier Exhibitor!

Second Stop:  
Rehoboth Ranch
Robert and Nancy Hutchins
Greenville, TX  75401
Rehobothranch.com

On their 300 acre farm the Hutchins family raises beef, lamb, chicken, pork, eggs and Grade A raw goat milk on forages from pastures untainted by pesticides, herbicides, and artificial fertilizers. They do not give their animals synthetic hormones and steroid drugs that others use to make them grow unnaturally fast. Our animals eat only their natural diet in their natural environment their entire lives. Cattle and sheep eat ONLY high quality, clean grasses and clovers – NEVER GRAIN. Our chickens, turkeys and pigs live on organically managed pastures, but they also receive a custom mixed ration consisting of NON-GMO GRAINS raised without synthetic fertilizer, herbicides, or pesticides, plus organic vitamins and minerals. We get our feed grains from Amish farmers and have it shipped to Texas a truck load at a time. .

Topics:
Large poultry operation
Beef, lamb, pork
Goat milk
Running a farm store
Supplying farmers markets and meat buying clubs

Nutrient Dense Luncheon – WAPF Style
by Chef Nancy Gail Falster
www.southerngrace.biz
(this meal will not be gluten/casein free)

Third Stop  
Windy Meadows Farm
Campbell, TX  75422
Windymeadowsfamilyfarm.com

The Hale Family has raised pastured chicken and grass fed beef and lamb on their 40 acres for nearly twenty years.  Their concerns for food safety for their own children led them to the decision to raise natural meats without added hormones, antibiotics or feed stimulants. They now have a state-inspected poultry processing facility on their farm that produces pastured chicken and sausage. Some of the chicken raised by Windy Meadows Family Farm grace the tables of some of the finest four-star restaurants in Dallas that are seeking locally grown and responsibly raised natural meats and can be obtained at farmers markets.

Topics:
State-inspected poultry processing facility for chicken and sausage.
Farming without going into debt.
Getting and keeping restaurant customers.
Large scale composting using a huge rotating drum

Questions:  Contact Kathy at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.