On January 18th MOFFA held its annual Organic Intensives. The presenters were a mix of experts, local farmers, and producers.
We had 72 people registered, which was a little less than our current average. Of those registered, 59 attended. Some cancelations that we are aware of were due to illnesses and lack of transportation. Those who did make it participated in in-depth educational sessions on one of three topics: Korean Natural Farming: Cultivating Indigenous Soil Life (32), Farming in a Changing Climate (19), and Innovative Marketing: Farmer Wisdom on Where and How to Sell Your Farm Goods (7). 
Participants were asked to evaluate their experience at the end of the day, and 69% responded—69% of those in the Korean Natural Farming session, 64% from the Farming in a Changing Climate session, and 86% of those attending the Innovative Marketing session.
Again, this year, we offered a discount on the registration fee for MOFFA members, and 31% of those registering took us up on the offer by becoming MOFFA members or renewing their membership. Just over half (34%) of those registered identified as farmers (18% of whom were certified organic). Of the remaining participants 14% identified as gardeners, 17% represented a food or farm related business or non-profit organization, 11% were educators (including MSUE and Conservation District personnel), and 17% fell into other categories (including State and Federal Government employees).
As in years past, participants overwhelmingly felt that their time was well spent. The chart at left shows ratings for various aspects of the program, across all three sessions.
The participant comments that stood out this year were “Bring Chris back!” (6 comments like this) and “THE BOOKS! That’s what really got me.” Several attendees complimented the speakers in all sessions and many simply expressed thanks for the day and the hard work that went into organizing the event. Other comments to note were ones wishing for a “formal way to move between sessions without ‘cheating’” and “a possible remote access/zoom . . . that could view w/o attending, or to view later to rehash or watch a session you didn’t see on event date.” We have received similar comments in the past years and have continued to maintain the Organic Intensives as they are but are very open to the hope of starting a second educational event that would provide these options for attendees.
We try each year to find a local caterer to provide lunch, snacks, and hot drinks throughout the day. This year lunch was catered by Tantay from Lansing who makes Peruvian cuisine while That New Place provided scones and all-day coffee and tea. It was noted that this offering did not include a vegan option for breakfast.
Korean Natural Farming: Cultivating Indigenous Soil Life
This session was presented by Chris Trump who traveled from Hawaii where he lives and maintains his business, Biomei Natural Farming Solutions. Chris also maintains a YouTube channel and several attendees were very excited for the opportunity to interact in-person with someone seemingly inaccessible. Chris shared the principles and practices of Korean Natural Farming including ‘recipes’ for making inoculants using indigenous microorganisms in compost and soil. The afternoon also included discussion of the place of animals in Korean Natural Farming systems.
Farming In a Changing Climate
Michigan farmers and gardeners may already be seeing the impacts of a changing climate with inconsistent weather patterns and warm winters. ‘Farming in a Changing Climate’ explored the question of how else climate change can affect farms and what can be done about it with climate smart advocates and activists. Presenters included Peter Sinclair, an independent videographer, specializing in environment and energy issues. A frequent presenter on climate, renewable energy, and science communication, Mr. Sinclair spoke about the predicted implications of the changing climate for Michigan farmers. Mike Buza, chair of the Sierra Club: Nepessing Five Rivers group, has published numerous articles and presented to many groups on various topics regarding renewable energy. Mr. Buza spoke to the OI attendees about Agrivoltaic farming. In the afternoon, attendees heard from Laura Lengnick, Megan Phillips Goldenberg, Anna Cone, and Paul Buzzard. The presentation was titled “Practical Climate Risk Management: New Tools and Opportunities for Small-Scale Organic Growers”
Innovative Marketing: Farmer Wisdom on Where and How to Sell Your Farm Goods
This workshop, led by experienced farmers and marketing experts, was designed for growers looking to elevate their marketing strategies. Kyle Mitchell presented on Cooperative marketing followed by Alice Bagley, Nels Brogren, Kristin Van Vliet, and Mark Kastner, each with unique experiences marketing produce and flowers via CSAs, farm markets, restaurant contracts, and wholesale supply. Attendees were then encouraged to consider what marketing channels they wanted to try to focus on, led by our own board member, Brittney Rooney. After lunch, Leah Sienkowski presented “Marketing for Busy Farms” and another MOFFA board member, Katie Brandt, shared her knowledge of SARE and other grants and awards.
A unique value of the Organic Intensives is the course materials compiled for each participant. Course booklets are provided for each session with available presentation power points and supplemental reading materials to maximize the learning in and after class. We appreciate the work our presenters did to help us make this information available. Recently we have also provided a book relevant to the topic of each session. This year we gave participants in the Korean Natural Farming session the book The Regenerative Grower’s Guide to Garden Amendments by Nigel Palmer; participants in the Innovative Marketing session got the SARE publication Building a Sustainable Business; and those in the Changing Climate session received the second edition of Resilient Agriculture, written by Laura Lengnick, one of the presenters.
As part of the evaluation, we asked participants to identify knowledge or techniques they learned that they plan to put into practice, and 100% of the respondents in Marketing, 100% in Korean Natural Farming, and 84% in the Climate session took the time to do that. The information they provided will help us improve our future offerings.
We received many suggestions for future Intensives. The two topics mentioned most often were marketing and finance for farms, while soil health, no till practices, greenhouse management, compost, and certification were each mentioned twice.
In addition to participant fees, the program was made possible by our Sponsors for 2024:
- North Central SARE
- Habitat For All
- Morgan Composting
- George and Anne Bird
- The Fertrell Co.
- Organic Valley
- Michigan Organic Fruit
New sponsors for 2025 are Real Organic, Gateway Farm, and Cultivating Resilience. Fourteen people were registered with full-coverage scholarships made possible by a SARE mini-grant, and only 2 were unable to attend. Another six people received registration fee subsidies thanks to a generous donations from George and Anne Bird.
The Organic Intensives planning committee is gratified and encouraged to see the continued positive feedback expressed by the participants, and will begin planning soon for Organic Intensives 2026. If you have suggestions for next year’s event, or would like to participate in the planning, please let us know. The date currently selected is Saturday, January 10, 2026.
