Can't make it for the entire conference? 

You can still participate in the Thursday workshops and farm tours below.  

<<< Click here to register  >>>

Do you want to ensure that your farm products are safe for consumers, and stay in compliance of new regulations? Small to mid-scale fruit and vegetable growers interested in learning about the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule, Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), and co-management of natural resources and food safety will benefit from this comprehensive course. Upon completing, it will give you the requisite certification as regulated by the Food and Drug Administration's Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Safety Rule § 112.22(c). Lead Trainer Billy Mitchell is trained by the Produce Safety Alliance and qualified to instruct the FDA-recognized training. Billy is the FSMA Training Coordinator for National Farmers Union and has experience in farming and food safety training with other organizations.

FSPCA Facilities Blended Training - Cancelled  

The new FSMA regulation requires every processing facility that meets certain requirements to have a trained resource person or Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI) who will oversee the implementation of the facility's food safety plan and other key tasks. This short course is the specialized training course developed by the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA) and approved by the FDA for PCQI persons. Dr. Ravi Jadeja is trained by the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance and qualified to instruct the FDA-recognized training. Ravi is an Assistant Professor and Food Safety Specialist at Oklahoma State University with 11 years of food safety training and consulting.
The training offered here is a blended course with a portion of the required study being completed online and the other portion as a one-day, instructor-led workshop to finish the completion certificate. This involves a two-part registration.

Part 1: The online portion consists of roughly 10 hours of coursework and must be completed before attendance at this short course. Register for the online coursework here: https://apps.dasnr.okstate.edu/fapc.okstate.edu/preventive-controls-blended-course-online. When the online portion is complete, you will receive an email that will be your final entry pass into the Part 2.

Part 2: Registration with TOFGA for the one-day in-person class.

Corpus Christi Urban Agriculture Farm Tour - $25, 1 - 4 pm 

This Urban Agriculture tour will encompass two urban growing locations, Terra Madre Mini Farm and GROW Local South Texas' Learning Garden. Terra Madre is two acres in market garden production with veteran urban farmer, Jaime Bustos. Jaime is a Master Gardner who has been growing for market production for 13 years.
The Learning Garden is one of the main programs of GROW Local South Texas. Located on two acres of leased city park land, it is a community educational garden. In both locations you will learn about intense and low cost production techniques. Terra Madre is a for profit production while The Learning Garden is a not for profit educational production space. Both locations use organic and permaculture techniques.
$25 includes both locations.
https://growlocalstx.com/visit-the-learning-garden/
https://www.facebook.com/terramadreminifarm/

Disaster Preparation, Response and Resilience Part 1: Farm Advocates and Allies - $15,
9am - 2pm

If you work with farmers, you've probably seen the impact that financial stress, natural disasters, and other life events can have on farmers and their farms. Our farmers will continue to see natural disasters threatening their livelihoods. Ever wished you had more skills to assist when these events happen? This workshop will provide available resources for disaster (and some non-disaster) events, approaches to working with farmers experiencing a disaster, and practical strategies for helping farmers make designs about their farm.   Using some real-life feedback from recent hurricane events, Scott Marlow of Rural Advancement Foundation - International will facilitate this learning partners workshop to strengthen the capacity of organizations that support farmers dealing with disasters. 

This meeting is designed to capture lessons learned by organizations involved in recent disaster relief and recovery work by reviewing that work, identifying gaps in support, and exploring workable models. Scott Marlow of Rural Advancement Foundation International will facilitate the information exchange. Attendees will contribute to a common understanding of next-steps for future collaborations, collective funding, and specific initiatives to address future disasters.

Join Rebecca Hume to dig into how to work "smarter, not harder" with spreadsheets in this hands-on crop planning workshop. First, we’ll cover how to increase your farm’s bottom line through strategic crop planning. Then, we’ll break down how to use spreadsheets to help streamline calculations and record-keeping. Please bring a laptop if you can. Basic spreadsheet familiarity is recommended, but not necessary.