GROWING HIGH

QUALITY ORGANIC
GRAINS
Organic Alberta
2019 Conference

APRIL 5 & 6 | LA CRETE, AB

 FRIDAY, APRIL
Transition to Organic Grains Workshop

FREE TRADE SHOW OPEN TO THE PUBLIC 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

12:30 - 1:00 PM REGISTRATION & TRADE SHOW

1:00 - 1:10 PM OPENING REMARKS

MAIN HALL Julie Bernier & Iris Vaisman

1:10 - 1:55 PM WHAT IS ORGANIC FARMING ALL ABOUT?

MAIN HALL Jed Franklin

2:00 - 2:45 PM WHAT'S INVOLVED IN CERTIFICATION?

MAIN HALL Eco-Cert, OCIA International, Pro-Cert and TCO-Cert

2:45 - 3:30 PM AGRONOMIC DECISIONS YOU NEED TO MAKE

MAIN HALL Jed Franklin and Guest

2:45 - 3:30 RECORD KEEPING FOR ORGANIC OPERATIONS:

BOARD ROOM PART ONE
Cody Sander, Pro-Cert

3:30 - 4:00 PM BREAK & TRADE SHOW

4:00 - 4:45 PM MARKETING YOUR ORGANIC COMMODITIES

MAIN HALL Charles Newell

4:00 - 4:45 PM RECORD KEEPING FOR ORGANIC OPERATIONS:

BOARD ROOM PART TWO
Jaime Aguilar, Eco-Cert, Marg Laberge, OCIA International and Art
Hesje, TCO-Cert

4:45 - 5:00 PM CLOSING REMARKS

MAIN HALL

5:00 - 5:30 PM TRADE SHOW

 SATURDAY, APRIL
Growing High Quality Organic Grains
8:00 - 9:00 AM REGISTRATION & TRADE SHOW

9:00 - 9:15 AM OPENING REMARKS

MAIN HALL

9:15 - 10:00 AM ENHANCING SOIL WATER AVAILABILITY

MAIN HALL Guillermo Hernandez

10:00 - 10:30 AM BREAK & TRADE SHOW

10:30 - 10:50 MACKENZIE COUNTY AG SERVICES UPDATE

MAIN HALL Grant Smith & David Schellenberg

10:55 - 11:55 AM THE ART OF COVER CROPS: PART ONE

MAIN HALL Kevin Elmy

12:00 - 1:00 PM LUNCH & ANNOUNCEMENTS

1:00 - 1:45 PM THE ART OF COVER CROPS: PART TWO

MAIN HALL Kevin Elmy

1:50 - 2:30 PM THE DO'S AND DON'TS OF MARKETING PEAS

MAIN HALL Dennis Kontos

2:30 - 3:00 PM COFFEE BREAK & TRADE SHOW

3:00 - 3:30 PM HOW TO READ A SOIL TEST

MAIN HALL Norm Dueck

3:30 - 4:50 PM GRAIN BUYERS & EXPERT NETWORKING SESSION

MAIN HALL

5:00 - 5:50 PM INTERACTIVE DISCUSSION: HOW TO CREATE A

MAIN HALL CROPLAND GRAZING EXCHANGE PROGRAM

5:50 - 6:00 PM CLOSING REMARKS

MAIN HALL
 SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
Transition to Organic Grains Workshop
WHAT IS ORGANIC FARMING ALL
ABOUT?
1:10 - 1:55 PM
With Jed Franklin
Jed will share what inspired him to
transition to organics and why the integrity
of the system is so important.
AGRONOMIC DECISIONS YOU NEED
TO MAKE
2:45 - 3:30 PM
With Jed Franklin and Guest
Hear from two different farmers as they
share their own methods and approaches
to organic agronomy and discuss the
various options. Compare and ask
questions about different agronomic
methods.
MARKETING YOUR ORGANIC
COMMODITIES
4:00 - 4:45 PM
With Charles Newell
Learn the main components of marketing
organic commodities, including maintaining
organic integrity, understanding what you
can grow, storage and quality, knowing
your markets, transport, contract terms
and conditions, etc.
WHAT'S INVOLVED IN
CERTIFICATION?
2:00 - 2:45 PM
With Various Certifying Bodies
Hear from various certification bodies for
an overview of organic regulations, the
certification process, and how to prepare
for an inspection.
RECORD KEEPING FOR ORGANIC
OPERATIONS: PART ONE
2:45 - 3:30 PM
With Cody Sander, Pro-Cert
Speakers will address specific topics like
how to apply, maintaining organic integrity
with parallell production, best practises,
and how to make the record keeping
process work for you.
RECORD KEEPING FOR ORGANIC
OPERATIONS: PART TWO
4:00 - 4:45 PM
With Various Certification Bodies
Representatives from different certificaiton
bodies will use real documents to walk you
through the ins and outs of filling out
forms. Learn how to work with your
inspector and find out about other helpful
tools.
 SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
Growing High Quality Organic Grains
ENHANCING SOIL WATER
AVAILABILITY
9:15 - 10:00 AM
With Guillermo Hernandez
Guillermo will discuss the importance of
soil organic matter for retaining moisture,
and share some of his recent research with
grey wooded soils at the Breton Plots.
THE ART OF COVER CROPS:
PART ONE
10:55 - 11:55 AM
With Kevin Elmy
Kevin will delve into the biology and soil
chemistry behind good cover crop practices
and explain how they contribute to soil
health and higher quality yields.
THE DO'S AND DON'TS OF
MARKETING PEAS
1:50 - 2:30 PM
With Dennis Kontos
Find out the do's and don'ts or how to
grow high quality peas and how best to
market your crop. Dennis will share
practical info like how to keep your lot
clean and how to work with buyers.
GRAIN BUYERS AND EXPERTS
NETWORKING SESSION
3:30 - 4:50 PM
Meet with various grain buyers and
speakers from throughout the conference
to connect and ask questions in a smaller
group setting.
MACKENZIE COUNTY AG SERVICES
UPDATE
10:30 - 10:50 AM
With Grant Smith & David Schellenberg
Grant and David will review the County's
Weed Control Policy and the 2019 Do Not
Spray program, as well as provide
information on the ShelterBelt program.
THE ART OF COVER CROPS:
PART TWO
1:00 - 1:45 PM
With Kevin Elmy
This session will get into the nitty gritty
details of how to put together a good cover
crop, specific to your own soil, rotations,
and other considerations.
HOW TO READ A SOIL TEST
3:00 - 3:30 PM
With Norm Dueck
Norm will provide a practical overview of
what is included in a soil test report and
how to interpret what it means for your
farm.
INTERACTIVE DISCUSSION: HOW TO
CREATE A CROPLAND GRAZING
EXCHANGE PROGRAM
5:00 - 5:50 PM
Join us for an exploratory discussion on
how to integrate livestock in to farming
practices to improve soil health, and how
we can match livestock farmers with crop
farmers to create a cropland grazing
exchange program
CONFERENCE SPEAKERS
JAMIE AGUILAR
Jaime is an agronomist with a masters
degree in land reclamation from the
University of Alberta, and has been involved
with organics since 2010. Over the past four
years his main line of work has been as an
organic auditor and strategic planning
consultant.
KEVIN ELMY
After completing University in Saskatoon and
working numerous Ag-related jobs across the
Prairies, Kevin moved back to his farm in East
Central Saskatchewan in 1999. The land was
ill managed, low organic matter, low
diversity, and low productivity. Through
including livestock, reducing tillage,
increasing diversity, including forages in
rotation, elimination of most biocides,
including cover crops, and now elimination of
synthetic fertilizer on our farm, Kevin has
improved the soil on his farm.
GUILLERMO HERNANDEZ
Guillermo has previously worked as an
agriculture and soil science professor at
University of Panama, a postdoctoral
researcher with USDA-ARS at the National
Laboratory for Agriculture and the
Environment, and as a scientist with Plant
and Food Research Institute. Guillermo has
been working at UAlberta since 2012. He
received the Inspiring Young Scientist Award
(2014) of the American Society of Agronomy -
Environmental Quality Section.
MARGARET LABERGE
Marg graduated in High Prairie and
completed her Business Administration
Certificate majoring in Accounting. She is
now the Administrator for the OCIA Chapter
Members Association and manages the
Canadian OCIA operation. Marg is very
dedicated to helping their membership with
documentation questions and matching new
members with mentors to assist with their
transitioning operations.
CODY SANDER
Cody graduated with diplomas from the Ag
Business and Ag Production programs from
Olds College. After college he worked for
several feed companies and managed his
own business. Cody is currently employed
with Pro-Cert Organic Systems Ltd. where he
is the Certification Coordinator.
NORM DUECK
Norm has been involved in agriculture along
the Hwy 16 corridor in BC for the past 19
years as an agronomist. For the past four
years, he has been working as an
independent crop consultant for beef, dairy
and grain farmers. Norm's approach to
agronomy is one of balance. If your soil
nutrients are in proper balance to each
other, your crop will show it and you will love
it!
JED FRANKLIN
Jed Franklin and his wife Amber run two
Farms. They raise hay and grow organic
grains near Chetwynd and Dawson Creek BC,
and have been certified organic since 2008.
Between trying to outsmart the weeds in the
field and raising 5 kids there is never a lack
of things to do. Jed especially enjoys
networking with other Farmers to learn and
share the tricks of the trade.
DENNIS KONTOS
Dennis has been involved with the
Agriculture industry since 1989. He started
his career with a large Japanese trading
company in Vancouver by exporting
agricultural commodities globally from North
and South America. In 1999, he left to pursue
his dreams of becoming an entrepreneur and
got directly involved in the organic industry.
After 20 years, his company has become a
diverse powerhouse specializing in grain and
legume trading on a global scale.
CHARLES NEWELL
As Organic Alberta's President, Charles is a
rural Albertan with proven leadership skills
and firsthand knowledge of issues related to
energy, municipal development and
agriculture. Charles is a lifelong farmer and
an experienced Board member in the energy
industry, serving on a rural electrification
association.
GRANT SMITH
Grant has been an Agricultural Fieldman with
Mackenzie County for nearly 16 years. He
started out as a Weed Inspector in 1987. His
various duties include weed enforcement,
beaver control, rat control, roadside
spraying, flood control channel maintenance,
roadside brushing maintenance, the wolf
depredation program, shelterbelt program,
and many other duties as assigned by the
Agricultural Service Board.
 THANK YOU
FOR YOUR SUPPORT

Our Gold Sponsors:

Our Silver Sponsors:

Our Bronze Sponsors:

Our Supporter and Friend Sponsors:

Community Natural Foods, Grassroots Organic Dirt Supplements, Growers'

International, Nature's Path, Penergetic, Westaqua