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2026 OSU Small Farms Conference
The Oregon State University Small Farms Conference is geared toward farmers, agricultural professionals, food policy advocates, students and managers of farmers markets. Educational sessions are offered on a variety of topics relevant to Oregon small farmers.
Speakers include farmers, OSU Extension faculty, agribusiness, and more.
Learn with FoFF staff at the following sessions:
Advocacy 101: Grassroots Movements for Farming Communities – Session 1
Join Friends of Family Farmers for a session exploring how to build a movement in your farm community. We will go over tips for rural organizing, identifying your problem and target, and deep dive into the behind the scenes of a legislative session! We will learn how to determine the origin of your problem (local/county, state law, or federal law), how the state sessions work (in both a short and long session), how a bill becomes a law, how to give effective written and oral testimony, navigating OLIS, tracking particular bills you care about, and building relationships with your legislators and advocates.
Small Farms & Food Systems at the Oregon Legislature – Session 2
The Oregon Legislature’s “short” session, Feb. 2 – March 8, will include legislation and budget issues that matter to farmers and community food systems. Our panel of farm and food systems advocacy organizations will get you up to speed.
Economics of pastured poultry and how to achieve profitability – Session 3
Do you know how to set your prices for your pastured poultry products to make sure you pay yourself and make a profit? If you are just guessing, or setting your prices based on what others charge, there is a good chance that you are losing money with every sale. In this session, you will learn how to use two new tools that will allow you to input your actual costs, and which will then calculate the price you need to charge – no guessing required! You will also get tips on how to reduce those costs and streamline your operations. Mike Guebert is the Program Director for the Oregon Pasture Network and has raised poultry on his own farm in Corbett for over 20 years
Steve Knox has owned and operated Fog Hollow Farm in Walton since 2017, where he raises over 6000 chickens and ducks per year for both meat and eggs.
Leasing or Purchasing Land: What is Right for your Farm Business? – Session 3
In this session, Friends of Family Farmers is taking a deep dive into leasing vs purchasing farmland to help farmers identify the best path for their farm business today. Owning farmland has long been painted as the American ideal, one that many are not in the position to realize, or at least not at first. This doesn’t mean you need to abandon or delay your farming dreams! Most farmers lease land at some point, or even throughout their careers. We will guide participants through the pros and cons of leasing vs purchasing and how to make the right decision for your farm business. We will review resources for determining land needs, financial realities, the land search, due diligence, and contract or agreement building. We will also examine farm business scenarios to get a better sense of the business and personal decisions that should be taken into consideration. Farmers and aspiring farmers will leave with a better understanding of the ins and outs of leasing vs purchasing as well as resources and tools to help them navigate their land access decisions.