Fifteen workshops will be offered at the 62nd annual Rural Life Conference sponsored by the School of Agriculture, Fisheries and Human Sciences at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
The conference will be held Friday, March 9, at the Pine Bluff Convention Center. Workshops begin at 10:15 a.m. and are one hour long with a 15-minute break between each workshop. Conference participants can attend two full workshops.
One workshop, Conservation Planning for Today’s Farming Sustainability, runs the entire two hours. It covers holistic farm management planning, high tunnel house cropping systems and irrigation water management, and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and Environmental Qualities Incentive Program (EQIP) and updates.
Three of the most popular workshops are repeating to accommodate attendees. These workshops are Heir Property/Estate Planning, Single Family Housing (which will focus on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Program) and USDA Farm Loans and Programs with special emphasis on beginning, minority, women and veteran farmers and ranchers.
Aquaculture/fisheries workshops are Backyard Aquaponics, Keys to Successful Pond Management and the Role of Habitat in Fisheries Conservation and Management.
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Other workshops cover soybean, rice and vegetable production; cow/calf production and grazing; forestry management, year two of the Sustainable Forestry Program; food safety and GAP certification for vegetable crops; business and marketing; and local food systems and urban gardening. Participants can also, learn about what services, other than food, that UAPB’s food pantry provides to students.
The Rural Life Conference gets underway with registration at 7:30 a.m. The opening session begins at 8:45 a.m. The conference also features a poster session and exhibits by governmental and community agencies.
Registration is requested of everyone even though the conference is free to farmers, retirees and homemakers. The cost to professionals and agency personnel is $75. To preregister, or for more information, contact Margaret L. Taylor at 870-575-7144/8535 or taylorml@uapb.edu.
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff offers all of its Extension and Research programs and services without discrimination.
— Carol Sanders is a writer/editor at the UAPB School of Agriculture, Fisheries and Human Sciences.