Salatin to challenge assumptions, inspire innovation at Wisconsin Grazing Conference

GrassWorks is featuring Joel Salatin as a keynote speaker at the 20th annual Grazing Conference, which will run Jan. 12-14, 2012 at the Patriot Center in Wausau.

Salatin has never been shy about sharing his opinions. The iconic farmer, who runs PolyFace Farms in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, manages to be both revolutionary and deeply traditional in his approach to land stewardship and food production.

Salatin is intelligent, fearless, full of good humor, open to new ideas and impossible to categorize, which is why he continues to energize the sustainable agriculture movement.

Salatin's keynote address, based on his latest book Folks, This Ain't Normal: A Farmer's Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People and A Better World, begins at noon on Saturday, Jan. 14th and will be followed by a book-signing.

Salatin's talk will address some of the strange and unsustainable - not at all normal - practices that undermine our relationship with the environment. His vision for how to restore normalcy, however, is not monolithic or prescriptive.

While he may have some specific suggestions and strong opinions, Salatin recognizes that as soon as we pin down the answer we risk missing the point. His talk, like the book, will celebrate the human capacity for responsibility, compassion, creativity and innovation in agriculture.

Salatin is also presenting at a workshop on Multi-Species Marketing on Saturday.

Other nationally known speakers include Abe Collins of the New Soil Quantum and Dr. Donald Huber of Purdue University.

Beginning at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, Collins will speak at two sessions, including an advance workshop on building soils. Dr. Huber will share his groundbreaking research on glyphosate in back-to-back sessions on both Friday and Saturday.

Local graziers will participate in a retrospective panel on the grazing movement and in several breakout sessions that include diverse topics, such as nurse cows, low-cost parlors, breeding for grazing, meadow fescue and pastured hogs.

The event features over 20 workshops, a tradeshow, silent and live auction, musical jam session, locally raised grass-fed foods and numerous networking and community building opportunities.

For more info go to www.grassworks.org (to access full conference schedule and online registration) or contact Conference Planner, Lanice Szomi: 715-965-8324 or grazingrocks@gmail.com.