Conference Day Line Up January 23, 2025
Morning Workshops 10:00am - 11:00am
Floods, Fires, Storms, and Heat: Can we manage risks in a changing climate?
Chad Pacholik
Hidden Track Farm
Logic League Consulting
Chad is a small scale farmer, running Hidden Track Farm with his wife Erica. He is also a disaster risk management consultant, where he is the Principal at Logic League Consulting. Having worked at the local, regional, and provincial scales of emergency management, preparing for and responding to numerous disasters, he brings a unique perspective and understanding of the opportunities and challenges that our changing climate brings.
Chad will bring perspectives and experience from both sides of the fence- as both a small scale farmer and a disaster risk management professional. Topics will include an overview of climate projections, steps that farmers can take for their personal and family preparedness as well as for their farms readiness and resilience. A mix of presentation and activity based workshop, the content will be grounded in over a decade of emergency and disaster response in British Columbia. Leave with a greater understanding of disaster risks, tangible steps that can be taken and resources available.
www.HiddenTrackFarm.ca
www.TheLogicLeague.ca
Marketing: Brand Awareness and Messaging
Jamie Lamb
Randy Wachtin
Metropol Print
Join experts Jamie and Randy from Metropol to understand how your branding and packaging can tell your farm story to your customer. Leave with the skills to make great impressions, maximize your message and have impact with your customers.
https://imetropol.com/
Sponsored by METROPOL PRINT
Farm Activism: Keeping Agriculture in Business on the South Island
Sasha Kubicek
Sea Bluff Farm
Sasha Kubicek is an owner operator of Sea Bluff Farm, a 10 Acre Certified Organic Vegetable Farm in Metchosin, and is a farm activist.
Sasha will present on resources and ways to protect farmland and farming.
Participants will get an overview of the governing bodies that impact farmland; the Agricultural Land Commission, the Ministry of Environment and Local District and gain some tools on how to access and navigate these agencies to protect farmland and farming. Learn empowering actions you can do personally and on your farm to strengthen farmland and farming.
https://www.seablufffarm.com
Sponsored by HUMBLE TRACTOR FARM
Morning Workshops 11:15am - 12:30pm
On Farm Seed:
Security and Resilience
Rebecca Jehn
Jess Wallis
Rebecca's Garden
Rebecca Jehn is the owner operator of Rebecca's Garden in Saanich; has been a driving force on South Vancouver Island agriculture for more than fifty years and is heading for her retirement plan in 2025. Rebecca will continue sharing her expertise & wisdom in seed saving by mentoring farmers through FarmFolk CityFolk's Seed Mentorship Program.
Jess Wallis has been fortunate to learn from Rebecca, gaining invaluable knowledge in seed saving techniques, while aspiring to carry forward the work of seed resilience as part of the next generation of growers.
This practical workshop will share Rebecca's knowledge and stories while participants learn to integrate seed security into their farm plan, and understand the opportunities and benefits that an on farm seed program can add to the farm.
www.rebeccasgarden.ca
Sponsored by ROOTCELLAR GREEN GROCER
The Essential Role of Microorganisms
- A deep dive into all things compost
Christina Cook
The Organic Gardener's Pantry
Christina Cook is the owner of the Organic Gardener's Pantry in Victoria, providing quality organic fertilizers, microbial products, and soil amendments to the community. She is an instructor with Gaia College; SOUL certified Organic Land Care professional; and Landscape gardener and designer by trade.
Participants will learn ~ what is compost? ~ types and roles of dominant microorganisms ~ why and when do we need it? ~ benefits of adding compost to soil ~ balancing diverse microbial populations ~ correcting compost myths ~ compost tea ~ AND take away recipes for balanced microbiology.
https://www.gardenerspantry.ca/
Raising Livestock Sustainably
Julia Rylands
Muddy Feet Farm
Julia Rylands is the owner operator at Muddy Feet Farm in Sahtlam where she breeds and raises happy, healthy heritage pigs and heritage meat chickens in woodland and pasture, rotationally ranging for animal health.
Join Julia for a expert workshop on raising livestock - This workshop explores ways to integrate and rightsize lovestock production on your farm, integrating sustainability and translates into making sure animals have a good life- both in health and in happiness and ensures economic returns.
https://www.facebook.com/MuddyFeetFarm.ca/
Afternoon Workshops 2:15pm - 3:30pm
When, Where, and How are 'Best Management' Practices Good for my Farm?
DeLisa Lewis, PhD LLAg
Green Fire Farm
DeLisa Lewis is co-owner and operator of Green Fire Farm, a diverse 40-acre farm in the Cowichan Valley. She has over 25 years experience with commercial and certified organic vegetables production. DeLisa completed her PhD in Soils and Agroecology from the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at UBC in 2012, and is a Research Associate of the Sustainable Agriculture Landscapes Lab and the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems with Dr. Sean Smukler at UBC.
DeLisa works with the BCMAF Island's RA team to deliver a series of workshops focused on the fundamentals of soil management on Islands region farms.
This workshop explores the application of best management practices (BMPs) aimed at improving soil health on Islands region farms. We will discuss which soil management practices form the theoretical foundation of soil health, what challenges arise when implementing the best practices (e.g. cover cropping, reduced tillage) when timing or other contextual factors result in unintended trade-offs. With audience participation and a facilitated round-up of recent research, we will also identify how, when, and where BMPs have been successful in the Islands region and beyond.
Participants will be able to identify which soil management practices are theoretically and/or practically connected with soil health outcomes, and will be able to review additional research and resource tools provided to further analyze and apply informed decisions about cover cropping and reduced tillage on their farming operation.
https://greenfirefarm.ca/
Sponsored by the NORTH SAANICH FARM MARKET
Creative Ways to Access Land
Amber Rowse-Robinson
Brass Bell Farm
Amber is a first generation farmer and sole owner of Brass Bell Farm in East Sooke. She runs a pasture-based, mixed livestock operation and is passionate about heritage breed conservation and land stewardship. Amber has been leasing farmland since 2009 and is always keen to help new farmers find success in their own land acquisition journeys.
Accessing farmland can feel downright impossible on Southern Vancouver Island. Even when a land lease is secured, farmers contend with a series of secondary challenges such as inadequate infrastructure, lack of security, communication breakdowns and more. This workshop is for the farm curious and the seasoned farmer alike. Brass Bell Farm relies entirely on leased land, and Amber has more than 15 years of experience operating as a tenant farmer. From her beginnings as a roommate in shared housing on a working farm, to now living and farming on over 100 acres, she has negotiated both short and long term agreements, grazing licenses on public land, seasonal pasture access, and has even been successful in procuring a zoning amendment. Amber knows firsthand the difficulties farmers face when it comes to accessing land, and has developed strategies to not only leverage the chances of securing a lease, but to build the foundation of a successful tenancy for years to come.
Participants will learn how to assess and reflect upon their own readiness to access land, discuss the different types of land access agreements, identify common land leasing barriers and discuss solutions, and develop strategies to find and secure land independently, and without an abundance of financial resources. Amber believes that farmers bring immense value to any piece of land, and uses this perspective to help farmers leverage fair compensation for their role when creating an agreement. Participants will leave with an understanding of how to build a land leasing 'portfolio' and with creative strategies to find their next piece of land, sooner rather than later.
https://www.brassbellfarm.com/
Sponsored by HUMBLE TRACTOR FARM
Seed Cleaning Equipment - Mobile Trailer Demonstration
Lisa Willott
Farm Folk City Folk
Join Lisa Willott from Farm Folk City Folk for an onsite orientation to the mobile seed trailer that is available across Vancouver Island and Gulf Island communities. See the seed cleaning equipment in action, thresh, winnow and refine seeds to the next level of seed cleaning. Participants are welcome to bring small amounts of seed for testing on the equipment.
https://farmfolkcityfolk.ca/bc-seed-security-program/mobile-seed-cleaner/
Afternoon Workshops 3:45pm - 5:00pm
Cooperating for Shared Solutions and Farm Resilience: it's not as hard as it seems
Emi Do, PhD
Emi Do came to cooperatives as a small-scale urban farmer trying to find a viable alternative to the dominant food distribution chain. Though her interest in agricultural cooperatives led to a PhD and an assistant professorship at Tokyo University of Agriculture, the empowerment, mutuality, and solidarity underlying cooperatives sparked an interest in the co-ops as a means to democratize and transform relationships across different workplaces and contexts.
Farmers wear many hats—managing operations, sourcing supplies, finding markets, and handling customer service.. What if this pressure didn’t have to be shouldered alone? Even though we cooperate informally with one another every day, it can feel daunting to adopt cooperative approaches in our business relationships. Our current 'competitive' winner-takes-all approach can make farming feel lonely, are there ways to make cooperating feel easier? Join us for an exploration on cooperation, and walk away with tools you can use to start incorporating cooperative practices into your farming enterprise.
Sponsored by WHITE HOUSE STABLES
Living Soils - Your Farm Ecology
Dr. Shannon Berch
Dr. Shannon Berch is an Emerita Research Scientist, BC Ministry of Environment, an associate member of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at UBC, and a founding member of both the South Vancouver Island Mycological Society and the Truffle Association of BC.
Shannon facilitates an engaging presentation that takes participants for a deep dive in soil understanding and through the processes of decomposition, nutrient uptake, and symbiosis, soil organisms cycle and recycle essential nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus making them available for uptake by crops. Soil organisms are essential to the process of storing complex carbon molecules in the soil, delaying the return of simple carbon molecules to the atmosphere, and positively impacting the levels of atmospheric greenhouse gasses. Participants will consider how soil management affects biological processes and Learn about the diversity of life in the soil, about processes and transformations carried out by soil organisms and consider how soil management, planting, irrigation, fertilizer application and tillage, can impact the health and productivity of soil.
Sponsored by ROOT CELLAR GREEN GROCER
Farmer Resilience: Bouncing back from Burn-Out, Finding Systems, Setting Boundaries and Finding Hope
Cammy Lockwood
Lockwood Farm
Cammy Lockwood is an Owner Operator at Lockwood Farm, and is still trying to figure out how she found her way to farming. Her mother was an artist, and her father was a doctor, she had a bachelors degree in history and ‘liberal studies’, so farming seemed like a really natural fit.
Cammy cannot distill into words her passion for farming. It is so clearly what she is created to do. It is more than a career or a livelihood. It is like a child. It has a life of its own, one that demands more than we can give. So often we fail, yet the farm’s resilience shines through.
And it gives! It give us life. The joy of crop. The bounty of eggs. The delight of hen dust bathing in the sun. The simplicity of miracles we witness daily.
Cammy shares her experiences and lesson learned along the way. Participants will create new definitions of farmer burn-out and create new systems, boundaries and frameworks for resilience.
https://lockwoodfarms.ca/
Sponsored by VICTORIA BOX AND PAPER
- MEMBERSHIP
Interested in being a part of the South Island Farmers Institute? - See our current members here
The South Vancouver Island Farmers Institute represents a dynamic group of growers, producers, and agricultural supporters.
We are a local Institute founded and governed by farmers, for farmers and community members who support agriculture and growing. - We commit to supporting our members succeed in the business of farming
and agriculture as a valued contributor to the social, economic and environmental fabric of the South Island's long term prosperity.
Our activities are membership driven; we work to improve agricultural land stewardship and food security.
We promote farming in the region through education, innovation, research and collaboration.
Annual Membership $25.00 - Farmer Memberships
- Voting memberships for Farms, Farmers and retired Farmers
- Friends of Farmers Memberships
- Non voting membership for all community members, organizations and businesses that support
agricultural pursuits and benefit from membership in the Institute.