The main speakers were:
- Dr. Stephen Jones from Washington State University who spoke about "The Small Grains Movement."
- Dr. Julie Miller Jones, Professor Emerita from St. Catherine University, who spoke about "Wheat Belly: Fact and Fad." She provided a rebuttal to the book Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis.
See the UVM Extension webpage for the Northwest Crops and Soils Program for information about Dr. Darby's research. That webpage includes extensive information about grains, oilseeds, hops, forages, soils and more.
The theme of yesterday's conference was "Returning to Our Roots." Vermont was once a major grain producing region, especially wheat. If you are interested in Vermont's agricultural history, see this timeline. That link includes a photo of the statue of Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, atop the Statehouse in Montpelier. She is holding a sheaf of wheat. Judging by this conference, many people are once again excited about growing grain in the northeast.
What is driving this renewed interest in growing grains locally? Most of the discussion is about organic grains. Some of those grains are for feeding dairy cows that are producing organic milk. But most of the increased demand is for locally sourced grains for human consumption. King Arthur Flour of Norwich, VT was a major sponsor of the conference. Other sponsors included Champlain Valley Milling of Westport, NY and GrowNYC, a nonprofit organization headquartered in New York City that operates the famous Union Square Greenmarket.
Loan Officer Chuck Custeau of our St. Albans office and I represented Yankee Farm Credit at the conference.
