Chris Blanchard's report on the Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference in la Crosse Wisconsin, held last weekend. Via his blog, Eat Better News

The organic farming community has a long history of working together-if not in absolute harmony, then at least with the idea in mind that success in organic farming is not just about my farm, but about every farm. At Rock Spring Farm, we're proud to play an important role in the growth of the organic movement.

I suppose to a certain degree the generosity of spirit just goes with the territory. Organic farmers, by definition, are concerned about what goes on a neighbor's farm, and by extension, how what they do on their own farm affects their neighbors. A neighbor spraying toxic pesticides may contaminate products and soils; uncontrolled weeds may create problems readily controlled with herbicides, but not with cultivation; and genetically-modified crops may cross-pollinate organic varieties. And if we care about what our neighbors do, we'd best start caring about our neighbors, since that's the best way to get them to care about us.

Likewise, organic farmers have always taken an active interest in what their organic cohorts are up to, and in helping them along. Organic farmers have been writing and publishing books since before the term "organic" meant much if anything, and very few organic farmers will turn down a request for even the most proprietary information about their key products. And the organic community, perhaps because of an historical lack of support from the universities, USDA, and extension services, has developed its own outreach and teaching resources.

Last weekend, I helped to put on the MOSES Organic Farming Conference. Held in La Crosse every February, the conference attracted over 2700 attendees this year - most of them farmers - for three days of intensive education in everything from organic dairy to food safety to the finer points of organic activism. As the co-director of the show, I organized 67 workshops and over 100 presenters as part of North America's largest (and, we're told, best) organic farming conference. For the experienced grower, it is an important piece of a continuing education; for beginning farmers or conventional growers thinking about going organic, it is often the first touchstone in preparing to make a dramatic change.

Perhaps the most exciting thing about the conferences we help organize and teach is the rampant enthusiasm and downright good time that the participants are having; at the Organic Farming Conference, in addition to the workshops, we serve thousands of excellent meals based on local and organic foods, put on ten full-day seminars, screen dozens of food films, host a benefit dinner and silent auction for the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service, and put on a dance on Friday night that always goes well past midnight. My organic hog farming friend Tom Frantzen says that the first time he attended what was then the Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference, when he was just beginning to think about going organic, he knew he could never go back: "Organic farmers have more fun, the food's fantastic-life's just better here!"

Chris Blanchard

Rock Spring Farm