We’re surrounded on all sides by so many enormous problems that solving any of them almost seems like an impossible task.
This workshop will showcase some simple USDA approved agricultural practices that can eliminate up to 90% of all surface runoff and non-point source pollution, reduce toxic algae blooms and contaminated drinking water, while simultaneously sequestering carbon, creating pollinator habitat and diversifying income streams from the land.
Water for Any Farm
Presenters
Mark ShepardRestoration Agriculture Development
Mark Shepard is the CEO of Restoration Agriculture Development, Forest Agriculture Enterprises LLC, and runs New Forest Farm, a 110 acre perennial agricultural savanna, one of the first of its kind in the USA. New Forest Farm is a planned conversion of a typical row-crops grain farm into a commercial-scale, perennial agricultural ecosystem using oak savanna, successional brushland and eastern woodlands as the ecological models. Trees, shrubs, vines, canes, perennial plants and fungi are planted in association with one another to produce food (for humans and animals) fuel, medicines, and beauty. Hazelnuts, chestnuts, walnuts and various fruits are the primary woody crops. The farm is solar and wind powered. Trained in both mechanical engineering and ecology, Mark has developed and patented equipment and processes for the cultivation, harvesting and processing of forest derived agricultural products for human foods and bio fuels production.