We recently traveled to Swoope, Virginia to attend the Stockman Grassfarmer's Launching Young Farmers Conference. As usual, this event did not disappoint. Our personal goals were to learn how to improve our own farm operations and provide inspiration for our son who wants to venture out on his own farming endeavors one day. 

Here is his description of the experience.

Our PolyFace Experience

Written by E. Hughes

After a long six-hour drive to Swoop, Virgina, we finally made it to the hotel we were to be staying that night. We woke up that morning with excitement for the day to come, and the farm did not disappoint. We pulled into their drive and were ushered into a parking spot with smiles from the interns and apprentices that worked there under Joel Salatin, the owner of this farm. After parking, we grabbed our notebooks and headed to be checked in by a kind lady working at the desk. After checking in and receiving the gift of a name tag, we scoured the property for coffee because both of us were deadly tired. After we got all hopped up on caffeine, we went to study the chicken and rabbit set up that was placed on deep mulch bedding. Because neither mother nor I were paying attention to the details we were given over email, we soon discovered they served breakfast, thank God, because we were quite hungry.  

After eating food that consisted of delicious sausage links and scrumptious oatmeal, we made our way to the theater where they had the first speaker. We listened to this speaker as he talked over his life story and the challenges he faced. We then enjoyed a thirty-minute break to stretch our legs a little and visit the venders that were there. They had Hiwassee Products who do composting and vermicomposting systems to better the soil and your farm, along with a company who made the electric reels that greatly benefit the rotational grazing system model. After this break the second speaker gave their spiel, and we took notes and paid close attention as they explained their stay at Polyface, how beneficial it was to them and how he met his wife (the other speaker) and held their wedding at that farm.

We then ate lunch there and enjoyed the pasture raised chicken they fed us. We listened to the other speakers and learned a lot from these experiences. After these speakers we were thoroughly impressed and deeply tired, so we traveled back to the hotel to rest for the night and to recharge for the day to come. After this night of rest, we traveled back to the farm and watched and studied the words of the next three interesting speakers, one mentioned their wedding venue, and another about his dairy operation. Then, yours truly spoke with other people who attended this farm conference. Many of the social interactions we experienced were very educational and helpful. A few of the things that were highlighted there in all the speeches we listened to were that we need community and people to help us because we are human and limited to only so much. If given the chance I would definitely travel back to this farm conference again.