River Country RC&D

"Making Connections"

The 2008 Value Added Conference was held in conjunction with the WI Local Food Summit. The two events will be held together again in 2010. The 11th Annual Midwest Value Added Agriculture Conference will be held at the Civic Center downtown Rochester, MN on Thursday Jan. 22 and Friday Jan. 23, 2009. More information to come!

Available for purchase:

Soft cover book Sustainable Capitalism, written by John Ikerd: $20.00 + shipping

Two disc DVD with both audio and video recordings of various sessions at the 2008 conference (including both of John Ikerd's sessions): $12.00 + shipping

Please contact Lindsay Raab if interested: email lindsay.raab@rcdnet.net or call 715-834-9672. All proceeds go towards the 2009 Value Added Conference.

Source: Agricultural Innovation Center

2008 Value Added Brochure

2008 Keynote Speaker

Thank you to our keynote speaker, John E. Ikerd, Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Economics from University of Missouri Columbia, who spoke at the 2008 conference. For more information about him and his related materials, please visit his home site.

John E. Ikerd

Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Economics
University of Missouri Columbia College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources

Schedule, General Session Speakers, Breakout Sessions and Speakers, Registration Form

2008 Sponsors

Value Added Leader
Wisconsin Natural Resources Conservation Service

Platinum Sponsors
Another Grueling Day
Chippewa Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau
Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection

Gold Sponsors
Driftless Area Initiative
Eau Claire Press Company
Plum Creek Timber Company
University of WI-River Falls, College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences
Willy Street Coop

Silver Sponsors
Badgerland Farm Credit Services
Cooperative Foundation
Experiment in Rural Cooperation, U of MN, Rochester
Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service
UWSP- Global Environmental Management Education Center
Wisconsin Farmers Union
Wisconsin Local Food Network
Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board

Bronze Sponsors
AgStar Financial Services
Chippewa Valley Energy Cooperative
Eau Claire Energy Cooperative
Farm Fresh Atlas of Western Wisconsin
Local Fare / UW-Platteville Office of Continuing Education
Minnesota NCR-SARE
Organic Valley of Family Farms
Wisconsin SARE
Xcel Energy

In Kind Donors
A Second Opinion
Anne Hennekens, Bead Artist
Automated Data Processing
A-Z Farm
Bullfrog Fish Farm
Chippewa Valley Bean Company
Chippewa Valley Technical College
Dana Seymour
Family Farm Defenders
General Beer Northwest
Hammerand Farm
Houligans Steak and Seafood Pub
Jenn Louviere, Bead-Lieve It or Knot
Kumarian Press
Lambalot Acres
Main Street Cafe
Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service
Menomonie Market Food Coop
Native Bay
Norske Nook Restaurant and Bakery
NorthAcres Farm
PastureLand Cooperative
Promise Farm Buffalo
Ron's Castle Foods
Sylvan Hills Farm
Volume One
Tilth Farms
UWEX Center For Land Use Education
WAXX Radio
Whole Farm Coop
Wisconsin Farmers Union
WHYS Radio

Food for the conference was purchased from:
Bullfrog Fish Farm
Good Earth Farms
Lambalot Acres
Promise Farm Buffalo

A Big THANK YOU goes out to all the people who helped organize the 2008 conference
Buy Fresh, Buy Local- Iowa
Chippewa Valley Technical College
Dane County Food Council
Farmers from both Wisconsin and Minnesota
Hiawatha Valley RC&D
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Minnesota
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute
Minnesota Department of Agriculture
Minnesota Natural Resources Conservation Service
River Country RC&D
Slow Food Wisconsin SE
St. Croix Institute for Sustainable Community and UWRF College of Agriculture
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, Wisconsin
UW-Center for Dairy Profitability
UW-Barron County
UW-Eau Claire
UW-Stevens Point
UW-Extension Agriculture Innovation Center
UW-Extension Dunn County
UW-Extension Emerging Agricultural Markets Team
UW-Extension Price County
University of Illinois
Whole Farm Coop
Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection
Wisconsin Farmers Union
Wisconsin Local Food Network
Wisconsin Natural Resources Conservation Service

For More Information on this year's Conference

or to become involved with the 2009 Value Added Conference, Please contact:

River Country RC&D Council Inc.

(715) 834-9672

If you like to get on our mailing list, call us at 715-834-9672 or email us.

River Country Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Council is a non-profit 501 (c)3 tax exempt organization that initiates and facilitates wise use of natural, human and economic resources. The River Country RC&D Council prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status.