Get ready for our 12th Annual FIELD School in 2023 - join us in Kansas City, Missouri in partnership with Cultivate KC - October 23 - 25, 2023!  We host the National FIELD School in a different community each year.  We move the annual conferences across the country to create regional equity and to experience and honor the land and climates where our networks of apprenticeship and incubator farmers thrive.  We annually bring together over 45-60 organizations from almost every US state (and Canada) to participate in workshops, breakout and open space sessions, goal setting and networking opportunities. Peer-to-peer sharing informs beginning farmer trainers about how they run successful incubator and apprenticeship training programs.  Folks gather ideas for their farms and programs, and spent time building relationships with people passionate about our collective work.  We also host field trips to local incubator and apprenticeship projects to see programs' land-based facilities, farm/ranch operations, and to learn together how each incubator farm and apprenticeship training program is unique.  We often hear from farmer participants during these tours to get a holistic perspective on participants' involvement in the programs.

We will be co-hosting the conference with Cultivate KC and look forward to sharing more program details as they are developed, so stay tuned and keep up to date with details on our webpage:  https://nesfp.nutrition.tufts.edu/national-and-state-networks/field-school! 

The FIELD School will be held at the The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Conference Center located at 4801 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, MO 64110.  Parking is free of charge and located on the north side of the building.

Feel free to book your hotel reservation today at the lovely Kansas City Marriott Country Club Plaza (address is:  4445 Main St, Kansas City, MO 64111 in the arts district near the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art).  Our hotel group rate for the FIELD School is $175 USD per night using our room registration link.  The event discount block is under the group rate for Trustees of Tufts College; you can also call to make your reservation over the phone:  816-531-3000.  There is a fee for parking at the hotel, which will be waived under our room reservation block.

Detailed program schedule and workshops will be available in early September.

2023 Conference Schedule:

Monday, October 23 - learning about the local farming community with our hosts:

• Field Trips to local Missouri and Kansas-area incubator and apprenticeship training programs.  Buses will leave the KC Mariott Country Club Plaza at 8:00 AM and return late afternoon.
• Networking Reception on Monday evening at PlexPod Westport (Cultivate KC's co-working space event center and offices), located at 300 E. 39th St, Kansas City, MO 64111.

Tuesday, October 24 - Wednesday, October 25 at the Kauffman Conference Center - learning from each other through networking and information sharing:

• Plenary speaker
• Concurrent Workshops with Incubator Farm and Apprenticeship Program Tracks
• Round Table Discussions, Open Space, and Peer Networking

Stay tuned for our FIELD School Program Lineup!