The 42nd annual EcoFarm conference, an event that provides information and education about sustainable agriculture, was set to begin today at Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove. The annual event has long been a convergence of farmers, agricultural researchers and other leaders in the food industry for several days of intensive learning and also fun, culminating with live music and dancing.
But this year's conference has been postponed to March 14-18 because of a spike of cases and the more contagious omicron variant.
The delay comes after a decision to take the in-person event virtual.
“The dates moved to March because the EcoFarm staff, speakers and organizers need time to pivot and shift our focus to developing a virtual conference,” says Deborah Yashar, marketing and communications director for EcoFarm. Yashar says they are still working on the logistics of going virtual, and some workshops might get canceled due to the date change.
In addition to the date change, instead of having a hybrid conference with in-person and virtual workshops, all events will be online. It will be the second consecutive year for EcoFarm as a digital-only event. (The only two events that remain in-person are tours for attendees to go to different farms in the Bay Area and on the Central Coast and interact with local growers.)
This year's EcoFarm conference is titled “Rooted in Resilience,” after the tough years growers and ranchers have faced during the ever-evolving Covid-19 pandemic.
The conference will have dozens of workshops, special events and several key speakers that will talk about the future of agriculture in California, climate change, history and production. Attendees will also have different opportunities to know and interact with other growers and ranchers in forums ranging from a meet and greet to meditation and yoga classes.
The registration to attend the event was closed in December, but Yashar says they will reopen it in the near future.
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