Join other curious minds in the Organic Farmer Researcher Network
The Organic Farmer Researcher Network is a growing group of organic and transitioning farmers, agricultural professionals, and researchers who meet regularly to discuss emerging issues, possible projects, and recent or ongoing research. Our group is collaboratively facilitated by staff at OEFFA, Ohio State, and Central State universities, but is intended to be farmer-focused and farmer-led. Participation is open to anyone with an interest.
Online Meetings
We meet monthly on the first Thursday of each month at noon. Guests may sign in on a computer or call in from any phone.
- See a list of upcoming speakers and connection instructions by clicking here.
- Access recordings of past presentations here.
- Sign up for reminders of upcoming events here.
- We host workshops throughout the year in partnership with various farming events. Join us to develop your research questions and the partnerships, ideas, and resources to get them answered. There is no cost to attend these events and a meal will be provided. Thanks to a USDA OREI grant, a limited number of participant stipends are available to defray costs of attending (childcare, additional farm labor, travel costs, etc.).
- OEFFA Conference 2025 Food and Farm School, Thursday, February 13, 2025. Farmers, educators, and researchers are invited to work together in small, facilitated groups to generate specific farmer-led research ideas. First, participants will focus on generating research ideas specifically for livestock farms. In the afternoon, network leaders will be available to assist with further proposal and project development—either with the morning's research ideas or from previous events. Leave with new partnerships, ideas, and resources to address specific on-farm questions. Register (no cost) or learn more about the OEFFA Conference at at https://conference.oeffa.org.
Interested? Please contact one of our group leaders:
Cassy Brown | Ohio State | 330-263-3634 | brown.1844@osu.edu
Johnnie Speicher | OEFFA | 614-947-1647 | johnnie@oeffa.org
Denise Natoli Brooks | Central State | 937-831-5995 | dbrooks@centralstate.edu
Our work is partially sponsored by a USDA-NIFA Organic Research Extension Initiative grant Building Partnerships for Farmer-led Organic REsearch in Ohio. For more information https://cris.nifa.usda.gov/cgi-bin/starfinder/0?path=fastlink1.txt&id=anon&pass=&search=R=100400&format=WEBFMT6NT
Images from 2023 OEFFA Conference event. Small groups gathered to brainstorm researchable topics in different areas, which were then shared with the group.