The 2019 Acres U.S.A. Eco-Ag Conference and Trade Show took place December 9-11, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

This annual event, now in its 44th year, sets the standard for innovation and learning. It is where you find farmers and consultants from every facet of eco-farming who come together to share their experience and expertise with beginning and generational farmers running sustainable farms, as well as those who are in transition from conventional to organic.

It was an event filled with all the information needed to sustain or become an eco-farmer. The conference featured over 30 shorter sessions and keynotes to choose from on topics such as soil health, animal agriculture, human health plant nutrition, and more. The conference also offered social mixers, panels and access to their amazing trade show.

The amazing line up of speakers made the conference beyond educational. Following is a list of the experts.

Soil and the Human Microbiome

Anne Biklé is an author, biologist, and gardener whose wide-ranging interests have led her into salmon restoration, environmental planning, and public health. She uses her broad background and endless fascination with the natural world to investigate and write about connections between people, plants, food, health, and the environment.

She finds the botanical world particularly enthralling whether coaxing plants into rambunctious growth or nursing them back from the edge of death. She particularly likes sharing the inner workings of plants and the human body with audiences.

Her work has appeared in magazines, newspapers, and radio and her soil-building practices have been featured in independent and documentary films.

Anne holds Bachelor’s degrees in Biology and Natural History from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a Master’s Degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley.

Fermenting for Health

Nick Barnard co-founded Rude Health in London in 2005 with his wife Camilla. Rude Health is renowned for its innovative, delicious and nourishing foods and drinks, winning scores of awards for taste and ethical standards (including many Soil Association Organic Food awards, numerous Great Taste awards, and also being recognized in Cool Brand’s list of Britain’s trendiest brands).

Nick is the inspiration behind the Rude Health rants, and is well-known for his infectious enthusiasm for traditional food and drinks. In 2013, he was crowned World Speciality Porridge Champion, and continues his quest for the Golden Spurtle.

Writer of more than 16 non-fiction titles, in 2016 Nick released his first cookbook, Eat Right, an inspirational and upbeat celebration of positive eating. Nick’s book offers truly achievable and simple ideas, recipes and advice on how to be nourished by traditional foods in a modern world. Eat Right has won acclaim from food writers and chefs across the UK and was a nominee for a 2018 James Beard Award, the Oscars of the food world. Nick is also a stunt pilot in rude health, flying for the WingWalk Team.

Building Humus in Your Soil

Edwin Blosser founded Midwest Bio-Systems (MBS) in 1993 after having graduated from an intensive 7-year experiential training series, during which he had to prove he mastered the application of the training in renewable farming systems.

He assists growers all over the world with their ever-increasing challenges to produce profitable crops while improving soils. MBS also manufactures specialized compost equipment for large-scale production of humus compost, the backbone of many sustainable agricultural fertility programs.

Edwin’s goal is to teach how to enhance the farming viability. He also assists producing Humus Compost and provides the tools that ensure grower success. MBS’s goal is to provide growers with the knowledge of how to balance their soils with the least amount of cost and a greater predictability of end results.

Grounds for a Revolution – the Intetersection of Soil and Human Health and a Path to Recovery

Zach Bush, MD, is a triple board-certified physician and internationally recognized educator on the intersection of the microbiome, human health and disease, and our food production systems. His work is giving new insights into root cause problems and their solutions in the sectors of big farming, big pharma, and Western Medicine at large.

Zach’s work in for-profit and non-profit arenas is creating avenues for collaborative action for all stakeholders in our global community for a regenerative future of health for the planet and our children. Learn more on the following websites: Zach Bush MD, Intrinsic Health Series, Farmer’s Footprint, and ION*Biome.

Pastured Rabbits

Nichki Carangelo manages livestock and retail marketing for Letterbox Farm Collective in Hudson, NY.

She also is the author of the upcoming book Raising Pastured Rabbits for Meat: An All-Natural, Human, and Profitable Approach to Production on a Small Scale and an organizer for the Hudson Valley CSA Coalition.

Diversifying Dairy with A2A2 Milk

Paul Dettloff, D.V.M. was raised on a farm in Minnesota and graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Veterinary Medicine in 1967.

Though he began as a conventional practitioner, he moved into the sustainable and organic/biological treatment of dairy and beef cows, sheep and goats using natural remedies, botanicals, homeopathy and holistic management of the soil and entire farm.

He is an international authority on the natural farming and consults and lectures widely.

Unearth your OWN Blind Spots to Radically Improve Your Soil

Vail Dixon is a regenerative farmer and holistic grazing mentor and founder of Simple Soil Solutions, Grazing Power, Grow Your Soil, and ABC Beef (About Being Conscious Grass Beef).

Vail intensively researches and demonstrates ways to repair damaged soil biologically, and economically, fostering a connection between soil, plant, animal, ecosystem and human health. She is building her farm in Nelson County, Virginia, into a regional training center for regenerative farming and living that integrates Holistic Management, permaculture, and biological farming.

Vail is interested in building strategic partnerships and collaborative community across the food and soil health movements; so that we all can learn from and help each other achieve positive change for our planet.

Rotational Grazing 101: Leveraging Your Animals’ Movement

Using Multi-Species Synergies to Your Advantage

Paul Dorrance owns and operates a pasture-based livestock operation, marketing 100% grass-fed beef and lamb, as well as pastured non-GMO pork, poultry, and eggs, directly to consumers.

Previously an active duty Air Force officer, Paul still serves our nation as a pilot in the Air Force Reserves. He is a graduate of Ohio Farm Bureau’s “AgriPOWER” leadership development program, sits on the Steering Committee of the “Ohio Smart Agriculture - Solutions From The Land” project, is a member of the American Farm Bureau’s Issue Advisory Committee on Organics and Direct Marketing, and serves his community as a volunteer firefighter.

Paul holds a BA in Aviation Computer Science, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (2001) and a MA in Military History - Civil War, American Military University (2009).

Why Advocacy Matters and How to Make it Work for You

Sherri Dugger has nearly two decades of experience editing magazines and books, and now puts her media and public relations experience to work in the agriculture field.

Dugger is the executive director of both the Women, Food, and Agriculture Network and the Indiana Farmers Union, and she is a policy and communications consultant for American Grassfed Association. She has served as a Midwest outreach consultant for Earthjustice and is a co-chair of the national Farmers and Ranchers for a Green New Deal coalition.

An advocate for local and regional food systems, environmental sustainability, humane animal agriculture, and diversified family farming, she also frequently lobbies at the Indiana Statehouse and on Capitol Hill. Dugger is a member of the National Agricultural Advisory Council for the Humane Society of the United States, and she re-established the Midwest Sustainable Agriculture Working Group in early 2019.

Cannabis

Doug Fine is a pioneer voice in cannabis/hemp and regenerative farming. In the hemp/cannabis sphere, Doug is a farmer, author and well-regarded researcher and consultant for projects all over the world.

He has been a hemp seed development researcher with the University of Hawaii. He is marketing an organic farm-to-table hemp product that he helped grow in Vermont (called Hemp in Hemp). And this year he is teaching a course on Organic Hemp Farming and Marketing at Sterling College’s School of the New American Farmstead in Vermont.

In addition to his hemp work, Doug is an award-winning culture and climate correspondent on five continents (for NPR, the New York Times, and the Washington Post), and a repeat Conan and Tonight Show guest.

Doug is also a solar-powered goat herder and a bestselling author. His books include Hemp Bound (a must-read for anyone entering the industry), Too High to Fail, Farewell, My Subaru, Not Really An Alaskan Mountain Man, and, most recently, First Legal Harvest, which was printed on hemp paper.

Plant Stress Test: Biotic and Abiotic Stress Mitigation Through Plant Nutrition

Noel Garcia, CCA, joined Texas Plant & Soil Lab in 1991; he now serves as vice-president, operations and technical director. He is a Certified Crop Advisor under the American Society of Agronomy.

His career started at the USDA-ARS, developing imagery acquisition software involving video and satellite images, image processing and geographical information systems. He was recruited by E.K. Chandler, the lab’s previous owner, to write computer programs to manage and report raw laboratory data.

Garcia also conducted field trials on various pop-up fertilizers, humic/fulvic acids, hormones and other adjuvants with a variety of crops. He consults widely with farmers internationally on a wide variety of crops and on conventional, sustainable and organic operations.

Unraveling Dependence on Chemical Agriculture

Carey Gillam is a veteran reporter who has been covering corporate America for 25 years. A former senior correspondent for Reuters international news service, and current research director for consumer group U.S. Right to Know, her areas of expertise include biotech crop technology, agrichemicals and pesticide product development, and the environmental impacts of American food production.

Gillam has been recognized as one of the top journalists in the country covering these issues. She wrote a book called Whitewash: The Story of a Weed Killer, Cancer & the Corruption of Science, published by Island Press, in 2017.

This year, she’s been busy covering the Monsanto trials, suing agencies under the Freedom of Information Act, and discovering an amazing array of corruption that is fueling the more than 11,000 lawsuits against the company. Learn more about her work at her Carey Gillam website.

Organic Agriculture

Anders Gurda has worked in organic agriculture for over a decade. Most recently, he founded the Organic Grain Resources and Information Network (OGRAIN), a program housed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison that provides needed educational resources, hosts high-impact events, and creates innovative media tools for the growing network of organic grain farmers.

Before starting OGRAIN, Anders worked as a research scientist in organic and sustainable cropping systems, interfacing with farmers at all scales and cropping systems, gaining valuable insight into the challenges and opportunities for farmers exploring regenerative agriculture. Farmer-focused and farmer-generated content are the hallmarks of good extension and research, guiding the programs that Anders creates and informing solid educational design.

Anders holds a B.S. in Ecotheology from Northland College and an M.S. in Agroecology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Regenerative Poultry Production Protocols: Scaling Up with Integrity

Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin leads the innovative poultry-centered regenerative agriculture system at the heart of Regenerative Agriculture Alliance.

He focuses on the development of multi-level strategies for building triple bottom-line regenerative food and agriculture systems. He leads the design work and currently oversees system implementation in the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, and Columbia.

He graduated from the Central National School of Agriculture, and studied at the Universidad de San Carlos in Guatemala. He is also a graduate of Augsburg College in Minneapolis with a major in international business administration.

After working with indigenous communities in Guatemala, Regi consulted for the United Nations Development Program and advised the World Council of Indigenous Peoples. He is a founding member of the Fair Trade Federation and founder of Peace Coffee among other businesses.

You’re not alone: Successfully transitioning with the Right Resources

Erin Heitkamp has worked in the fields of corporate environmental management and sustainability for more than 20 years. She currently leads agriculture and public affairs for Pipeline Foods and has been part of the leadership team since the company’s inception in 2017.

Erin oversees the Farm Profit Program, corporate IMPACT, branding and communications, and industry and regulatory affairs.

Immediately prior to joining Pipeline, Erin led the sustainability consulting practice at Wenck, a Minnesota-based environmental consulting ESOP. Erin’s years at Wenck were preceded by a nearly 15-year career in the airline industry. During her tenure at Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines, Erin led the development and execution of environmental and sustainability policy and strategy and held positions in the area of environmental regulatory oversight, fuel and fuel services purchasing, and corporate real estate.

Erin holds a B.S. in Political Science and Environmental Studies from the University of Wisconsin- Madison and a Master’s in Environmental Management (M.E.M) from Yale University.

Using Precision Sampling Data to Balance Soils and Stimulate Soil Health

Meagan Perry Kaiser serves as the Chief Operations Officer and Soil Scientist of Perry Agricultural Laboratory, Inc. located in Bowling Green, Missouri. Perry Agricultural Laboratory, Inc. conducts nutrient analysis on soils, plant tissues, feed, seed, water, manure and fertilizers. PAL serves clients in all 50 States and 75 countries. Meagan is charged with the daily operation of the laboratory, including the management of staff, developing operating procedures for new equipment, and working with clients to understand their lab results.

In 2011 Meagan and her husband Marc started PAL Farm Management LLC, a precision agriculture business. This firm utilizes GPS technology to pull soil and plant tissue samples, run them in the lab, and make variable rate fertilizer and planting prescriptions. PAL Farm Management services clients in Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois. Additionally, the couple farms with Marc’s parents in Carrollton, MO in the Missouri River plains where they produce corn and soybeans.

Foliar Sprays: The Best Tool to Regenerate Agriculture

John Kempf is a leading crop health consultant and designer of innovative soil and plant management systems. John is the Founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture, a leading crop nutrition consulting company, and a Managing Partner at Zeno Capital Partners, a investment fund working in the areas of agriculture, food production, medicine and clean energy.

John Kempf grew up on a fruit and vegetable farm in northeastern Ohio and experienced first-hand the challenges faced by crop producers everywhere. Growing fresh market vegetables since 1994, he witnessed intensifying disease and insect pressure on crops that did not respond to the usual pesticide treatments. He began seeking to understand the underlying causes of disease and insect pressure on crops and learned how to prevent pest damage to plants by enhancing natural plant immunity with nutrition.

Learning from many leaders in the field of crop consulting and plant health, Kempf began building a comprehensive systems-based approach to plant nutrition, solidly based on the sciences of plant physiology, mineral nutrition, and soil microbiology.

Today, Kempf is an internationally-recognized teacher on the topic of biological agriculture and plant immunity. Since 2006, Advancing Eco Agriculture has been a leader in the area of soil and plant nutrition, working with farmers internationally. John is a member of the Amish community and lives in Middlefield Ohio.

The Critical Role of Magnesium in Our Soil

Neal Kinsey is a leading soil fertility consultant for both standard and specialty crops. He grew up Southeast Missouri working on the farm for his father.

After obtaining his B.S. degree, Kinsey enrolled in a master’s degree program in Food Industry Logistics in Agricultural Economics at the University of Missouri, Columbia. There he met the renowned Dr. William A. Albrecht, who later provided the technical training in soil fertility required by Kinsey’s profession.

In 1977 he established Kinsey Agricultural Services based in Southeastern Missouri. Following the publication of his methods in the book Hands-On Agronomy, Kinsey began sharing his methods with growers and consultants around the world. Through this he has trained hundreds of consultants and growers in soil fertility management utilizing the principles of cation exchange and base saturation, specializing in the building, re-building and maintenance of soils for quality crop production. Growers of high-value specialty crops are discovering a tremendous payback from implementing his advanced soil fertility balancing methods.

The Truth About GMOs

Dr. Don Huber, Professor Emeritus, Purdue University, has researched the epidemiology and control of soilborne plant pathogens with emphasis on microbial ecology, cultural and biological controls, nutrient-disease interactions, pesticide-disease interactions, physiology of host-parasite relationships; impact of GMSs and pesticides on soil, crop, animal and human health; and techniques for rapid microbial identification for 55 years.

He is author or co-author of over 300 journal articles, Experiment Station Bulletins, book chapters and review articles; 3 books, and 84 special invited publications as well as an active scientific reviewer; speaker; consultant to academia, industry, and government; and international research cooperator.

Maximizing Photosynthesis to Power High Yielding Regenerative Agriculture

André Leu is the author of The Myths of Safe Pesticides and Poisoning Our Children. He is the President of IFOAM - Organics International, the world change agent and umbrella body for the organic sector. IFOAM has around 950 member organizations in 127 countries.

He is founding steering committee member of Regeneration International, an organization that promotes farming systems that regenerate soil organic matter to reverse climate change.

Leu has an extensive knowledge of farming and environmental systems across Asia, Europe, the Americas, Africa and Australasia from over 40 years of visiting and working in over 100 countries. André and his wife, Julia, have an organic tropical fruit farm in Daintree, Australia.

André has a degree in communications and post-graduate qualifications in adult education. He lectures and teaches at universities, institutions and workshops around the world. He speaks at numerous conferences, seminars, workshops as well as United Nations events on every continent. He meets with governments, industry, farmers, consumers and NGOs on the multi-functional benefits of regenerative organic agriculture.

Agriculture in the National Political Spotlight… And What it Means for You

Judith McGeary is an attorney, activist and sustainable farmer. After earning her B.S. from Stanford University and her J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, she clerked for a Federal Appeals Court and went onto private law practice. During that time, she became a passionate advocate of sustainable agriculture, and she and her husband established a livestock farm.

After seeing how government regulations benefit industrial agriculture at the expense of family farms, she founded the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance to promote common-sense policies for local, diversified agricultural systems. Judith appears in the documentary Farmageddon, has written many articles for Acres U.S.A., and has been interviewed on numerous radio shows across the country.

Building a Sustainable Agricultural Future

Kathleen Merrigan is an expert in food and agriculture, celebrated by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2010. Currently she serves as the Kelly and Brian Swette Professor in the School of Sustainability and executive director of the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University.

From 2009 to 2013, Merrigan was deputy secretary and COO of the United States Department of Agriculture. She is currently a board member of FoodCorps, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) and the World Agroforestry Centre. She is a partner in Astanor Ventures and an advisor to S2G Ventures, two firms investing in ag-tech innovation.

Merrigan holds a PhD in Public Policy and Environmental Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a MA in Public Affairs from University of Texas at Austin, and a BA from Williams College.

Featured Presentation: Soil Revolution

David R. Montgomery is a MacArthur Fellow and professor of geomorphology at the University of Washington.

He is an internationally recognized geologist who studies landscape evolution and the effects of geological processes on ecological systems and human societies. An author of award-winning popular-science books, he has been featured in documentary films, network and cable news, and on a wide variety of TV and radio programs, including NOVA, PBS NewsHour, Fox and Friends, and All Things Considered. His books have been translated into nine languages. He lives in Seattle, with his wife Anne Biklé and their black lab guide-dog dropout Loki.

How Rodale’s Field Trials Can Inform Your Farm’s Transition

Dr. Emmanuel Omondi, Director of Farming Systems Trial, Rodale Institute.

Omondi grew up on a farm in Kenya and has been involved in sustainable agriculture work since 1992. Emmanuel’s expertise is in soil-plant nutrient dynamics as well as evaluating cover crop options, crop spacing, and weed tolerance dynamics to reduce tillage in organic farming.

He holds a B.S. in General Agriculture from the University of Nairobi, Kenya, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Agronomy from the University of Wyoming.

Featured Presentation: Lessons in Changing the Future of Our Food System

Bob Quinn is an organic farmer and progressive leader in promoting organic, sustainable agriculture around the world. With a PhD in plant biochemistry and degrees in botany and plant pathology, he has turned his northern Montana family farm into an organic laboratory. On a mission to educate, as well as farm eco-consciously, Bob is the co-author of Grain by Grain: A Quest to Revive Ancient Wheat, Rural Jobs, and Healthy Food.

Bob served on the first National Organic Standards Board, and has been recognized with the Montana Organic Association Lifetime of Service Award, The Organic Trade Association Organic Leadership Award, and Rodale Institute’s Organic Pioneer Award. His enterprises include the ancient-grain business Kamut International and Montana’s first wind farm.

Managing Soil Nutrition 101

Understanding Soil Health Challenges that Limit Your Operation

Glen Rabenberg is Founder and owner of Soil Works LLC.

Glen holds a B.S. in Animal Science, General Agriculture and Agriculture Economics from South Dakota State University.

When Glen worked for Walco International as an Animal Science Technical Advisor, he saw that many diseases were the result of nutritional deficiencies from poor grains and forage. Now, Glen brings his knowledge of animal science and applies it to the soil. He still maintains his third-generation farm in Bancroft, South Dakota.

Restorative Farming Systems

Mark Shepard is a Wisconsin-based permaculture designer, agroforester and ecological farming consultant. He and his family have transformed a typical 140-acre row-crop dairy farm into a permaculture-based perennial-agricultural ecosystem using oak savannah, successional brushland and Eastern woodlands as ecological models.

In all, they have planted 100,000 trees on this property. The result is one of the first and finest farm-scale models of permaculture in the United States. New Forest Farm features chestnut, hazelnut and fruit trees, a variety of other fruits and vegetables, chickens, ducks, pigs and other animals.

He is the author of Restoration Agriculture and the subject of the video Restoration Agriculture in Practice. He is currently working on a new book for Acres U.S.A. on water management.

Lessons in Organic No-Till

Dr. Andrew Smith, Chief Scientist, Rodale Institute. Smith earned a Bachelor of Science in agronomy at Cornell University and a Master of Science in entomology at the University of Maryland.

After two years in the Peace Corp assisting a cooperative of small-scale vegetable farmers in Guatemala and ten years farming organically in Pennsylvania, Smith attended Drexel University in Philadelphia, where he earned his Ph.D. in environmental science with a concentration in molecular and population ecology.

He formerly held the position of Research Director for the Vegetable Systems Trial. His work has been mostly centered around organic pest management strategies.

Pastured Pork Simplified

Dave Steinhauser began in Southern Ohio on a diversified farm that raised hogs. After college he began working for a hog buying facility. Five years later, the company moved him to Detroit where he worked at a processing plant managing the delivery of 6,000 hogs per day from six states. There he was witness to all facets of the operation from delivery, processing, carcass hanging, and cut-up.

In 1995, Dave began his own farming operation, Steinhauser Farms, located northeast of Ann Arbor, MI. Steinhauser Farms specializes in pastured pork, beef and garlic and was certified organic in 1999. The farm raises its own hogs, with Berkshire being the favorite. They’ve also raised Mulefoot, Large Black, Tamworth, and Gloucestershire Old Spot. Steinhauser Farms pastured pork is available to local restaurants, butcher shops, and their CSA.

Growing a Co-op Business Model

Settled in 1830, Spence Farm is the oldest family farm in Livingston County, Illinois. Over the past 15 years, Marty, Kris and Will Travis, the partners of Spence Farm, have been working to restore habitat, revitalize the soil and develop relationships around food.

In 2014, Spence Farm was chosen to represent the food farming community of the United States, as they were featured in the International Slow Food Almanac.

Spence Farm is dedicated to fostering community around family farms. This is best demonstrated by the founding of two farmer cooperative groups – Stewards of the Land and Legacy of the Land – and the not for profit Spence Farm Foundation. Marty serves as the restaurant marketing and delivery person for Spence Farm and approximately 60 other farmers into Chicago.

Managing Nutrition in Declining Soil And Water Conditions

Steve Trotter is an agronomist servicing all aspects of the agricultural industry. He has been involved in Ag for over 50 years.

Steve has his Associates degree in Ag Science and Bachelor’s degree in marketing from Tarrant and Texas Tech and currently provides advisory services for sustainable and organic farms, turf and ornamental growers and golf/sports fields across the U.S.

Steve has devoted his career to managing water quality for Irrigation Suitability Standards for Agriculture, is an amateur aviator and is a consultant for Agroplasma Inc.

Vitalism: Farmaceutical Prescriptions to Optimize the Terrain

Dr. Nasha Winters is a sought-after luminary and a global healthcare authority in integrative cancer research and consults with physicians around the world. She bridges ancient therapies with advancements in modern medicine in the digital era.

Dr. Nasha consults with some of the most prestigious cancer centers in the U.S. and has created robust educational programs for both healthcare institutions and the public on incorporating vetted integrative therapies in cancer care to enhance outcomes. Dr. Nasha is bestselling co-author of The Metabolic Approach to Cancer which has received many accolades. She is also completing a second forthcoming book on therapeutic diets for cancer with her co-author Jess Higgins Kelley, MNT and is a contributor and curator of a book on mistletoe highlighting clinical applications around the world.

A personal journey with cancer, overseeing care of tens of thousands of patients worldwide, training practitioners in her methodology, presenting at medical conferences globally, Dr. Nasha is on a mission to educate and empower the nearly fifty percent of the population expected to have cancer in their lifetime. Prevention is the only cure.

Soil Health: The Foundation of Farm Success

Gary Zimmer is Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Midwestern BioAg. Known as the “father” of biological agriculture, Zimmer is an internationally known author, speaker, and consultant.

He owns Otter Creek Organic Farm, a family-operated, award-winning 1,000 acre farm near Lone Rock, Wisconsin, and has been on the board of Taliesin Preservation Inc. since 2011. Zimmer is the author of three books, The Biological Farmer (Second Edition), The Biological Farmer and Advancing Biological Farming, and numerous articles on soils and livestock nutrition.

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For more information about Acres and upcoming events visit the Acres website.