We know this was a tough year for many in our farming community. If money is tight, we don’t want the cost of our conference to prevent you from accessing the valuable learning and networking opportunities it has to offer. Through workshare and scholarships, you can receive financial assistance to cover some or all of your conference registration costs.
Workshare opportunities are open to all.
Participate in our workshare program—which starts in December and extends until after the conference in February—to reduce your conference registration costs in exchange for lending us a helping hand. Workshare participants trade between four and twelve hours of work to cover up to two days of registration costs, though moderators may offer additional hours to cover more than two days. Lodging, meals, and travel are not covered.
If you don’t need financial assistance to cover conference registration fees but would like to lend a helping hand by volunteering, learn more here.
Open to aspiring farmers and current farmers of all experience levels.
Apply for a scholarship to cover up to two days of registration costs. Meals, lodging, and travel are not generally covered, however urban farmers based in western PA may receive financial assistance for meals, lodging, and travel this year thanks to support from the Heinz Endowments.
So that we can reduce costs for as many applicants as possible, we highly recommend scholarship recipients based in western PA carpool and room share as much as possible. You can find our Ride & Room Share Forum here.
Funding for beginning farmers is provided by the Arias M. Brownback Memorial Scholarship Fund. Funding for urban farmers based in western PA is provided by the Heinz Endowments.
Farmers market managers and representatives can receive up to half off registration for Thursday and/or Friday. This scholarship is offered by PA Farm Markets and Penn State Extension, with funding from USDA Risk Management Agency.
