February 24-25, 2027Best Western Premier - The Central Hotel & Conference Center 800 East Park Drive, Harrisburg, PA

Registration opens this fall. Join our email waiting list to be notified when registration opens, and for new updates as we plan!

Farmers who are already doing things differently – or who want to. If you've been experimenting with cover crops, no-till, or regenerative practices, you'll find your people here. If you're curious but not fully committed, that's exactly who this was built for. GROUNDWORK is designed for the farmer who's thinking long-term but sometimes feels like they're figuring it out alone. This isn't a conference for the fully converted to preach to each other. It's for farmers who are open, have questions, and are ready to take a next step.

GROUNDWORK is built around farmer-to-farmer learning – regional farmers who are actually doing this work, on real Mid-Atlantic ground, sharing what's working and what isn't. No corporate sponsors driving the agenda. No one-size-fits-all answers, because no two farms are the same. The conference is also structured differently. We start "big picture" and zoom in – from broad principles down to specific practices and local decisions. And we build in real time for conversation, because some of the best learning happens in the hallway between sessions.

Our goal is simple: you leave knowing your next step. Not overwhelmed with more questions than you came with. Not inspired for a week and then back to square one. We want you to leave with at least two new practices or ideas you're ready to try, and at least two new people in your corner – farmers you can actually call when you hit a wall. You'll also leave feeling less alone in this. That's not a small thing. A lot of farmers doing unconventional work feel isolated in their own communities. GROUNDWORK is designed to change that.

Anyone is welcome. But GROUNDWORK was built specifically with Mid-Atlantic farmers in mind, and that distinction matters. Farming in this region comes with its own set of realities: the land, the climate, the markets, the neighbors. The speakers, the topics, and the peer conversations at GROUNDWORK are rooted here – in the specific challenges and opportunities of farming between the Appalachians and the coast. If you're farming in this region, you won't have to translate what you're hearing back to your own situation. It already applies. That said, if you're coming from outside the region and the content draws you in, come. Good farming thinking travels.

Not even close. GROUNDWORK is designed for farmers at different stages – from "I've been no-till for fifteen years" to "I tried a cover crop once and I'm not sure what happened." The sessions are tiered so you can go where you actually are, not where you think you're supposed to be. What matters more than experience level is mindset. If you're curious, open to new ideas, and willing to learn from the farmer sitting next to you – you belong here.