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12th Annual Hudson Valley Value-Added Grain School

• Wednesday, March 11, 2026, 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM

The 2026 Hudson Valley Grain School will provide attendees with a look at collaborative models for integrating grains into the regional/local supply chain from community-based organizations that work within these structures. We invite you to join us at the Newburgh Brewing Company on March 11th to find out more about this subject by engaging with practitioners and educators involved in small grains through the tri-state area.

Presenter: 

Len Bussanich Bio: Co-Founder of River Valley Community Grains. More than 20 years experience working in the outdoor recreation industry. Avid hiker and passionate about the outdoors, open space conservation and grains.

Presentation Description: River Valley Community Grains grew out of stakeholder meetings in northern New Jersey focused on jumpstarting a local food economy with an emphasis on soil health and regenerative farming. The goal was to encourage a paradigm shift, away from corn and soy for sale in commodity markets to growing for local markets without any chemical inputs. Grains were selected as the impetus once it was recognized that grains and flour were the missing links in the locavore food movement in NJ. Realizing that New Jersey had a rich history of grains and stone-milling, and learning about the grains renaissance in the Northeast, particularly in New York State, in the last 15 years plus, we wanted to bring New Jersey into the fold. While we have seen much success in providing stone-milled flour for our customers, both direct-to-consumer and wholesale, we are still working through challenges in strengthening other facets of the grainshed, specifically grain growing and grain cleaning in our immediate area. We remain optimistic that we can successfully resolve these challenges as we move further into the new year. 

Agenda:

9:30 Registration opens

10:00-10:10 Opening Remarks

10:10-11:00 Integrating small grains into vegetable operations: Heather Darby, University of Vermont

11:00-11:50 Collaborative Marketing Models Project Report: Glynwood

12:00-1:00 Lunch

1:00-1:50 Collaborative approach to grain production; River Valley Community Grains, Bairstown, NJ: Len Bussanich & Larry Mahmarian

2:00-2:50 Using Local Grains with a focus on metro area users; She Wolf Bakery, Brooklyn, NY: Kim Vallejo

2:50-3:00 Closing Remarks

3:00 Program End 

Fee

$55.00

Register

https://www.cceevents.org/e/12th-annual-hudson-valley-value-added-grain-school

Location

Newburgh Brewing Company
88 South Colden St
Newburgh, NY 12550

Last updated February 20, 2026