The first Wisconsin Organic Farming Conference took place in 1990 in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and attracted about ninety attendees. A number of organizations, including Wisconsin Chapter #1 of the Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA), served as sponsors. By 1992 the conference was known as the Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference (UMOFC). Sponsors expanded to include organizations in Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, and Michigan. In 1999 the Educational Fund of Wisconsin Chapter #1 of OCIA became Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES), with Faye Jones, who had served as conference coordinator since 1995, as its sole staff member. The conference was held in La Crosse, Wisconsin, the first two years, and other locations in Wisconsin until 2000, when it returned to La Crosse, where it has been held ever since. Known as the Organic Farming Conference (OFC) since 2008, the event is the largest organic agriculture gathering in the country; in 2016 over 3600 participants attended the 27th annual conference.
The MOSES conference sessions from 1993 to 2002 and 2004 were recorded and copies offered for purchase by Resource Express, operated by Barry and Judy George. Around 2003 the Georges began doing business as Organic Voices. They also recorded the non-MOSES conference recordings in this collection.
