Sustainable Agriculture Symposium - 2010
Leveraging New Insights to Accelerate Progress Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems
Implementing the Recommendations of the National Research Council Report "Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century"
SARE co-sponsored a one-day symposium on Sept. 16, 2010 in Washington, D.C., that brought together farmers and USDA, academic, science, nonprofit and business organizations to discuss the landmark recommendations of the National Research Council report Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century. The other sponsors were the National Academies National Research Council, Farm Foundation, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Organic Farming Research Foundation and the following USDA agencies: Agricultural Research Service, Economic Research Service, National Agricultural Statistics Service, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and the Office of the Chief Economist.
The objectives of the meeting were to:
- Share intent to accelerate progress toward sustainable agricultural systems
- Understand how progress can be accelerated
- Identify how to act on the 2010 and prior report recommendations
- Share perceptions and give input on the roles we can play and the best way forward
Visit the National Academies Press Web site to read the report in its entirety and for ordering information.
Click on the links below to listen to audio and see presentations from the symposium. Presentations will download automatically and audio clips will begin playing automatically in your browser (hit your browser's back button to return to this page):
Symposium Facilitator: Jerry DeWitt, Professor Emeritus, Iowa State University
Welcome and Introductions: Sponsoring Organizations Perspectives
Rob Hedberg, USDA-NIFA-Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education
Ferd Hoefner, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
Neil Conklin, Farm Foundation
Julia Kornegay, Chair, National Research Council Committee on the Twenty-First Century Systems Agriculture
Ann Bartuska, Deputy Under Secretary, USDA-Research, Education and Economics
Session 1: 30 years, 3 Reports: Where We Have Been and Where We are Now
Ron Rosmann, farmer, Westphalia, Iowa
Douglas Jackson-Smith, Utah State University
Ricardo Salvador, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Session 1 Q & A
Session 2: Where We Need to Go and What Helps or Hinders Us
Elysa Hammond, Clif Bar & Company
Mike Johnson, Syngenta Crop Protection
Varel Bailey, farmer, Anita, Iowa
Session 2 Q & A
Session 3: Moving Forward: What We Will Do to Get Where We Need to Go
Melissa Ho, Congressional Research Service
Nancy Creamer, Center for Environmental Farming Systems, North Carolina State University
Margaret Krome, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute
Session 4: We’re All In This Together – Have Your Say
Invited comments and an open forum.
Bob Scowcroft, Organic Farming Research Foundation
Kitty Smith, USDA-Economic Research Service
John Matuszak, U.S. Department of State – Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Science
Mike Harrington, Western Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors
Open forum (attendee questions and comments)
