Sustainable Agriculture Symposium

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

	Kitty Smith, USDA-Economic Research Service
	Varel Bailey, farmer, Anita, Iowa
	Nancy Creamer, Center for Environmental Farming Systems, North Carolina State University
	Mike Johnson, Syngenta Crop Protection
	Bob Scowcroft, Organic Farming Research Foundation

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 website 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 Program (578kb)

Symposium Facilitator: Jerry DeWitt, Professor Emeritus, Iowa State University

Welcome and Introductions: Sponsoring Organizations Perspectives
Rob Hedberg, USDA-NIFA-Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education
Audio (2.34mb)

Ferd Hoefner, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
Audio (3mb)

Neil Conklin, Farm Foundation
Audio (3.5mb)

Julia Kornegay, Chair, National Research Council Committee on the Twenty-First Century Systems Agriculture
Audio (3mb)

Ann Bartuska, Deputy Under Secretary, USDA-Research, Education and Economics
Audio (5.8mb) | Remarks in PDF (113kb)

Session 1: 30 years, 3 Reports: Where We Have Been and Where We are Now
Ron Rosmann, farmer, Westphalia, Iowa
Audio (10mb) | PowerPoint presentation (4.4mb)

Douglas Jackson-Smith, Utah State University
Audio (9.3mb) | PDF presentation (84kb)

Ricardo Salvador, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Audio (9.5mb)

Session 1 Q & A
Audio (1.7mb)

Session 2: Where We Need to Go and What Helps or Hinders Us
Elysa Hammond, Clif Bar & Company
Audio (9.1mb) | PowerPoint presentation (1.8mb)

Mike Johnson, Syngenta Crop Protection
Audio (8.2mb) | PowerPoint presentation (3.8mb)

Varel Bailey, farmer, Anita, Iowa
Audio (8.2mb) | PowerPoint presentation (493kb)

Session 2 Q & A
Audio (7.3mb)

Session 3: Moving Forward: What We Will Do to Get Where We Need to Go
Melissa Ho, Congressional Research Service
Audio (12.4mb) | PDF presentation (417kb)

Nancy Creamer, Center for Environmental Farming Systems, North Carolina State University
Audio (12.3mb) | PowerPoint presentation (8.26mb)

Margaret Krome, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute
Audio (10.7mb) | PowerPoint presentation (73kb)

Session 4: We’re All In This Together – Have Your Say
Invited comments and an open forum.

Bob Scowcroft, Organic Farming Research Foundation
Audio (3.9mb)

Kitty Smith, USDA-Economic Research Service
Audio (2mb)

John Matuszak, U.S. Department of State – Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Science
Audio (4.3mb)

Mike Harrington, Western Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors
Audio (4.6mb) | PowerPoint presentation (136 kb)

Open forum (attendee questions and comments)
Audio (21mb)

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