Performing Department
Horticulture and Landscape Arc
Non Technical Summary
The goal of this conference grant is to expand the reach of the existing High Plains Organic Conference in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in February, 2020. Producers, researchers, educators, processors, vendors, and other stakeholders have been engaged in this annual organic farming conferece held in February for 6 consecutive years, 2014-2019, in eastern Wyoming and targeting the northern High Plains region. Growing participation each year of the meeting reflects increasing interest in organic production and expanding markets in the Front Range metropolitan area. The northern High Plains region includes southeastern Wyoming, southwestern Nebraska, and northeastern Colorado, and is characterized by low and variable rainfall, low-fertility soils, and combined production of dryland cropping systems based on winter wheat, irrigated production of vegetables and forages, and livestock production dominated by cattle. There is no other regional conference or organization that addresses its unique production challenges. The conference planning committee draws on stakeholders identified during organization of the annual meetings.Specific objectives of the project include:1.Identify Breakthroughs in Organic Agriculture (BOA) to enhance the ability of producer and processors to grow and market high quality organic agricultural products. This includes identifying new partners from unconventional fields to explore potential "leapfrog" technologies that are specific to organic agriculture;2.Expand and improve our regional annual organic farming conference through better marketing and outreach and digital representation (better signage and social media presence to attract young producers);3.Educate participants on best practices, state-of-the-art knowledge, and knowledge gaps pertaining to organic production and marketing to assist farmers and ranchers in whole farm planning;4.Identify research, extension, and education needs for organic production and marketing in the High Plains to inform universities, agencies, and NIFA and to create a roadmap of successful organic production in the region;5.Provide networking and problem-solving opportunities for producers, researchers, educators, buyers, processors, vendors, and others;6.Increase conference outputs for continued use throughout the year. This will include digitizing presentations and conference materials to be made available on the conference website and organizing appropriate extension publications related to breakthroughs in organic agriculture.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
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Applied
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Developmental
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Goals / Objectives
The northern High Plains is a distinct geographic region with unique production and marketing challenges and opportunities, increasing interest in organic production, and increasing demand in the rapidly growing Colorado Front Range metro area, making it a prime site for agricultural innovation and breakthroughs. Our objectives relate directly to 4 of the 8 OREI goals that were legislatively defined by the Farm Bill because the intent is to facilitate discussion and identify needs pertaining to all the goals. This includes:Goal 1: Facilitating the development and improvement of organic agriculture production, breeding, and processing methods. Networking, facilitated problem-solving discussions, and invited guest speakers from other regions and countries will create ongoing research and education in these areas, creating a regional road map for organic agriculture;Goal 5: Identifying marketing and policy constraints on the expansion of organic agriculture. Involvement by state and US department of agriculture personnel will facilitate identification of constraints and ideas for dealing with them; in response to stakeholder inputs, Dr. Dawn Thilmany (CSU) has agreed to serve as a speaker in 2020 to discuss the consumer aspects of organic food in our region.Goal 6: Conducting advanced on-farm research and development that emphasizes observation of, experimentation with, and innovation for working organic farms, including research relating to production, marketing, food safety, socioeconomic conditions, and farm business management. The meetings and the conference have already facilitated identification of specific needs and implementation of research via networking among researchers, producers, and others. Both OREI 2014-51300-22240 and OREI 2009-01436 were conceived at and a direct result of research and grower networking at the High Plains Organic Farming conference. These and other collaborations will continue to expand moving forward;Goal 7: Examining optimal conservation and environmental outcomes relating to organic certified produced agricultural products. A central objective is to identify specific environmental and conservation challenges in the High Plains region where research is needed to improve sustainability of production systems.
Project Methods
Project objectives will be achieved via four steps:Conference Coordinator (Natalie Yoder) and assisting grad student (Victoria Crowe)assemble conference planning committee made up of researchers, producers and other industry stakeholders;develop conference agenda and approve venue and dates;identify and invite speakers to address topics both innovative and requested from local producers through the previous years' surveys.Conference coordinator and assisting graduate student begin marketing campaign.Hire graphic designer help to brand the conference's digital presence;Compile contact list of certified organic producers, processors, vendors, buyers, consumers, and others in or near the target region who would be interested in attending or sponsoring the conference. This will be accomplished by building upon lists of participants in the first six organic conferences, lists of certified producers and processors provided by the NOP. Email this list;Start social media outreach on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook;Update and promote the HPOFC website;Create press releases and advertise on public radio, though online newsletters, and though all agriculture universities in the area;Use new yard signs to promote the conference ahead of time as well as guide attendees to the appropriate building and parking lot for the conference.Host the 7th annual conference in late February 2020. Invite a keynote speaker who is practicing innovative organic agriculture that will inspire our producers to create breakthroughs in organic agriculture and in their operations. Other speakers will be invited from within the targeted regional area as well as from Montana, Utah, and other areas with relevant research programs to facilitate breakthroughs in critical organic farming topics for High Plains producers (Fig. 2). The conference agenda will include:Programming will include concurrent how-to workshops, discussion panels that incorporate producers, extension specialists, and researchers, as well as session topics on the status of emerging organic farming research from the Land Grant Universities. Following each session, we will engage participants in a discussion to identify research and extension needs facing organic producers in the High Plains. Sessions could include, but are not limited to:Dryland - Economic analysis of organic vs. conventional in wheat or other drylands operations.Cover crops - Cost of cover crops both in dollars and nutrients and moisture.Specialty crops - Saving water in specialty crops and using marketing to improve public acceptance of unique cultivars and heirlooms. Address the integration of hemp production into organic agriculture operations.Livestock - Integrating livestock on fall cover crops as and opportunities for partnership between organic farming and livestock producers."Sticky challenges" in organic farming - Address issues such as; how to deal with excessive erosion, weeds, and weed management; appropriate organic amendments and inputs; best production techniques in organic farming for different scales of operation.Regulatory - Provide a Farm Bill update and how legislation and future decisions will impact organic farmers in the High Plains region.Panel discussions - These combine producer, extension specialist, and researcher panels will increase interactivity and address specific producer questions in current research, and future research needs to fill the gaps for producers in specific areas of production for organic producers.Research and education - Fulfill producer requests to understand the carbon and nitrogen cycles, and how they affect greenhouse gas models to gauge the comparative effects of organic vs. conventional agriculture -- marketing workshop to emphasize food safety, human health, and ecological benefits of organic food in marketing."Meet the Researchers" poster gallery and vendor/sponsor displays;Facilitated breakout sessions to discuss and define needs;Concluding panel discussion solidifying outcomes and future activities.Follow-up meeting of conference planning committee:Review conference outcomes and evaluations;The conference committee will actively compile regional priorities and facilitate discussion on how the conference can address these priorities;Digitize, curate and edit conference outputs and email to all attendees- conference videos, handouts, and related published articles. Make these materials available to all on the conference webpage.