The Organic Grain Conference: Building a Nexus of Collaboration for Organic Farmers, Industry Experts, and Researchers
Project Director
Mallory Krieger
Year Funded
2018
Award Number
2018-51300-28429
Funded Institution
The Land Connection Foundation
Grant Program
OREI (Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative)
USDA NIFA Report (alternate)
Project Overview
This OREI award supported the Third Annual Organic Grain Conference held in February 2019 in Champaign, IL, which drew 200 participants and 22 trade show vendors. The Land Connection (TLC) foundation convened an advisory committee and conducted a survey of past conference attendees to expand and improve the conference, facilitate networking, identify priority topics and speakers, and include newly emerging research on organic grain production. The event included a pre-conference training workshop on the organic certification process, a keynote by Francis Thicke, breakout tracks on production, marketing/business, and organic research, and networking opportunities in roundtable discussions and at the trade show, which conference participants found especially valuable.
Topics covered in the conference included:
- Certification concerns – confinement raised organic dairy and poultry, hydroponics, fraudulent imported “organic” grain, and undertaking transition on leased land.
- Marketing, working effectively with grain buyers, and impact of tariffs.
- Soil health, fertility, and nutrient management in organic grain production.
- Innovative and farmer-participatory corn breeding for organic systems.
Farmer Takeaways
(1) Events such as the Organic Grain Conference provide excellent networking and learning opportunities that can help organic producers farm more successfully.
(2) Organic soil health practices can reduce fertilizer rates needed to sustain grain crops.
(3) Corn cultivars better adapted to organic systems are under development.
(4) The Conference Proceedings include valuable practical information shared at the event.