Farmers and ranchers shared the podium with scientists, elected officials, nationally known speakers and non-profit representatives in March at the highly successful sustainable agriculture conference Farming and Ranching for Profit, Stewardship and Community in Portland, Oregon. As co-chair of the event, which was sponsored by the USDA Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (Western SARE), I would like to briefly share with you the results of this inspiring conference. 

We had planned for attendance of 500, but more than 600 registrants arrived from 36 states and Pacific Island Protectorates, and 175 people attended three simultaneously run field tours of farms and community operations near Portland after the main conference. Farmers and ranchers comprised nearly 30 percent of conference participants. Many of the 100 presentations and panel discussions were “standing room only,” which generated great excitement and networking among those attending. The press coverage was thorough by both general and agricultural news media, including an Oregon Public Radio on-farm interview with Larry Thompson, an Oregon farmer and chair of the Western SARE Administrative Council. In the extended interview Thompson clearly defined his stewardship and community-oriented philosophy. 

Most importantly, as a real “on-the-ground indicator” of potential impact, on their conference evaluation survey forms nearly every farmer and rancher said they would be changing their farming and ranching practices within six to 18 months as a result of what they learned at the conference. And, of the farm advisors and consultants who answered the survey, ALL reported that they planned to recommend what they learned at the conference to their clientele. Nearly 90 percent of participants reported enhanced knowledge of sustainable agriculture as a result of conference attendance. Seeing national and state government leaders like U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Richard Rominger share the opening platform with Governor of Oregon John Kitzhaber and hearing scientists and producers focus on sustainable agriculture solutions confirms what I have observed after 20 years of participation in sustainable agriculture research and extension: This knowledge and practice is increasingly mainstream, and our effort is vital now to help guide policy and ensure sustainability for future generations. 

The success of this regional conference wasa multistate effort. I worked with co-chairs John Luna from Oregon State University and David Granatstein at the Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources at Washington State University, and the staff at Western SARE, including Kristen Kelleher, housed here at the UC SAREP main office in Davis. Several SAREP staff members participated in the event, including our Associate Director Jenny Broome, David Chaney, SAREP’s education coordinator, and Gail Feenstra, our community food systems analyst. To commemorate the event, we produced a unique proceedings, Sustainable Agriculture …Continuing to Grow, which combines profiles of farmers, ranchers, marketers, and advocates who spoke at the conference, with scientific abstracts from researchers who were also present. The breadth of vision and unity of purpose in this proceedings is remarkable and serves as a testament to the vitality of sustainable agriculture as a method and movement in the West. The demand was high and we’ve already distributed all copies of the document, but it will be on the Western SARE Web site by the end of the summer at http://wsare.usu.edu/