Call for Concurrent Session and Poster Session Presentations
Changing Faces of Conservation and Agriculture–
The Future of Working Lands
Holiday Inn at the Airport
The conference will examine how the changing faces of agriculture and conservation affect working lands in the United States, particularly in the Upper Mississippi River Basin. Speakers will review current conservation and agriculture conditions and policies, and look at projected changes in both conservation and agriculture. Policy, research and practice alternatives that will bring about a promising future will be discussed. Conservation provisions in the new farm bill, conservation research, conservation delivery systems, fewer and larger farm operations, specialty and niche farming, economic trends in agriculture and other issues will be highlighted. The conference will include plenary sessions with invited speakers as well as breakout sessions. The conference will run from 1 p.m. on October 8 to noon on October 10. The meeting will include an exhibit hall; post-meeting tours in small boats of the Mighty Mississippi River backwaters and an evening activity are being planned.
Conference Sponsors
This conference is the third in a recent series of successful conferences conducted by the West North Central Region of the Soil and Water Conservation Society in the Upper Mississippi River Basin. More than 700 policy and decision-makers, research and technology professionals, providers of technical assistance, agricultural producers, and agribusinesses representatives attended the previous two conferences.
The Call for Papers
Abstracts for concurrent session and poster session presentations are being solicited. Several concurrent sessions will be conducted during the afternoon of the second day of the conference. Each session will consist of four, 15-minute presentations each of which will be followed by a five-minute discussion period.
All posters will be presented at four times during the second day of the conference; during breaks, lunch, and at a late-afternoon reception. Poster presentations are informal presentations using printed materials on 4’ x 8’ display boards. Audiovisual equipment is not allowed. Tabletop or freestanding displays are NOT considered posters. Computer demonstrations WITHOUT audio ARE acceptable. (Expect a fee for internet connections; web connection feasibility is being assessed).
Timeline
Extension to June 3 – Deadline for abstract submission
June 28, 2002 – Selected presenters will be notified of acceptance.
August 15, 2002 – Final abstracts submitted for conference publication by presenters.
Where to submit abstracts for presentations
Submit abstracts to Peter Nowak at pnowak@facstaff.wisc.edu. Disks with abstract information can be sent to Pete Nowak, 346D Agriculture Hall, 1450 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706.
Direct questions to Tim Kautza at ncrlc3@aol.com. He can be reached by voice at 515-270-2634.
Abstracts
Abstracts for concurrent sessions and posters will be reviewed by the conference program committee for direct linkages with the program theme and topic areas listed below. Abstracts will be judged on the basis they explicitly address the conference themes, and to the extent the conference program committee judges the material can be presented in 15 minutes or less (concurrent session), or within a poster format.
Abstracts must be submitted electronically, via email attachment or disk using Microsoft Word, (***.doc), Corel WordPerfect (***.wpd), rich text format (***.rtf), or as text in an email. Hand-written or hard copy abstracts can not be accepted. Abstract files should be named using the
first eight (8) letters of the senior author's last name, i.e. jones.rtf. If more than one abstract is submitted, abstract should be named; jones1.wpd, jones2.wpd.
Submit the following information in this order, text only with NO graphics, charts, or special formatting.
· Specify if abstract is intended for a concurrent session, poster, or either.
· Title of the proposed presentation
· 250-word abstract and preceded by a listing of up to five key words
§ Name and mailing address of all authors, and a voice, fax, and email address for one designated contact author.
Important registration information
The conference sponsors will not reimburse poster presenters for conference registration or related travel expenses. Authors who submit final abstracts imply agreement to register for the conference, to attend the conference and to present their posters in person. Authors must confirm that if selected to present their employer or they themselves will support the time and resources to attend the conference.
Topic areas
Presentations for concurrent session and poster session topic areas should address one or more of the elements of the following question:
What would be the impacts on (a) the natural resource base of working lands, (b) environmental quality, (c) rural communities, (d) food security, or (e) conservation delivery if one of the two following agricultural systems (or a self-selected scenario somewhere in between the two examples) was predominant throughout the Upper Mississippi River Basin?
§ Very large, non-family corporate or cooperative farms with gross sales of more than $500,000 operated by hired managers in a vertically integrated and highly concentrated, globalized marketplace.
§ Small family farms with sales less than $100,000 operated in a decentralized marketplace by a family member(s) whose major occupation is farming.
There are many specific topics that could be addressed in the context of this broad question. Some possible sub-themes are:
How these different types of farm structures affect or influence on-farm resources such as:
Soil erosion
Soil quality
Wildlife conservation
Species diversity
Water quality
How these different types of farm structures affect or influence local neighborhood, watershed or agroecosystem resources such as:
Approaches to nonpoint source pollution control
Drinking water supplies
Recreation
Flood prevention/mitigation
Composition or nature of rural neighborhoods
Land management and use planning
Local food systems
Generation of ecosystem services
What are some of the practices, features or defining characteristics of these different farm systems relative to issues such as:
Manure management
Nutrient management
Nontherapeutic use of antibiotics in animal agriculture
Organic agriculture
Bioenergy production
Pest management
Woodland management
Energy use or issues
Wetland restoration or preservation
What are some of the policy and program attributes or processes associated with these two different types of farm systems such as:
The concept of appropriate remedial practices
Biases in the implementation of conservation programs
Congruence between federal, state, and local environmental policy
Extent policy attempts to empower local communities
Availability of conservation planning alternatives
What are the ethical, environmental justice, physical and emotional health and animal care dimensions of these two different types of farm systems?
More information:
Conference information is available on the web at www.iaswcs.org/west_north_central.htm
Direct questions about the conference program to one of the members of the Conference Program Committee:
Ken Bruene, Environmental Protection Agency; Tim Kautza, National Catholic Rural Life Conference; Steven Kraft, Southern Illinois University; Dan McGuiness, National Audubon Society; Chris Murray, Agribusiness Association of Iowa; Peter Nowak, University of Wisconsin; Gyles Randall, University of Minnesota; Robin Shepard, University of Wisconsin; and Kim St. John, Natural Resources Conservation Service.