Program & Schedule

2024 Sustainable Agronomy Conference: Equip Yourself to Confront Tomorrow's Sustainability Challenges

The 7th Annual Sustainable Agronomy Conference will take place over four weeks starting Wednesday, July 10th, with one two-hour session broadcast live each week. Conference registration includes access to all session recordings for 60 days after the last session.

FREE TO ALL!

8 CEUs: 2 Precision Agriculture, 2 Soil & Water Management, 1 Nutrient Management, 1 Crop Management, 1 Professional Development, 1 Integrated Pest Management

A note about Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for certified professionals in agronomy, crops, and soils: All of the sessions below have been approved for CEUs. The category of CEUs may be different depending upon your certification. For example, if you attend the live broadcast, and you currently have the Sustainability Specialty certification, the CEUs will automatically be changed to the Sustainability category once they have been posted to your record. The entire series is virtual.

Putting data into action for precision nutrition

Day 1, Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Session 1 - 11:00 am to 12:00 pm US Central Time
Visualizing trends and evaluating critical values with precision data collection techniques -- Learn how drone imagery and other data can be used to build crop management zones and make precise fertilizer applications and recommendations, to benefit the environment, productivity, and profitability. The presentation will include a demonstration of the software, AIPro, which houses and organizes soil, yield, and management zone data.

John McGuire, Chief Innovation Officer, Brookside Labs
Heather Rindler, Research Agronomist, Brookside Labs

Session 2 - 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm US Central Time
Cutting-edge tech for crop and nutrient management -- This presentation will discuss how several forms of precision ag technology have been scaled for use by growers. For example, two nitrogen management tools (Adapt-N and Sentinel Fertigation) and a crop management tool (Taranis) are being used to mitigate water quality issues specific to Nebraska.

Kevin Anderson, Senior Sales Agronomist - Adapt-N, Yara
Tim Mundorf, Director of Soil Management, Central Valley Ag
Tim Pearson, Regional Sales Manager, Taranis
Jackson Stansell, CEO and Founder, Sentinel Fertigation

CEUs: 2.0 Precision Agriculture

Managing soil health and other conservation challenges

Day 2, Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Session 1 - 11:00 am to 12:00 pm US Central Time
What is your soil test report telling you? -- Learn how to identify and remediate issues with soil salinity and sodicity. We’ll discuss how to anticipate the impact of soil salts with soil test reports, understand which factors to consider with establishing plant cover/forages, and use plants, tile drainage, or chemicals to amend salt-affected soils.

David Clay, Distinguished Professor of Soil Science, South Dakota State University
Sharon Clay, Distinguished Professor of Plant Science, South Dakota State University
Tom DeSutter, Professor of Soil Science, North Dakota State University

Session 2 - 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm US Central Time
Applying soil health practices at scale -- This panel will discuss practical approaches to maintain and build soil health, while also addressing growers' needs at scale. What do you do when presented with the challenges of (1) too much water, (2) too little water, or (3) rooting restrictions or soil compaction?

Clint Truman, Technical Leader, Syngenta
Abbey Wick, Technical Leader, Syngenta
Trent Wimmer, Key Account Sustainable Solutions Lead, Syngenta

CEUs: 2.0 Soil & Water Management

Extending sustainability in agriculture to benefits beyond the field

Day 3, Wednesday, July 24, 2024

Session 1 - 11:00 am to 12:00 pm US Central Time
Sustainability in food systems: Pressure from food chain and the role of stakeholders -- Join us for a panel discussion of how agronomic consultants can support their growers in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, thus helping produce food in a sustainable way. We'll look at key concepts of regenerative ag, trends among food companies, and the respective roles of stakeholders in the larger food chain.

Rob Mikkelsen, Director of Agronomic Services, Yara
Isaac Mpanga, Sustainable Food Solutions Director, Yara

Session 2 - 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm US Central Time
Practical ways to strive toward sustainability in dairy systems -- This session will begin with an overview of the emerging initiatives for sustainability within the dairy industry. Then we'll cover some practical ways to change up operations toward putting those sustainability goals into practice.

Reza Afshar, VP-Soil, Feed and Water Research, Dairy Management, Inc
Victor Green, Director, Environmental Research-Soil Health and Crop Production, Dairy Management, Inc

CEUs: 1.0 Nutrient Management, 1.0 Crop Management

Accelerating the adoption of innovative ag practices

Day 4, Wednesday, July 31, 2024

Session 1 - 11:00 am to 12:00 pm US Central Time
Adopting a conservation agronomy mindset -- Let's discuss “conservation agronomy” as it interacts with public policy, emerging opportunities for crop consultation, and policy/piloting. We'll share some examples of incentive programs and other tools for meeting farmer priorities and engaging agricultural retailers.

Leif Fixen, North American Soil Health and Nutrients Strategy Manager, The Nature Conservancy

Session 2 - 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm US Central Time
Supporting IPM adoption through NRCS conservation programs: Practical experiences from the field -- This session will highlight integrated pest management work in almond orchards of California, including the perspectives from growers and pest control advisors. See how the NRCS's EQIP program has been put to use for IPM.

Karen Lowell, Area Agronomist, USDA-NRCS California
Larry Elworth, Principal, The Center for Ag Partnerships, LLC
Bruce Knight, Principal and Founder, Strategic Conservation Solutions

CEUs: 1.0 Professional Development, 1.0 Integrated Pest Management