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Invitation to
2005 Seeds and Breeds Conference
September 11-14 2005,
Ames, Iowa
June 28, 2005
A Conference to Reinvigorate Public Breeding of Seeds and Animals for
a Healthy 21st Century Agriculture
Friends and Colleagues,
Please accept this as your official invitation to this strategic conference
about shaping a dynamic future for a farmer and consumer-oriented public
plant and animal breeding agenda for the 21st century.
Total conference participation is limited to meet the participatory
nature of this event, so we strongly encourage you to sign-up by July
15. Please go to the following website http://www.agron.iastate.edu/seedsandbreeds/
for registration and logistic details. See the conference agenda and
make special note of the optional pre-conference field day tour being
offered.
The purpose of the Seeds and Breeds Conference 2005 will be to continue
the discussion and coalition building to reinvigorate public plant and
animal breeding that began with the 2003 Seeds and Breeds Forum held
in Washington DC (a written record of the proceedings is available for
review at
http://www.rafiusa.org/pubs/
(listed as Seeds and Breeds PDF). We believe that plant and animal
breeding are technologies that harness the creative power of selection.
The results of this selection process are powerful, precise and predictable.
While breeding has produced clear public benefits, the continuation
of this discipline is by no means assured. The paradigm for crop and
animal improvement has shifted from breeding (selection) to engineering.
The importance of plant and animal breeding needs to be reestablished
and the intellectual basis of breeding must be reinvigorated. This gathering
will create a forum for discussion, analysis and planning to progress
towards shifting the current paradigm.
Unlike the 2003 Forum, this gathering will be structured as a conference
with multiple sessions to dig deeper into the very practical challenges
and opportunities we face in building a public plant and animal
breeding agenda to meet the needs of farmers and consumers for the 21st
century.
This conference will allow participants to learn very practical and
hands-on information about exciting on-the-ground farmer participatory
breeding initiatives that are working from both the US and Europe. We
will also identify the resources, infrastructure and delivery systems
necessary to reinvigorate public plant and animal breeding to meet the
challenges of a more healthy and sustainable agriculture. Sessions will
also include topics on federally funded programs, and coalition building
to
affect change in existing programs, with a special focus on the upcoming-2008
Farm Bill.
The conference will ideally result in a larger community of engaged
farmers, breeders, public interest and policy specialists to affect
change; as well as create new breeding programs and to learn how to
expand and participate in existing programs. A limited amount of space
will be available at the Conference to exhibit posters that display
information about programs or projects. Please contact Marcia Minear
at mminear@iastate.edu to reserve space. Conference registration can
be found at the website listed above.
Please sign-up today. We look forward to your participation in this
critical event.
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