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Home>Get Involved>Information Alert>30 JUNE 2005

EVENTS: Iowa and Minnesota

June 30, 2005

August 11 - 14
Minneapolis, Minnesota: Conference of the American Community Gardening Association.More than 125 community gardeners from the U.S., Canada, Germany, Nigeria, and Australia are already registered to attend the 26th Annual Conference of the American Community Gardening Association Don't miss the July 15 regular registration fee deadline.

Please join us for:

• 60 workshops on community gardening
• Tours by bike, bus, and kayak
• A community gardening film festival
• A youth track for ages 7 to 12
• Pre & post-conference training sessions

More information, complete conference brochure, and registration at
http://www.communitygarden.org/ or 1-877-ASK-ACGA.

September 11-14 2005
Ames, Iowa: 2005 Seeds and Breeds Conference. A Conference to Reinvigorate Public Breeding of Seeds and Animals for a Healthy 21st Century Agriculture.

You are invited 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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