Led by Dr. Bill Tracy, Department of Agronomy, with partners eOrganic and Brian Baker, CIAS co-hosted the first ever Organic Agriculture Research Symposium as a pre-Organic Farming Conference event in February 2015. CIAS faculty associates, students and staff now participate in the event as it moves each year to a different host institution. Detailed proceedings and recordings from each session are on the eOrganic site. The conference sessions for 2016-2020 are also available at this site. 

The 2015 keynote was Charles Benbrook, Washington State University; “The Benefits of Organic Agriculture: Evidence Based Results”. Recording

The two-day event featured presentations on: 

• Farming Systems: Seeing the Big Picture
• Organic Seeds: What is at Stake?
• Organic Research: An International Perspective
• Plant Breeding for Organic Farmers 1: Back to the Future
• Biological Control: Working With Nature
• Holistic Livestock Care and Feeding
• Soil Health: Back to Basics
• Organic Markets: Quality and the Consumer Connection
• Farming Systems: Putting it all Together
• Plant Breeding for Organic Farmers 2: Creative Partnerships and Emerging Varieties
• Economics of Organic: The Bottom Line
•  Listening Sessions
  • Soil and Plant Health
  • Livestock
  • Seeds and Breeds
  • Other

Sponsors

• Organic Farming Research Foundation 

• Organic Research and Extension Initiative 

• USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Organic Agriculture Program

• Ceres Trust 

• The Organic Center