PULLMAN, Wash. – The State of Organic Agriculture in Washington will be the topic of the keynote presentation at the Washington State University symposium on its biologically intensive and organic agriculture program, or BIOAg.
A program of WSU’s Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, BIOAg is a comprehensive research and educational program focused on biological processes in farming that are renewable, non-polluting and that provide multiple benefits for farmers and society. Organic farming is one well-developed example of the concept.
The symposium will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 28, in the Junior Ballroom of the renovated Compton Union Building on WSU’s Pullman campus. The symposium will begin at 10:10 am with a session of poster presentations by faculty involved in BIOAg research projects.
The keynote presentation will begin shortly after noon starting with an introduction by John Reganold, Regents Professor of Soil Science, who spearheaded the establishment of the nation’s first organic agriculture major at WSU. That will be followed by a presentation by Jessica Goldberger, assistant professor of Community and Rural Sociology, and David Granatstein, WSU sustainable agriculture specialist. Goldberger recently completed the first comprehensive statewide survey of Washington’s organic producers and Granatstein is lead author of WSU’s annual state organic profile.
The keynote will be followed by an address by WSU Vice President for Extension and Economic Development John Gardner. His topic will be “Engaging the University in Sustainability Research, Education and Extension in the 21st Century.”
The symposium is open to the public and free of charge.
The agenda can be found at http://css.wsu.edu/bioag/.
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