Topics to explore the connection between agricultural practices, soil health, and climate.

Summary: The deadline to register for the 2023 Soil Revolution Conference closes in one week on Friday, Dec. 8, at 9 p.m. Farmers, ranchers, policy makers, and agricultural professionals will discuss the connection between agricultural practices, soil health, and climate. There is a fee for registration.

---

Boulder County, Colo. - Registration deadline for the 2023 Soil Revolution Conference closes in one week on Friday, Dec. 8.

The event will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 7 a.m. - 4 p.m., at the Boulder JCC. In-person and live-stream options are available. Registration and information are available on the SoilRev.org webpage for the 2023 Soil Revolution Conference.

Topics will cover on-the-ground solutions from producers spanning a variety of climate and soil conditions across the county. Confirmed speakers include:

Fred Provenza
Fred Provenza grew up in Salida, Colorado, working on a ranch while attending school in Wildlife Biology at Colorado State University. He obtained graduate degrees and worked at Utah State University for 35 years. He is now professor emeritus of Behavioral Ecology in the Department of Wildland Resources at Utah State University where he directed an award-winning research group that pioneered understanding of how learning through metabolically mediated flavor-feedback relationships and experiences in utero and early in life influence foraging behavior and how behavior links the health of soil, plants, herbivores, and humans.

Patrick O’Neill
As a trained soil scientist and agronomist, Patrick O’Neill advocates for soil health education and practice implementation as a consultant to farmers and ranchers and through volunteer efforts with the conservation districts in his watershed. Currently, Patrick serves as a supervisor for the Mosca-Hooper Conservation District in Alamosa County, within the San Luis Valley of Colorado.

Erin Gaugler
Erin Gaugler grew up on a farm and ranch in southwest North Dakota. Upon graduation from high school, she knew she wanted to be involved with the agricultural industry but she did not know to what extent. She has spent the last several years continuing her education and working off the farm to advance her knowledge of agriculture and natural resource management. At this time, she is finishing a Ph.D in Range Science and has transitioned back to the farm and ranch on a full-time basis. Her management goals focus on improving the system as a whole, but with particular emphasis on soil health. Cover crop and livestock integration strategies are often used to regenerate the soil while also benefitting pollinators.

Drew Gaugler
Drew Gaugler grew up on a farm and ranch in southwest North Dakota. Upon graduation from high school, he knew he wanted to be involved with production agriculture but he also wanted to continue his education. He now manages a cow-calf and sheep operation along with native and improved pasture as well as winter forage/hay land acres. He has worked with the North Dakota Department of Agriculture, NRCS, USFWS, and North Dakota State Water Commission to transition from a 3-cell pasture rotation relying on dugouts for water to a 31-cell rotation with miles of pipeline, multiple wells (solar and conventional), dams for wildlife, cover crops for pollinators and soil health, and miles of trees.

Dannele Peck
Dannele Peck is director of the Northern Plains Climate Hub, with the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Fort Collins. The Climate Hub connects agricultural producers with science-based resources and partners to enable weather-ready and climate-smart decisions in farming, ranching, and forestry. Dannele was raised on a dairy farm in upstate New York. She earned a B.S. in Wildlife Biology and an M.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Wyoming, and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Oregon State University. She specializes in farm-level decision-making under risk, and is a coauthor on the agriculture chapter of the Fifth National Climate Assessment.

Brent Young
Brent Young serves as an Agricultural Business Management Economist with Colorado State University Extension. Brent strives to help farmers and ranchers manage risk through the development, delivery, and evaluation of non-credit educational programming. Additionally, he provides information on Farm Bill Title 1 production support and Title 11 commodity insurance programs, crop and livestock enterprise analysis, financial management strategies, and commodity marketing.

This event is hosted by Boulder County Parks & Open Space, CSU Extension, the City of Boulder, USDA-NRCS, and the Boulder Valley and Longmont Conservation Districts.

For more information, contact Trent Kischer at tkischer@bouldercounty.org or 720-864-6529.