Building on insights gained during his time as EPA's Senior Agriculture Advisor in the Biden-Harris administration, Rod Snyder will provide his perspective on the past decade of farmer-led progress on climate and sustainability goals and his outlook for the next chapter of public and private sector collaboration to accelerate a more resilient food and agriculture system.

Troy Daniell, State Conservationist with the Minnesota NRCS, will welcome us to Minneapolis and highlight sustainability efforts going on around the state.

Learn about the Hmong American farmer community and the unique yet significant role they play in driving the region’s local foods economy.  

Connect with other attendees and grab a beverage or a snack in between sessions. The Collaboration Café is located near the breakout session rooms for your convenience.

Exploring the Business Opportunity in Supporting and Partnering with BIPOC and Woman Farmers
Over the last decade, the ag sector has seen success in calling attention to underserved and marginalized farmers in our ag system and the important role that farmer advisors play in helping farmers implement regenerative ag practices.  This session will explore the farmer advisor and service provider needs of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and women farmers, and where there’s opportunities for agribusinesses to develop and offer services to meet these needs.

Nature Metrics Workshop: Measuring Progress in Agri-Food Supply Chains
Farmers rely on and connect to nature for a range of ecosystem services. Understanding the risk that nature loss and degradation pose to their businesses, farmers and companies across the agri-food supply chain are taking actions to preserve, and restore. Recently, the SBTN released guidance on nature metrics related to land, freshwater, ocean, atmosphere, and indigenous peoples to equip companies with a consistent set of metrics related to nature. This workshop will highlight emerging nature metrics and explore how companies can work with growers to use existing farm-level data to assess, measure, set targets, disclose and act on nature.

Small Changes, Big Impacts: Two Decades of Prairie Strips Progress Across the Midwest
Prairie strips, or CP43, is a conservation practice designed to alleviate biodiversity loss and environmental damage associated with row-crop agriculture. Included in the 2018 Farm Bill, this practice aids soil, nutrient, water and wildlife conservation across the U.S. Midwest. Social surveys in 2012 revealed demand among both farm and non-farm populations for the outcomes prairie strips produce. To engage landowners, partners working across multiple sectors in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota focused on prairie strips outreach. To date, the results include more than 22,000 acres of CP43 in 15 states -- and still growing!

Crop Insurance for Practices that Reduce Risk and Improve Environmental Outcomes and Profitability
Join us for a cross-cutting discussion on how to improve the Federal Crop Insurance Program (FCIP) to help farmers reduce risk by better incorporating conservation and farming diversification practices that strengthen economic and environmental sustainability. Speakers will highlight future opportunities for the FCIP to support greater on-field and landscape-level diversification, and practices, such as split nitrogen application, adoption of cover crops, and diversified farming systems that reduce risk and strengthen long-term economic and environmental sustainability.

Strengthening Supplier-Customer Sustainability Partnerships (Partner Sponsor: U.S. Poultry & Egg Association)
Data needs and requests can cause tension between customers and suppliers. This lecture and panel will delve into the work that the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Poultry & Eggs and the American Egg Board are doing to bridge that divide and make it easier for the supply chain to work together to drive continuous improvement. The audience will hear from major poultry & egg producers and customers who share their experience and practical advice of how to navigate these relationships and the pressures they face from their segment of the supply chain.

Socio-economic Benefits of Farm and Ranch Planning: Reaching Producers Where They Are
Sustainable practices at the farm and ranch level are the foundation for a sustainable food system. Understanding where producers are at, including their challenges and motivations, is key to understanding how to best reach them with relevant support as well as new innovations and technologies. This panel will provide insight into methods to identify the current state of practices at the farm and ranch level as well as the factors that motivate or influence producers in their decision-making processes, using grazing management planning as a case study.

Sustainable farming practices often come with significant costs, which are typically paid for by farmers and ranchers. Like all business owners, producers are more likely to adopt sustainable practices if there is a clear opportunity for a return on investment and less financial risk. To support this, agriculture stakeholders, sometimes in conjunction with state entities, have been working to demonstrate the financial benefits of these practices and identify financial planning solutions. The Minnesota Farm Business Management Program is a prime example of this, developed to provide one-on-one business support to farmers to help them understand the strengths and weaknesses of specific practices and prepare a strategy for long-term success. Learn how successful local programs, like Minnesota's, can be a model for nation-wide farm financial benchmarking efforts that support farmers in their endeavor to implement sustainable practices while sustaining their business.

38% of all food in the U.S. goes unsold or uneaten, lost at various points from the field to the family table. This surplus food consumes land, water, fuel, and other valuable resources as it’s grown, processed, prepared, and disposed of, adding to overall GHG emissions, and costing the U.S. economy $473 billion. This session will consider a variety of solutions and partnerships aimed at reducing the environmental, social, and economic impacts of wasted food.

Designing Engagement for Impact and Scale with Movable Middle and Historically Underserved Producers
Design your own producer engagement strategy! Participants will walk through a real-world planning process and learn how to apply data to more effectively reach middle adopters and underserved producers – whether they are Great Plains ranchers, African-American row crop producers in the South, or young Midwestern specialty crop farmers. The five steps in Trust In Food’s™ and Environmental Initiative’s Reach Farmers Faster engagement-design process were built from groundbreaking human dimensions research. Learn about and deploy producer-centered outreach planning to more quickly persuade producers to access technical support, enroll in programs, and scale sustainability practices.

Measure and Report the Impacts of Regenerative Agriculture Initiatives Using the Fieldprint Platform (Partner Sponsor: Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture)The number of agriculture companies making public commitments to regenerative agriculture is increasing. To confidently report on progress, a scientifically sound and credible measurement framework is necessary. The Fieldprint Platform® measures and reports on-farm environmental impacts of regenerative farming practices. This session will showcase the Platform's features that track regenerative agronomic practices affecting biodiversity, land use, water use, water quality, soil erosion, soil carbon, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions. Attendees will see the Platform in action and hear from companies already using this tool to achieve their regenerative agriculture goals.

Nexus of Food Safety and Sustainability
Specialty crop grower-led discussion of on-farm practices and research on the nexus of food safety and sustainability. How do growers navigate implementing biodiversity on farm while meeting the changing landscape of consumer interest in sustainability and balancing human health risk. Although both food safety and sustainability objectives are key priorities for growers, farming systems have not been optimized for long-term sustainability, particularly when incorporating food safety practices that are required for fresh produce. Growers must navigate the complexities of supporting sustainability, biodiversity, and food safety outcomes. The panel will discuss managing the incompatibility and opportunities of these priorities.

Innovative Approach to Addressing Land Use Change – Connecting Across Drivers and Solutions
This session will feature a panel of experts from farming, policy, agriculture, and conservation. They will discuss new ways to work together to understand and address land use change, aiming to create more effective solutions for farmer/rancher markets and the environment. The session will involve building and refining maps that illustrate the complex factors and solutions related to changes in farmland and grasslands. By involving both the experts and the audience, the goal is to enhance these maps and foster better collaboration for a comprehensive approach to land use change.

‍Open Access Tools to Measure Soil Health, the Foundation for Regenerative Agriculture
How can we measure and demonstrate the impact of regenerative practices at scale? In this session, you’ll discover free technologies that help growers, advisors, and industry stakeholders track progress and make data-driven decisions to enhance resiliency. Watch a live demonstration of Slakes, a smartphone app that measures aggregate stability, an essential indicator of soil health. Hear case studies on the economic and environmental benefits of regenerative practices and learn about the next frontier: a new Drought Resilience Calculator to help growers advance water stewardship and lead their farms – and the supply chain – toward a more sustainable future.

Innovating Livestock Sustainability Through R&D Funding, Acceptance, and Adoption
Innovation in the livestock sector takes many forms – from improved genetics to novel feedstuffs and beyond. The ability of the sector to continue innovating relies not only on public and private financial support for research and development, but also on technology uptake in the value chain and consumer acceptance – which often influences technology adoption, for better or worse. This panel discussion will feature insights from experts across animal agriculture on lessons learned from historic challenges in innovation and opportunities for future innovation to be successfully adopted, both in practice and by consumers.

Investing in Your Workforce to Build Business Resilience (Partner Sponsor: U.S. Roundtable For Sustainable Beef)
Recent producer surveys show ag labor as one of the top challenges for the success of livestock and farming operations. How can agricultural operations build a culture that attracts and retains a capable and motivated workforce? Join this session to hear the latest research on understanding animal caretaker perspectives of job satisfaction, training approaches, management culture and key motivators. Compare what workers say with what a large ag employer sees playing out in their business each day. Bring your questions and thoughts for a robust discussion on how ag can be an industry of choice, both today and tomorrow.

Delving into Integrated Pest Management: An Essential Addition to Your Sustainability Agenda
Explore Integrated Pest Management (IPM) through a 30-minute interactive simulation that highlights the dual impact of IPM on environmental health and economic viability in agriculture. Led by University of Idaho Extension educators, this session offers a practical overview of IPM strategies essential for sustainable agricultural planning and decision-making. Participants will navigate decisions that balance financial risks and environmental benefits crucial to effective pest management. Following the simulation, a flash panel will illuminate why IPM is integral to large-scale sustainability strategies, offering insights into its implementation and impact.

Updates from DiverseCornBelt: Enhancing Rural Resilience through Landscape Diversity in the Midwest
Farmers have excelled in producing corn and soybeans, a rotation deeply embedded in Midwestern culture. However, climate change, commodity prices, changing markets, and struggling rural communities threaten this bounty. Evidence suggests increased agricultural diversity could enhance resilience. Working with a range of stakeholders, the USDA-NIFA funded Diverse Corn Belt (DCB) explores opportunities and challenges for agricultural diversity in the Corn Belt. We will share 1) DCB findings related to agronomic, economic, infrastructure, and policies impacting diverse agriculture with an emphasis on farmer voices and 2) Insights from Star of the West Milling related to market investments, processing challenges and solutions.

A Decade Working with Ag Retail to Scale Conservation: What’s Worked and What’s Still Needed
Shifting to a regenerative food system requires industry wide collaboration and innovative approaches to scale adoption of key practices. Trusted ag retail advisors are positioned to significantly influence and support successful implementation of this work, while creating new revenue and business opportunities. This session will explore the emerging field of 'conservation agronomy,' featuring perspectives from NGOs, an industry group, ag retail, and farmers. Speakers will share research, practical resources, and on the ground examples of successful service-based models for conservation delivery, while engaging the audience in applying key insights to their own position in the value chain.

Leveraging Materiality Assessments: Building a Strong Foundation for a Sustainable Future
Materiality assessments enable businesses to address their impacts on the environment, economy, and people, fostering innovative sustainability approaches. These assessments help organizations prioritize their most significant impacts, align stakeholders, set comprehensive sustainability strategies, and establish a strong foundation for a sustainable future. This session, featuring insights from ISOS Group’s materiality assessments for Associated Milk Producers, Inc. (AMPI), First District Association (FDA), and Leprino Foods, covers ESG reporting, data collection tools, stakeholder engagement, and sustainability policies. Attendees will gain practical insights, learn to apply assessment results, and understand the importance of materiality assessments in sustainability journeys across various industries.

Water Stewardship in the Nebraska High Plains: A Case Study on Farmer-Led Conservation Efforts
This panel highlights a decade of farmer-led water stewardship initiatives in Nebraska, showcasing practical approaches to furthering agricultural sustainability. The panelists will review a project sponsored by Google as an example of public-private partnership driving water conservation outcomes at a landscape level. Exploring innovative technologies, multi-stakeholder collaborations, and economic strategies, the session will demonstrate how local initiatives can inform national sustainability efforts. Panelists will discuss the past decade's achievements, current challenges, and visions for another decade of progress, offering insights on scaling water-smart practices across diverse agricultural settings. This forward-looking discussion will provide attendees with valuable perspectives on navigating future challenges in agricultural sustainability, emphasizing data-driven solutions and ecosystem preservation.

For more than a decade, we have examined the potential for U.S. agriculture to accelerate environmental solutions while also creating a thriving economy. We aren’t yet there, so what more is needed to unlock that potential? In this session, we’ll explore how food and beverage companies can work with their suppliers to address many of the sticking points – farmer financial risks, complex metrics and reporting systems, challenging policy environments, and the need for technical support – that pose barriers to widescale adoption of sustainable practices. Learn what will be needed for U.S. agriculture to move beyond individual projects to industry-wide action that delivers tangible results for farmers and the supply chain.

Solutions for a more sustainable future for food and agriculture are within reach on America’s farms and ranches. No two farms are alike, so a key ingredient for accelerating agriculture-driven solutions is a robust bench of technical assistance and peer support that provides farmers with expert guidance for successful implementation of new practices and technologies. Farmers from across commodity sectors will discuss where they already find support, what resources they feel are missing, and how the value chain can bolster existing or develop new systems that provide clarity and advance sustainability approaches.