Discover the Triple Bottom Line — economics, ecology, and sociology — on Feb. 25-26 at Bismarck State College.

The Area 4 Research Farm, Menoken Farm, Soil Conservation Districts, North Dakota State University, BSC and USDA have developed their 5th annual Farming and Ranching for the Bottom Line workshop at the BSC National Energy Center in Bismarck, N.D.

Keynote presentations by Fred Provenza, professor emeritus of Behavioral Ecology at Utah State University, will be “Mending Broken Linkages: Soil, Plants, Herbivores and Humans” and “Let Feed and Food Be Our Medicine.”

Also focusing on the theme will be: “Links Between Land Management and Food Quality” by Andrea Clemensen, research biologist at the Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory; “USDA Soil Health/Human Health Project” by Mike Grusak, director of the Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center; and “The NDSU Agribiome Initiative” by Greg Lardy, NDSU vice president for Agriculture, and John McEvoy, NDSU Microbiological Sciences chair.

“Weather Crystal Ball” will be presented by Laura Edwards, South Dakota state climatologist; and “Rain, Rust and Ruts: Is There a Silver Lining to 2019?” will be presented by Mark Liebig, Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory Research Soil Scientist.

“Perspectives” will be offered by panelists Greg Busch, a Columbus, N.D., ag producer; John Pfaff, assistant vice-president of Security First Bank, Mandan, N.D.; and Tom Rabaey, senior manager of General Mills Agronomy Services Group.

Jerry Hatfield, director of the National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment in Ames, Iowa, will present “Future Directions and Challenges for Agriculture.”

Abbey Wick, NDSU Extension soil health specialist, will moderate a producer panel on “Building Soil Health Across North Dakota”; and Dr. David Toledo, Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory Research Rangeland Management Specialist, will discuss “What Makes People Do What They Do on Their Farms and Ranches.”

Registration begins at 8 a.m. Central Standard Time with the program at 9 a.m. both days.

The conference is free but register online by Feb. 18 or call 701-250-4518, ext. 3 for lunch.

The entire program will be streamed online.

Source: Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.