New speakers scheduled for the Jan. 20-22 Kennewick, Wash., Cropping Concepts -- Feeding Farmer Innovations program continue to beef up the focus of the conference.

Co-sponsors the Pacific Northwest Direct Seed Association and Washington State University annual PNW Oilseeds & Direct Seed  Conference announce new names on the agenda, including:
•Markus Braaten, Agri-Trend, Montana.
•Judy Olson, Washington State USDA-Farm Service Agency executive director
•Elston Solberg, Agri-Trend agronomist, Alberta, Canada
•Mike Stamm, Kansas State University canola breeder

This year's Cropping Concepts conference features a joint meeting of the Pacific Northwest Direct Seed Association and WSU oilseed research interests.

Among other presenters just added to the program are Jack Brown, University of Idaho plant breeder; Jim Davis, UI canola research scientist; Lindsey du Toit, Washington State University seed pathologist; Aaron Esser, WSU Extension; DaveHuggins, USDA Agriculture Research Service soil scientist; Scott Hulbert, WSU interim chair; Dan Long, USDA ARS Oregon director, Drew Lyon, WSU weed scientist, and Stephen Machado, Oregon State University dry land agronomist.

Others area Andy McGuire, WSU irrigated cropping system agronomist; Jim Moyer, WSU associate dean of  research; Bill Pan, WSU Biofuel Cropping Systems Program director; Wayne Thompson, WSU Extension; Marlon Winger, Natural Resource Conservation Service Idaho state agronomist, Don Wysocki, OSU soil scientist, and Frank Young, USDA agronomist and weed scientist.

Western Farmer-Stockman is a sponsor of the annual meeting, along with nearly 30 other farm agribusiness concerns, including Monsanto, Bayer Crop Sciences, McGregor,  Wilbur-Ellis  and Northwest Farm Credit Services, to name a few.

A farm show provided by the conference will run concurrent with the speaker program in the Three Rivers Convention Center. An extensive list of exhibitors, which may be found at http://www.directseed.org/events/annual-conference/, includes the above sponsors as well as the Pacific Coast Canola, among the new   sponsors and exhibitors attracted to the event when the PNDSA annual convention joined hands with WSU's Washington Oilseed Cropping Systems research two years ago.

Attendees will be able to interact with more than 500 producers, industry representatives and suppliers of ag products and services, notes PNDSA Executive Director Kay Meyer, adding that blocks of rooms at lower conference rates have been established at the Red Lion Inn & Suites, Red Lion Hotel-Columbia Center, and Hilton Garden Inn adjacent to the conference center.

General sessions of the conference will feature crossover topics including soil health and quality, marketing oilseeds and cereals, weed management and precision agriculture. The first day of the conference will focus on production innovations; the second day offers the soil health focus. The third  day topics will be on a marketing and economics theme.

A full agenda of the conference may be found at the website shown above.