For more than a year, Jamie Derr, a Sun Prairie, Wis., grain farmer, has been perfecting his home-brewed biodiesel system one part restaurant grease, one part crushed oilseeds and a large shot of farmer ingenuity. The bio-based fuel, the product of Derr's experimentation and interest in alternative energy, powers the tractors that harvest no-till corn, soybeans, wheat and small grains in a sustainable rotation on his 400 acres.
Derr will be joined by more than 140 agricultural experts who are similarly pushing the envelope and are slated to speak at SARE's national conference, Aug. 15-17 in Oconomowoc, Wis.
"There are all sorts of reasons to do this," Derr says, "but it comes down to supply and demand. Biofuels will give us assurance of time and energy. We need to diversify our energy supply, and we need to diversify in a hurry."
"A Midwest Homecoming: Sharing a New Tradition of Sustainability" is SARE's fifth national conference celebrating an agriculture that is profitable, environmentally sound, and good for people and communities.
Keynoters include:
* Dan French, who runs a seasonal, grass-fed organic dairy farm in Minnesota and will host the conference opening session.
* Johari Cole, a farmer who works to bring technology training and infrastructure to her rural African American community near Chicago.
* Frank and Deborah Popper, a husband-wife team that invented the "Buffalo Commons" concept as a vision of how to inhabit the Great Plains in a sustainable manner.
* Winona LaDuke, executive director of a Native American foundation working on environmental and energy policy issues.
* Mark Ritchie, former president of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and an expert on trade and the environment, who will provide closing remarks.
What's in it for you? Ponder the possibilities while listening to our respected keynote speakers, feed your mind at more than 30 educational sessions, visit thriving agricultural businesses during regional tours and enjoy heavy doses of evening fun. Learn from dynamic speakers leading presentations in such topics as innovative livestock systems; sustainable crop production; renewable energy; direct-market successes; and maintaining diversity in agriculture.
Speakers hail from Hawaii to New England, but most reside in SARE's North Central region, which is hosting the conference. What they share are their voices of experience. Make plans to attend, bring the kids who can participate in a variety of "Camp SARE" educational activities and take away ideas that will last you a lifetime. Log onto www.sare2006.org to register.