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Meet the Presenters
The Tentative Presenters for 2024 Farming Evolutions Conference
FARMS Technical Contact
Michael "Storm" Casper
Michael “Storm” Casper grew up in Southeast Colorado and has spent most of his life working on a farm and ranch. He received his BA in Business Administration with a minor in Earth Science from Oklahoma Panhandle State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences in Goodwell, Oklahoma in 1991. He is a past President of the Colorado Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society and he was also a member of the Colorado NRCS Soil Health Team.
He also practices the principles of Soil Health on his own farm. Inspired by tours of the Dakota Lakes Research Farm, the Menoken Farm, and other farms across the Great Plains, Storm has implemented continuous no-till practices on his farm and has implemented livestock grazing on cropland. Storm is expanding his no-till rotation to include no kill permacultures, organic production, and other forms of regenerative ecosystem management. In 2017 he began a Soil Health demonstration project to improve the understanding of healthy ecosystems and the protection of natural resources.
Professor, Rutgers University of New Jersey
Dr. James F. White, Jr.
James F. White is Professor of Plant Biology at Rutgers University in New Jersey where he and students conduct research on ecology of microbes that inhabit plants (endophytes). James White obtained the B.S. and M.S. degrees in Botany and Plant Pathology from Auburn University in Alabama, and the Ph.D. in Botany/Mycology from the University of Texas at Austin. In 2023 James White was ranked among the top Plant Science and Agronomy researchers in the nation and world by Research.com based. James White has presented extensively at international industry and academic conferences focused on regenerative agriculture, plant biostimulants and crop microbiomes. James White is also the author of John Kempf’s regenerative agriculture course ‘Understanding Rhizophagy’.
Director, USDA Northern Plains Climate Hub
Dannele Peck
Dr. Peck is Director of the USDA Northern Plains Climate Hub. Previously, she was an Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Wyoming, where she conducted research, extension, and teaching for 10 years. Her area of expertise is decision-making under risk and uncertainty, applied to a variety of agricultural issues, such as: drought preparedness and response in cropping systems; increasing farm/ranch resilience to weather variability and changing climate; and disease prevention and management in livestock and wildlife.
Director, AgWell, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union
Clinton Wilson
Clinton is the Program Director for AgWell; a program of Rocky Mountain Farmers Union that supports well-being in agriculture. He and his family live on a small farm north of Fort Collins, Colorado. Before beginning his work with AgWell, Clinton was the director of Poudre Valley Community Farms: a land cooperative in Fort Collins, CO. Prior to that he has worked as a High School Science teacher, Family Therapist, and a director for a social service non-profit in Seattle, WA. Clinton is grateful for the opportunity to combine these experiences to support the often unseen and underappreciated farmers, ranchers and agriculture workers that provide the food, fiber, and fuel that we all depend on. “At AgWell we envision a more connected, community focused, collaborative, and robust support system for Farmers, Ranchers, and agricultural workers here in the Rocky Mountain Region and beyond.”
Research Associate, Colorado State University
Adam Osterholzer
Adam Osterholzer serves as a Research Associate with the CSU Wheat Entomology Program. Working with Dr. Punya Nachappa, he leads several annual studies, with an emphasis on combating the wheat stem sawfly. His current projects include mapping the range and intensity of sawfly infestation, screening experimental lines of sawfly-resistant wheat, and monitoring sawfly emergence timelines. Adam frequently attends extension events and seeks to expand public knowledge about this pest.
South Dakota Farmer
Rick Bieber
What began as an economic decision has morphed into a successful and profitable livestock and cropping operation for longtime South Dakota no-tiller Rick Bieber.
When Rick Bieber adopted no-till during the 1980s, he knew little about how or why reduced tillage might benefit his soils. He was simply searching for ways to lower input and labor costs to make his farming operation a paying proposition.
Associate Professor, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Dr. Mary E. Drewnoski
Dr. Mary Drewnoski is a Beef Systems Specialist with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Prior to joining UNL in 2014, she spent time learning and working in cattle systems in many locations across the U.S. including: Kentucky, North Carolina, Iowa, and Idaho. She is a beef cattle nutritionist with expertise in forage-based production systems and has spent the last 10 years researching and providing education on the use of crop residues and cover crop forage.
Nebraska Farmer
Logan Pribbeno
Logan and Brianna Pribbeno moved back to Logan's family's ranch in 2012. Moving from California's Silicon Valley to the High Plains of western Nebraska came with its own set of adjustments. However, since they've moved back, they've adjusted to live on the ranch that's been in Logan's family for five generations. The Pribbenos implemented some new management practices -- with a focus on getting the most out of every acre by using Management-intensive Grazing and grazing annual forage crops.
Associate Professor, Colorado State University
Meagan Schipanski
Dr. Meagan Schipanski is an Associate Professor of agroecology in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Colorado State University. Her research group applies systems-based approaches to improving the resilience of cropping systems, including topics of crop diversity, soil health, nutrient and water management, and climate adaptation strategies. She has led large research teams focused on improving groundwater management in the U.S. High Plains Aquifer region and the sustainability of dryland cropping systems. Most of her group’s research is conducted on working farms in collaboration with innovative producers.
Colorado Farmer
Curt Sayles
Curtis is a 67-year-old, fourth generation farmer located in the east central plains of Colorado. After receiving a BS in ocean engineering from Florida Institute of Technology, and spending several years as a professional engineer in research and development in Houston, Texas, he returned to the family farm in 1980. He bought his first farm in 1985 and currently owns 5,000 acres of dryland farm ground.
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Doing business as CSF Farms, Curtis currently practices continuous crop, not-till farming and has been doing so since 1997. As if 2014, the measured organic matter on their land had plateaued. This was an indication that their "system" was in equilibrium and not building carbon. Also, they experienced an incursion of perennial grass, indicating that the system was not in balance. Both of these issues pushed CSF Farms to look seriously at advanced soil health tools, inclding further extension of crop rotation, and an introduciton of both cover crops and paddock livestock grazing. Crops now include wheat, corn, sunflower, sfflower, millet, oats, cereal rye, buckwheat and flax.
Nebraska Farmer
Joel G. Grosbach
Joel Grosbach is a 5th generation farmer near Imperial, NE. Joel has been learning and experimenting with regenerative agriculture practices since 2017, raising both dryland and irrigated crops including corn, popcorn, millet, wheat, sorghum, and dry beans. He was a participant in the FARMS program and will discuss his project that implemented livestock grazing on dryland crop ground. Joel also serves as Kantor and organist at Zion Lutheran Church in Imperial, NE.