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***CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PAPERS***
Sustaining Agriculture in the 21st Century: Thinking "Outside the Box"
Biennial Meeting - North American Chapter Association for Farming
Systems Research and Extension (AFSR/E)October 20-23, 1999
University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, CANADA
Linkages between agriculture and the changing social, economic, and
bio-physical environment need to be understood and optimized if
agriculture is going to meet the challenges of the 21st century. We
invite you to submit abstracts for papers, posters, and panels that
relate to one or more of the following 4 topics:
1. Farming Systems and Environmental Management
Increasingly, agri-environmental schemes are being seen not only as
vehicles for environmental enhancement, but also as a potentially
important factor in marketing. Papers for this session should focus
on:
* Local, national and international standards for environmental
management systems
* Farming systems approaches to improve management of bio-physical
resources
* Public policy as a stimulus or constraint to implementation of
environmental management systems.
2. Farming Systems and Technological Innovations
In Ontario and throughout North America, consumer demand for food and
food products that come from sustainable operations is on the
increase. Papers for this session should focus on:
*Identifying and exploiting new marketing opportunities
*Farm level impacts of volatile financial markets and changing
consumer preferences
*Improving market access through alternative production
practices and biotech products.
3. Farming Systems and Rural Communities
Agriculture continues to dominate the physical landscape and cultural
history of most regions even though its economic impact at the
community level is reduced. Papers in this session should focus on:
* Agriculture's role in re-building and enriching rural community
life in the 21st century
* Strategies that foster positive community-agriculture interactions
* The effect of rural community change and service sector
restructuring on the viability and quality of farm life
4. Farming Systems and Human Health
Recent concerns about food safety have led directly to investigations
about farming practices and their consequences for food production.
Papers in this session should focus on:
* Preventing food contamination on the farm
* Implications of vertical integration for food safety
* Occupational Health and Safety in agricultural production.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The conference will combine formal paper sessions, panel discussions, and
poster presentations along with informal conversations with local
farmers experienced in "out of the box" thinking.
Abstracts (maximum 250 words), should be submitted to the conference contact
by April 1/1999. Abstracts accepted will be printed and made available
to conference participants. An edited collection of selected papers
will be published in a refereed conference proceedings to be made
available in the year 2000. Details concerning the preliminary
program, registration, and accommodation will be supplied in a second
circular to be distributed in April, 1999.
Conference Contact:
Ellen Wall
Email: ewall@envsci@uoguelph.ca
Phone: 519 824 4120 ext 8480; Fax : 519 763 8933
Check the FSR website for more details:
http://www.oac.uoguelph.ca/FSR/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ellen Wall
Research Scientist
Farming Systems Research
Plant Agriculture
University of Guelph
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
N1G 2W1
phone: 519 824 4120 ext 8480
fax: 519 763 8933
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