PASA Conference

The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture will hold their 19th annual Farming for the Future conference in Penn State from February 4-6, 2010, at Penn State.

Profitability in the Dairy Industry conference

The Profitability and Environmental Sustainability in the Dairy Industry Conference will take place in Madison, WI, on February 10, 2010. The one-day event is hosted by the Madison, Wisconsin-based Dairy Business Innovation Center as a part of ACEEE's 2010 Forum on Energy Efficiency in Agriculture. More details are available at http://www.aceee.org/conf/10ag/dbic.htm.

Organic Ag Research grant

The USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture is accepting applications for projects that will enhance the ability of producers and processors who have already adopted organic standards to grow and market high quality organic agricultural products. Priority concerns include biological, physical, and social sciences, including economics. The OREI is particularly interested in projects that emphasize research and outreach that assist farmers and ranchers with whole farm planning and ecosystem integration. Projects should plan to deliver applied production information to producers. The deadline is February 16, 2010, and full guidelines for the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative are available here.

Eligible entities include colleges and universities; other research institutions and organizations; private organizations or corporations; and individuals who are United States citizens or nationals, as well as other agencies.

Aid for dairy farmers

The USDA has announced a program to benefit dairy farmers, who can apply for assistance before January 19, 2009. The Warren Times Observer highlights the impact this new program may have on local farmers in this article.

USDA to host job creation roundtables

The United States Department of Agriculture will be holding a series of forums and roundtables, which their press release describes as bringing together "business owners, community members, state and local officials, union members, non-profit organizations, economists and other interested parties. Participants will discuss on steps that can to be taken to grow the economy and put Americans back to work. Some of the roundtables may be regional in order to focus on shared interests, economic conditions and cooperative solutions."

According to DOLETA, "The primary focus will be on ideas to accelerate job growth in rural America. Some of the topics to be discussed are:

* exploring ways to rejuvenate and promote local businesses;
* Creating jobs by rebuilding America's infrastructure;
* Creating new opportunities from existing ones, such as with value-added agricultural products;
* Supporting job growth among small businesses; and
* Preparing workers for 21st century jobs."