Annual Outlook Forum in Denver Examines Agriculture and the Global Climate

The facts, effects and policies associated with global climate change will be the focus of the 2007 Colorado Agricultural Outlook Forum. The conference will provide agriculturalists opportunities to examine how evolving climates can and will effect agriculture.

The forum, "From Colorado to the Clouds: Agriculture and a Changing Global Climate," will be held from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 21, at the Double Tree Hotel, 3203 Quebec St. in Denver. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m.

State and national experts will present facts about climate change and engage in question and answer sessions with the audience. Opportunities for agriculture to curb the emission of greenhouse gasses and farm policies related to climate change also will be discussed.

Speakers include Naomi Pena of the PEW Center for Global Climate Change, Bill Hohenstein of the USDA-Office of the Chief Economist, John Sheehan, a senior strategic analyst at the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, and Colorado State University professors Bill Cotton, Dennis Ojima and Keith Paustian.

Afternoon breakout sessions will include topics on the Farm Bill and farming without subsidies, land-use planning options for green-space and conservation easements, the conservation title of the Farm Bill, and an update and round-table report from the Agriculture Water Alliance.

A welcoming reception will take place at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 20 at the hotel. The day of the forum will be capped with the Agriculture Hall of Fame Banquet with a reception at 4:15 p.m. and dinner at 5:30 p.m. Separate registration for the Hall of Fame Banquet is required and not included with the Forum registration

Early registration is $100 if received by Feb. 7. Late registration and registration at the door is $120. For more information or to register online, visit www.coloradoagoutlook.org; for registration questions, call the Office of Conference Services at (970) 491-7501; for program information, call (303) 239-4104.

The annual forum is sponsored by Colorado State University, the Colorado Department of Agriculture and the Colorado Agricultural Leadership Associates.

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