Submitted by: agcomm,  Wed Dec 31 10:25:49 1997


                         December 31 1997
Organic Grower Meetings Set for January and February
     A symposium on "Marketing Options for Organic Grain" will be
offered free of charge at the Carrington Research Extension
Center near Carrington, N.D., on Tuesday,  Jan. 13, from 9 a.m.
to 3:30.  
     The day's sessions--designed for producers who are
interested in marketing certified, identity-preserved
grains--will include presentations by the Midwest Organic
Alliance of Minneapolis, Agrow Oils of Carrington, Northland
Organic Foods Corp. of St. Paul, Stengle Seed and Grain of
Milbank, S.D., and Duane Boehm, organic farmer of Richardton,
N.D.  The symposium will conclude with a panel of experienced
organic farmers discussing how they meet demands for product type
and quality as they market their products. 
     Another meeting of interest to organic growers, the Northern
Plains Sustainable Agriculture Society Annual Winter Conference,
is set for Feb. 6 and 7 at the Ramkota Inn in Aberdeen, S.D. 
     Among the conference speakers will be Brad Brummond, North
Dakota State University Extension Service agent for Walsh County;
Robert G. Hall, South Dakota extension crop specialist; Brian
Jenks, weed scientist at the North Central Research Extension
Center in Minot, N.D.; Roger Johnson, North Dakota commissioner
of agriculture; Ann Kirschenmann, acting executive director of
Farm Verified Organic; Denise Olson, research entomologist at
NDSU; Pam Saunders, meat pool coordinator for CROPP Organic
Valley in LaFarge, Wisc.; and Sarah Vogel, partner at Wheeler and
Wolf law firm and former North Dakota attorney general and
commissioner of agriculture.
     Conference session topics include rotations, weed control,
sustainable insect control, certification, risk management,
environmental toxins and organic meat marketing.   
     For more information about either of these meetings, contact
Theresa Podoll, Northern Plains Sustainable Agriculture Society,
9824 79th St. SE, Fullerton, ND;  (701) 883-4304.
                              ###
                                
NDSU Agriculture Communication
Source: Theresa Podoll (701) 883-4304
Editor: Barry Brissman (701) 231-7866