NPC Executive Committee Meeting

Chestnut B

State Managers Meeting

Walnut

Potato PAC Fundraiser: Meet up at New Belgium Brewery 

(by invitation only)

Registration and Welcome Reception 

Magic Rat 

Sponsored by Worley Family Farms

NPC Executive Committee and Past Presidents Dinner 

Ginger and Baker, Wine Cellar, 359 Linden Street 

Sponsored by McCain Foods

Breakfast on own

Registration

Lobby

Board buses for Colorado State University, Nutrien Agricultural Sciences Building

Transportation sponsored by CIA-Leavitt Insurance Agency, Inc. – DBA – Leavitt Group of Colorado

General Session

Bernard Rollin Knowledge Well, Nutrien Agricultural Sciences Building, Colorado State University 

Welcome by:

James Pritchett, Vice President for Engagement and Extension, Colorado State University, former dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and director of the Agricultural Experiment Station

Amy Charkowski, Research Associate Dean, College of Agricultural Sciences, Colorado State University

Healthy Soils: The Integrated Rocky Mountain-region Innovation Center for Healthy Soils (IN-RICHES)

Helen Silver, Co-Director, IN-RICHES
IN-RICHES is a multi-disciplinary collaboration with contributions from CSU Agricultural Experiment Stations, CSU Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, and Ground Up Consulting. It is a project of CSU Spur.

Healthy Food: Periodic Table of Food Initiative

Melanie Odenkirk, Research Scientist, Jessica Prenni Lab, College of Agricultural Sciences, Colorado State University
The Periodic Table of Food Initiative (PTFI) is helping bring this vision to reality by providing foundational scientific and educational resources to map food quality. With their global partners, they are building the scientific base to support innovations that nourish communities and our environment.

Sustainable Businesses: Rocky Mountain Regional Food Business Center

Dawn Thilmany, Professor of Agricultural Economics and Co-Director of the Regional Economic Development Institute, Colorado State University
As part of the network of USDA Regional Food Business Centers, the Northwest and Rocky Mountain Regional Food Business Center supports a more resilient, diverse, and competitive food system.  This Center is designed to be a node for our region’s small and mid-tier food and farm businesses and local and regional food sector development initiatives by supporting cross-regional collaboration, providing and analyzing relevant and timely data, and serving as a gateway for USDA programs and other third-party funding opportunities, with a focus on underserved farmers, ranchers, and food businesses.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture

Sangmi Pallickara, Professor, Computer Sciences Department, Colorado State University

Identifying Needed Innovations

Jillian Lang, Director of Strategic Partnerships, STRATA, Colorado State University System
Jessy McGowan, Licensing Manager, STRATA, Colorado State University System
Jordan Lambert, Director of Ag Innovation, CSU Spur

Tour of Canvas Stadium, home of the CSU Rams, and Lunch 

Lunch catered by Ram Country Meats Catering  

Sponsored by Syngenta

Speaker: Jeff Callaway, Director of the Fermentation and Food Science Program, Colorado State University

Ram Country Meats Catering is located in the JBS Global Food Innovation Center on the Colorado State University campus. They are a student-operated catering service that serves as a fundraiser for the CSU Meat Judging Team. This fundraiser allows students to participate and travel freely.  

Tours

Transportation sponsored by The Little Potato Company 

1pm Depart for Agricultural Research, Development and Education Center

1:30-3pm Agricultural Research, Development and Education Center (ARDEC) Tour

Colorado State University, College of Agriculture Sciences

ARDEC sets the table for collaborative research among government agencies, industry partners, CSU students, and researchers. Their teaching and learning facility lends itself to investigating environmental and water quality stewardship practices for integrated cropping and livestock production systems. Their multidisciplinary research primarily focuses on developing new pest and disease-resistant crops, pest-insect biological controls, and intensive livestock grazing strategies. They aim to develop optimized genetics and breeding for crops and livestock for higher yields, disease resistance, and vigorous offspring. On the tour, you will hear about the agronomy side, livestock side, ag ed, foundation seed (wheat breeding), and the seed lab.

3pm Depart for Morning Fresh Dairy Farm

3:30pm Morning Fresh Dairy Farm Tour

Enjoy a tour of Morning Fresh Dairy Farm, a fifth-generation family dairy and supplier for Noosa yoghurt. The dairy loves showing people how their milk is made and delivered to milk boxes across Northern Colorado every week. Learn about local farming and its impact on the community, meet the cows that make your milk and pet an adorable calf, and enjoy samples of our flavored milk and Noosa yoghurt.

5:30pm Arrive at The Elizabeth Hotel

Reception & Dinner

Terrace 

Sponsored by Farm Fresh Direct

Entertainment sponsored by 1,4 Group

Breakfast on own

Committee Meetings  

Walnut  

Refreshments sponsored by Lamb Weston

8:30am-9:30am Finance Committee  

9:45am-10:45am Legislative Affairs Committee

11am-12pm Trade Affairs Committee

Guest Program

CSU Annual Flower Trial Garden and Lunch at The Farmhouse at Jessup Farm

Start the day with a tour of Colorado State University’s beautiful Annual Flower Trial Garden. The outdoor display and test areas at the gardens were established to allow students, researchers, industry representatives, homeowners and extension personnel to learn, teach and evaluate through horticultural research and demonstration projects. The purpose of the trial program is to evaluate the performance of different annual plant cultivars under our unique Rocky Mountain environmental conditions. You’ll hear how plants are evaluated for plant vigor, uniformity, floriferousness and tolerance to environmental and biotic stresses.

Next, you will enjoy lunch at The Farmhouse at Jessup where you will share rustic-inspired modern farm fare.

Wear comfortable shoes and be ready for a walking tour of the gardens!

Luncheon

Terrace  

Sponsored by Bayer

Committee Meetings  

Walnut  

1:30-2:30pm Grower Outreach and Industry Research Committee 

2:45-3:45pm Environmental Affairs Committee 

Board of Directors Meeting

Walnut

Shuttle transportation available to Odell Brewing Company 

Pick-up outside of lobby

Dinner

Odell Brewing Company and The OBC Wine Project, 800 E. Lincoln Avenue 

Sponsored by Colorado Potato Administrative Committee

Entertainment sponsored by Lenco West

Transportation sponsored by Spudnik

Tours and Departures

Potatoes USA Office and Test Kitchen Open House 

3675 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colo.  

Transportation on own

CSU State SPUR Campus Tour 

4777 National Western Drive, Denver, Colo.   

Transportation on own

The CSU Spur Campus (http://csuspur.colostate.edu) is part of the Colorado State University System and is located in Denver, CO at the historic, contemporary, and future home of the National Western Stock Show. An outward-facing campus, Spur invites community and industry to partner with CSU in new ways.  Structured around the grand challenges we all face: sustainable food production, safe drinking water, and sustained health, CSU Spur is your lifelong learning partner. At Spur, we host K-12 students and educators in career discovery and college preparation activities; we offer CSU undergraduate classes, Master’s and Ph.D. degree programs, along with certificates and micro-credentials; and we provide a growing array of lifelong learning classes, workshops, and other educational activities. CSU Spur also enables novel research, leveraging our unique urban location, adjacency to the state’s largest population and industry concentrations, and novel research assets including agrivoltaics research sites, controlled environment agriculture labs, water research facilities, and equine-assisted therapies. Support of industry and industry partners in food, agriculture, water engineering, biomanufacturing, and performance textiles takes many forms at CSU Spur. Nonprofit partners at Spur include Denver Water, the Dumb Friends League, and College Track add to the dynamic mix. Every visit to Spur is unique and highlights might include watching live animal surgeries; experiencing animal anatomy in our VR classroom; talking plant research on the world’s largest, publicly-accessible green roof research site; participating in taste tests to help our food scientists test out new products; and watching water engineers as they develop new technologies to manage a precious and dwindling natural resource.  CSU Spur is the latest manifestation of the CSU commitment to life-changing education and world-changing research.   

Come and check out CSU Spur for yourself—what you see will surprise you!