Penn-led symposium hosted discussions about sustainable, regenerative agriculture
Penn Vet has wrapped an exciting new collaboration with PennPraxis, the community engagement arm at Penn’s Stuart Weitzman School of Design.
Over six weeks this fall, the inaugural Farm of the Future symposium explored the advantages, challenges, and opportunities surrounding animal agriculture and food production systems within Pennsylvania, the surrounding region, and across the United States.
During seven two-hour individual virtual sessions, the free-to-the-public Symposium delivered practical, applicable insights from a cross-section of experts and thought leaders, including agriculture industry innovators, farmers and other agricultural producers, ecologists, and landscape architects, as well as industry advocates and policymakers.
Speakers discussed a broad range of topics pertinent to farming practices, such as agribusiness economics and profitability, food security and urban wellness, water and natural resource management, on-farm biodiversity, pasture and nutrient management, rotational grazing, and beyond.
Ultimately, conversations will serve as a bedrock for designing an interdisciplinary, living farm of the future model to be built on Penn Vet New Bolton Center’s nearly 700-acre campus in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
Once established, the model operation will be a critical tool for advancing environmentally and economically sustainable farming practices, while simultaneously serving as a regional resource for producers to gather more on-farm information to aid in their decision to incorporate these practices into their own agribusiness operations.
The series ran September 30-November 18, 2020.