3rd annual Indoor Agriculture Conference to be held in Las Vegas

Jan 06, 2015

Event scheduled for March 31 - April 1, 2015

By Diego Flammini, Farms.com

The third installment of the Indoor Agriculture Conference (Indoor Ag Con) will take place in Las Vegas between March 31 and April 1, 2015.

The gathering brings together agriculture and technology professionals, chefs, entrepreneurs, investors, and others to look at the upcoming trends in indoor farming including hydroponic, aquaponic, and aeroponic growth systems for fish production in greenhouses, containers, and warehouses.

Indoor Ag-Con will feature speakers from a variety of avenues including Glenn Behrman, President of GreenTech Agro, Patrick M. Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com, Michael DeGiglio, President and CEO of Florida’s Village Farms, and Meiny Prins, CEO of Priva, based out of Holland.

The first day of the conference will consist of an overview of the industry and look at the larger issues related to commercial growers and farmers. Day two will look at specific technologies and practices that are best suited for indoor agriculture.

Also on March 30^th will be an integrated design workshop being put on by the Association for Vertical Farming, Indoor Ag Con, and the UNLV Downtown Design Centre, and GreenView Global. Three teams will design futuristic farms that teach vertical farming in a hands-on, tangible setting. Dr. Dickson Despommier, a vertical farming pioneer, will also speak at the event.

Registration for the Indoor Ag Con starts at $299. It includes admittance to all conference sessions, gift bags, some meals, and a discounted registration for New York’s first Indoor Ag Con, slated for fall of 2015.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.