February 12,2007

"The Future of Water Use in Agriculture" will cover topics ranging from economics and policy to technology and biology and the fast-emerging biofuels market in a two-day March conference sponsored by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

UNL's fourth annual Water Law, Policy and Science conference is March 26-27 at Lincoln's Embassy Suites.Much of the conference will explore the economics and policy dimensions of agricultural water use.

"Increasing competition for water resources in Nebraska and the Great Plains is creating both exciting opportunities and stiff challenges," said UNL Water Center director Kyle Hoagland. "The purpose of this conference is to glean ideas for the future from some of the nation's top experts."

Key speakers in this first of three main conference topic areas are David Sunding, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California-Berkeley; federal reserve and irrigated agriculture financial expert Jason Henderson of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, Omaha; Daryll E. Ray, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Tennessee, on policy effects on decisions in the agricultural economy; and Charlton Bonham, Trout Unlimited, on legal implications of competing water uses.Syndicated agricultural columnist Alan Guebert will speak on water and ethanol connections at Monday's luncheon.

Afternoon discussions shift to technical and biological issues related to agriculture and future water use.

Leading the discussions on agricultural landscape evolution in an adaptive management framework will be Christopher Lant, executive director of the Universities Council on Water Resources, Department of Geography at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Ill.Vikram Mehta, Center for Research on the Changing Earth System, Columbia, Md., will speak on how climate variability and extreme climatic events impact water and agriculture; Pamela Nagler of the U.S. Geological Survey, Tucson, Ariz, will speak on evapotranspiration and riparian species; and David Nielsen of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, Akron, Colo., will discuss alternative crops and deficit irrigation.

Also Monday afternoon will be presentations by Derrel Martin, UNL agricultural engineer, and Mark Lagrimini, head of UNL's Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, on genetic improvements in drought tolerant crops.

Evening dinner speaker will be Colorado Supreme Court Justice Gregory Hobbs on the role of climate on western water institutions.

The focus on Tuesday will shift to the emerging biofuels arena.

"The rapid growth of the biofuels industry has tremendous economic potential, but also much broader impacts than many of us realize," said Lorrie Benson, UNL Water Resources Research Initiative senior program manager. "Our conference will examine impacts and ways to minimize impacts on communities, the livestock industry and, of course, on water and other environmental aspects."

Ken Cassman, director of UNL's Nebraska Center for Energy Sciences Research, will lead off with a discussion of the impacts of biofuels production on food crops. Wallace Wilhelm of UNL and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service will look at opportunities and challenges in the ethanol industry. Clarence Lehman of the University of Minnesota's Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior will speak on the environmental, economic and energy costs of biodiesel and ethanol production and use. Tom Sinclair, Department of Agronomy, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla., will offer predictions for improvements in water efficiency in the biofuels arena.

Other speakers address related topics such as biofuels impact on livestock and livestock markets and how this growing industry could affect agricultural sustainability.

Full conference registration is $350 until March 7 and $425 thereafter. Partial registration options are also available. Students can attend the conference free. For more information or to register, contact Tricia Liedle, UNL Water Center at (402) 472-3305, e-mail pliedle2@unl.edu. Co-sponsors of the conference are the university's Water Resources Research Initiative, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Water Center, School of Natural Resources, Departments of Geosciences and Biological Systems Engineering, College of Law and College of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Steven Ress
Communications Coordinator, UNL Water Center