The annual in-person Cascadia Grains winter conference will be replaced by a virtual event this year.

Grains Week, May 3-7, is hosted by the Culinary Breeding Network, Washington State University’s Food Systems Program, Oregon State University, Cornell University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Seed to Kitchen Collaborative, eOrganic, the Artisan Grain Collaborative and GrowNYC Grains.

“Cascadia Grain’s winter conference was canceled due to the pandemic,” said Aba Kiser, statewide project manager for WSU Food Systems. “So we all decided to come together and combine forces to knock out some great grainy content in one big dose.”

Organizers teamed up with national partners using two national USDA Organic Agriculture Research and Education Initiative grants for expanding opportunities for specialty value-added small grains production, processing and consumption, according to a press release.

Sessions will stream live daily May 3-7 on the Culinary Breeding Network’s Youtube Channel.

Each day will have a different focus, including brewing and distilling, baking and culinary uses, integrated agricultural systems, agronomic research and grain systems around the world.

The audience for the event includes professionals, home bakers, consumers, chefs, brewers, distillers, maltsters, farmers, agricultural professionals and academics.

More than 300 people have already registered, Kiser said.

The videos will remain available after the event, she said.

“We hope that folks will get inspired to plug into their local grain movements wherever they are nationally,” Kiser said.

Mike Potter, co-founder of Black Brew Culture, in Pittsburgh, Pa., will speak about the Black brewing movement nationwide, Kiser said.

Registration is encouraged. All programming is free. Registration can be found at www.culinarybreedingnetwork.com/events or on any participating partner website.