The 12th annual Organic Seed Growers Conference is scheduled for Feb. 26 to March 1 at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Ore.

The event, held by the nonprofit Organic Seed Alliance and OSU’s Center for Small Farms and Community Food Systems, is the largest event focused solely on organic seed in North America.

Attendees include hundreds of seed growers, plant breeders, researchers, students, seed companies, food companies and policy advocates from across the U.S. and around the world.

The conference is held every two years and includes presentations, panel discussions, a seed swap, trade show and networking events.

Conference details

Farm tours and short courses will be held Feb. 26-27 prior to the full two-day conference.

Limited space is available for the pre-conference events and those interested should register early.

This conference’s theme is “Weaving Visions of Organic Seed Communities.”

The keynote address will be from Vivien Sansour, an artist, researcher and writer and founder of the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library.

Sansour advocates for seed conservation and the protection of agrobiodiversity as a cultural and political act.

The main conference features more than 30 presentations and panel discussions featuring 90 experts in a broad range of practices and experiences.

The Organic Seed Growers Conference is funded in part by an Organic Research and Extension Initiative Grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

For more information about the event, including a full list of sessions with speakers, go to www.seedalliance.org/conference.

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