Family Farms in an Era of Global Uncertainty

2008 Shivvers Lecture, presented by John Ikerd, Professor Emeritus, University of Missouri - Columbia
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Ames

Sponsored by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, the ISU chapter of Gamma Sigma Delta Honorary Society for Agriculture and the ISU Committee on Lectures funded by GSB; presented annually since 1969 in memory of John Shivvers who farmed near Knoxville.
 

John Ikerd

We live times of growing uncertainty regarding the future of our economy, our society, and of humanity. These uncertainties are all symptoms of the same basic cause: our unrealistic demands on an unsustainable economy. Some have suggested biofuels as a solution to the twin challenges of fossil energy depletion and global warming. However, the greatest challenge for agriculture will be to feed more people better with less fossil energy. The food security of any nation depends on the willingness and ability of its farmers to take care of its land and to care for its people. The future of humanity of in these uncertain times depends on the thoughtful, caring, and committed people who choose to live and work on family farms.

Ikerd was raised on a small dairy farm in southwest Missouri and received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri. He worked in private industry for a time and spent 30 years in various professorial positions at North Carolina State University, Oklahoma State University, University of Georgia, and University of Missouri before retiring in early 2000.

Since retiring, he has spent most of his time writing and speaking on issues related to sustainability, with an emphasis on economics and agriculture. Ikerd is the author of Sustainable Capitalism, A Return to Common Sense, Small Farms are Real Farms, and Crisis and Opportunity: Sustainability in American Agriculture.

Ikerd's presentation: Family Farms in an Era of Global Uncertainty

Event flier

John Ikerd's web site

John Ikerd signs a book for Charlotte Shivvers.

Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, 209 Curtiss Hall,
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