We are also privileged to host Tom Trantham, Progressive Farmer's Man of the Year for South Carolina.  John Leidner will present the award to Mr. Trantham, a very successful dairy farmer, who will briefly describe his Twelve Aprils grazing program and the role Clemson faculty played in his accomplishments. 

Wes Jackson, President of The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas, earned a BA in biology from Kansas Wesleyan, an MA in botany from University of Kansas, and a PhD in genetics from North Carolina State University. He established and served as chair of one of the country's first environmental studies programs at California State University-Sacramento and then returned to his native Kansas to found The Land Institute in 1976. He is the author of several books including New Roots for Agriculture and Becoming Native to This Place and is widely recognized as a leader in the international movement for a more sustainable agriculture. He was a 1990 Pew Conservation Scholar, in 1992 became a MacArthur Fellow, and in 2000 received the Right Livelihood Award (called the "alternative Nobel prize"). 

The Land Institute focus is on a new paradigm for food production called Natural Systems Agriculture, where nature is mimicked rather than subdued and ignored. The Land Institute personnel believe that with additional research, an agriculture that is resilient, economical and ecologically responsible is well within reach. Their strategy is to collaborate with public institutions in order to direct more research in the direction of Natural Systems Agriculture. They are now seeking funds to construct and operate a research center and to underwrite scientists elsewhere who will cooperate on research. More information is available at http://www.landinstitute.org/vnews/display.v
 

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