The 2023 REGENERATE Conference was our biggest yet with 653 in person registrants and almost 100 people joining the conference virtually. We know that primarily 40% of the participants identify primarily as agricultural producers, and we know that there were more land stewards in the audience who also work in other capacities for non-profits, community-based organizations, and government agencies. We really appreciate all who turned up to make this conference such a great event.
HMI partners with the American Grassfed Association and the Quivira Coalition to put on this event, which was held at the Santa Fe Conference Center this year. This venue gave ample room for our plenaries and breakout sessions which included: Regenerative Ranching at Scale, Carbon Credit Opportunities and Challenges, Value-Added Marketing, Land and Water Access--Challenges and Leadership in the Farming Community, Effective Business and Succession Planning, Resilience Through Catastrophe: Preparation for and Recovery from Climate Disasters, Supporting Mental Health in Regenerative Agriculture, Practical Naturopathic Approaches to Animal health, Regenerative Research, So You Think You're Regenerative--Partnering with Food Companies, and even an "Unconference Experience" which allowed people to choose their own topics to discuss. Many of facilitators for these roundtables were Holistic Management educators and staff including Wayne Knight, Deborah Clark, Seth Wilner, Linda Pechin-Long, and Kelly Sidoryk.
There were lots of great plenary speakers including many Holistic Management educators and practitioners such as Jeanne Carver of Shaniko Wool, Enrique Guerrero of Las Varas Ranch, Joe and Jenn Wheeling of the James Ranch, Tony McQuail of Meeting Place Organic Farm, and Brian Wehlburg of Inside Outside Management.
Additional speakers included Farm Service Agency's Zach Ducheneaux, Angela Faughtenberry, John Arbuckle, Elena Miller-ter Kuile, Dave Carter, Dr. Hubert Karreman, Dr. Aidee Guzman, Alicia Thompson, Brittany Cole Bush, Melanie Kirby, Torri Estrada, Paula Garcia, and Bobby Wilson.
Thanks to all our sponsors who helped make this event possible including: Funders for Regenerative Agriculture, Mystic Artists, Mighty Arrow Family Foundation, Grasslans Charitable Foundation, Thornburg Foundation, #No Regrets Initiative, Turner Foundation, 11th Hour Project, Taos Ski Valley Foundation, Lydia B Stokes Foundation, Savannah Institute, Tomkat Ranch Educational Foundation, Nancy Ranney & David Levi, 5th World, Audubon Certified Bird Friendly Land, NCAT/ATTRA, American Farmland Trust, Noble Research Institute, Rodale Institute, Growing Grass-USDA Climate Smart Commodity Project, Wolfe Neck's Center, Manejo Regenerativo de Ranchos, Open Team, Farm Credit NM, National Young Farmers Coalition, Shaniko Wool, Lone Mountain Cattle, Fort Union Ranch, Ferrell Ranch, Lorentz Meats, Wind River Microbes, Iroquois Valley Farmland REIT, Snap Lands, Thousand Hills, Ground Up Consulting, Grassburger, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, Aspen Business Center, Merrill, Animas Foundation, and Western Sustainability Exchange.
Thanks also to our food providers and business partners including: Thousand Hills, Santa Fe Brewing Co., Arizona Grass Raised Beef Company, Equal Exchange, Natural Grocers, Pasture Bird, NM Tea Company, Rancho Molina, Street Food Institute, SEY Coffee, ACRES USA, and Full Image Multimedia. And thanks also to our media partners: Stockman Grassfarmer, Western Landowners Alliance, High Country News, and Green Fire Times.