Streamed virtually over YouTube (youtube.com/longtomswc)
Tuesday, Jan 18, 2022 at 6 p.m.!
LTWC is continuing its series of public meetings on how a changing climate is impacting various communities and stakeholders. On January 18th, 6 p.m., we’ll be hosting a virtual discussion on the impacts of climate change on agriculture. We’re excited to welcome presenters Tiffany Monroe – president of the Lane Co. Oregon Farm Bureau and Lane Families for Farms & Forests, as well as John Deck, operator of the family-owned Deck Family Farm west of Junction City.
More frequent and extreme weather events — from heat and drought to ice storms — are having an impact on our farms and foodsheds. Changes in climate patterns are impacting management practices and the ag economy, and creating a host of challenges from crop loss to early harvests to increased costs, and more. Tiffany and John will share their perspectives and lived experiences on the topic, talking about the main challenges and considerations facing local farmers, and how the ag community is adapting, and about emerging opportunities and advancements in the industry.
About the Speakers
Tiffany Monroe (photo and bio credit: Lane Families for Farms & Forests)
Tiffany is a fifth-generation farmer, who grew up on a hazelnut, vegetable, seed, and timber farm in Junction City, Oregon. She received her bachelor’s degree from Oregon State University in Crop and Soil Science with a minor in Horticulture. She later obtained her master’s degree in Community and Leadership Development with an emphasis in Agricultural Education from the University of Kentucky. Her graduate research on implicit bias focused on lowering racial anxiety, implicitness, prejudice, and racial color-blindness among entering college freshman. Additional research and programing included evaluation of gardening and plant science curriculum for elementary school students, rural African American male perspective on education, and food systems, food justice, and race curriculum development. Post graduate studies, Ms. Monroe has worked as the first African American Female Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Agent in Kentucky history and for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture in the Office of Marketing and Product Promotion. Now home in Oregon, Ms. Monroe farms with her husband, engages in agricultural advocacy work across the country and serves as president for both the Lane County Farm Bureau and the Lane Families for Farms and Forests organizations. Ms. Monroe was recently appointed as co-chair of Governor Kate Brown’s Racial Justice Council and serves as co-chair of the Environmental Equity Committee. One of her great passions is to promote local business and industry through her role with the McKenzie Business Association.
John Deck (photo: John & his wife Christine receiving LTWC’s project landowner award in 2014)
John, his wife Christine, and their five children own and operate the 320-acre Deck Family Farm approximately 7 miles west of Junction City. The farm is certified organic, and they raise pork, chicken and eggs, grass-fed beef and lamb. They also collaborate with Full Farm CSA, which grows organic and seasonal vegetables and fruits on the property. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, LTWC worked with the Decks on a multi-part restoration project to replace a fish barrier culvert on Owens Creek with a bridge, and to install fencing and native plants along Turnbow Creek, with grant funding from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board and financial assistance from the National Resources Conservation Service CREP program. You can read more about the restoration project details on our website here.