Check out the 2025 Speakers, Topics & Recordings
This year, arid growers met the second Monday of the month, December through February, for presentations and grower-to-grower discussions on focused on small-scale arid vegetable growing.
PRESENTATION: I choose you! Seed selection for arid vegetable production
Click here to watch the presentation recording.
Does it really matter where the seeds you plant come from? This lively workshop in December 2025 explored the latest research on plant epigenetics and adaptation to environmental conditions, and give practical tips for choosing seed varieties that perform well in arid environments. We also discussed basic strategies for increasing our region’s resilience through growing our bioregional seedshed, with a focus on successful seed sowing, variety trialing, and seed saving in the Intermountain West.
BIO: Casey O’Leary helps individuals and organizations rekindle their sense of wonder and enliven their ideas about what is possible by reconnecting them with the reality that they are natural creatures who belong here on planet earth. As an urban farmer, seed saver, and provocateur, her lifework is to ideate and enact projects that mimic the ecosystems where we live. She co-founded and runs the Snake River Seed Cooperative, and is the Executive Director for Taproots Farm Hub, which is working to build a farm incubator in the Treasure Valley.
PRESENTATION: Strategies to Improve Summer Germination, Transplant Survival & Yield
Click here to watch the recording.
In the January 2026 WAGN gathering with Sarah Benimana we talked about humidity, temperature, soaking seed, and other strategies for improving transplant seeding, direct seeding, and transplant success.
SPEAKER BIO: Sarah Benimana, a PhD student in the Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences Department at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Sarah is working to improve maize production of smallholder farmers in Rwanda.
Her childhood on a diversified farm in Rwamagana district, Eastern Province of Rwanda shaped her educational and career trajectory. She works closely with GoFarm Hawaii to provide training for new farmers and is involved in a USDA-funded cost of production analysis for small farms in Hawaiʻi.
Her research interests include crop nutrition, soil health, international agricultural development, and increasing the profitability and sustainability of small-scale farming. She did her undergraduate studies in Washington state in the Sustainable Agricultural Systems.
PRESENTATION: Humidity, Temperature, and Soil Water Tension in Arid Agriculture: Fundamental Concepts and Monitoring to Empower On-Farm Decision Making
Click here to watch the recording.
In February 2026, we explored the relationships between plants, soil, and water in arid agricultural systems and the role these elements play in determining plant health, yield, and quality. Jacob Hurst presented on temperature, humidity, and soil water content were highlighted, with specific emphasis on techniques and technologies that can be used to monitor these factors as part of decision support systems for growers.
SPEAKER BIO: Jacob Hurst is a lecturer in the Plant Science Department at California State University, Fresno and a PhD student in the Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences Department at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
He teaches courses on plant health, integrated pest management, and sustainability. His research interests include grafting, propagation of drought tolerant food crops, and cover cropping with native plants to support sustainable agriculture.
He holds a BS In Entomology and Plant Science from Cornell University and an MSc in Plant Science from California State University, Fresno, where he developed in vitro and traditional grafting protocols for salt-tolerant prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica).
Western Arid Grower Network Gatherings will continue in Dec 2026 and Jan and Feb 2027..
WAGN gatherings are always the second Monday of the month from 6-8pm PST. The first hour is a presentation followed by grower discussion. Free to all and online-only.
Registration will become available in November 2026.