AgNext Research Summit 2025
Registration Open!
AgNext Research Summit 2025: June 10 – 13, 2025*
*Bonus Date Added June 13th: Methane Day in Partnership with the Colorado Department of Agriculture
Early bird pricing available until April 1st – $250

Additional Information - Pricing, Student Poster Competition, Producer Registration, Hotel Information, Sponsorship Opportunities, and Agenda
- Early Bird Registration: $250 (available until April 1, 2025)
- General Registration: $300 (available until June 1, 2025)
- Day-of Registration: $350
- Student Registration*: $100 (Students may be eligible for free registration through the Student Poster Competition. See below for more details)
- Producer Registration**: Same as Early Bird/General/Day-of Pricing (Producers may be eligible to be reimbursed for registration cost through the Rancher Resilience Grant. See below for more details)
Spots are limited—register today!
AgNext is excited to invite undergraduate and graduate students to apply for the opportunity to present their research on sustainability in agriculture as part of our Student Poster Competition at the AgNext Research Summit 2025. Spots are limited, and applications will be reviewed by our team to determine who will be invited to participate based off the following criteria:
- Project area
- Mission alignment
- Abstract review
Selected students will receive free registration to the AgNext Research Summit 2025, taking place June 10–12th. Please note that AgNext will not cover travel expenses for selected participants.
Fill out the application here. Application will be open until April 15th, 2025.
Accepted students will be notified via email along with a promotional code that will provide them with free registration to the AgNext Research Summit 2025. Selected students will have the opportunity to showcase their work to industry leaders, researchers, and peers during the Cocktail Hour on June 11th at the AgNext Research Summit 2025.
Producers may be eligible to be reimbursed for the cost of the AgNext Research Summit 2025 through the Rancher Resilience Grant. More information and application can be found on the NCBA website.
A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hilton Fort Collins for the AgNext Research Summit 2025. Please call 800-768-0605 and ask for the AgNext Room Block with the booking code 936. You will be able to book in the block at the discounted group rate of $169/night per room for a standard room with one king or two double beds. Additionally by booking this hotel block, you will receive complimentary parking. Hotel block reservations can be made until May 9, 2025 or until it is sold out.
To reserve online: https://www.hilton.com/en/attend-my-event/agnext-researchsummit/
To sponsor the AgNext Research Summit 2025 at any of the levels, go to the registration website, click “Start Registration” and select “Sponsor” as the attendee type.
AgNext is always open to working with new partners. This year, our team is excited to invite partners to sponsor the AgNext Research Summit 2025 at three levels:
- Orange Sponsor – $1,000 Gift
- Receive one complimentary registration to the AgNext Research Summit 2025
- On-site advertisement (digital & physical)
- Verbal recognition at the start of each day
- Listed as a sponsor on the AgNext Research Summit 2025 website
- Green Sponsor – $2,500
- Receive two complimentary registrations to the AgNext Research Summit 2025
- On-site advertisement (digital & physical)
- Verbal recognition at the start of each day
- Listed as a sponsor on the AgNext Research Summit 2025 website
- Logo and approved materials posted throughout conference room
- Space on one 4 x 8 table for advertising and marketing materials
- Gold Sponsor – $5,000
- Receive up to four complimentary registrations to the AgNext Research Summit 2025
- On-site advertisement (digital & physical)
- Verbal recognition at the start of each day
- Listed as a sponsor on the AgNext Research Summit 2025 website
- Logo and approved materials posted throughout conference room
- One 4 x 8 table for advertising and marketing materials
- Opportunity to sponsor segment of the AgNext Research Summit 2025
- Identified as a sponsor for students to attend the AgNext Research Summit
If you would like more information on how your organization might partner with AgNext, please email Erica Giesenhagen ([email protected]).
**This agenda is tentative and the AgNext team reserves the right to adjust**
AgNext Research Summit 2025 Agenda: June 10-12, 2025
Tuesday, June 10th – Conference Check-In and Research Facility Tour Opportunity
Location: Taylor Conference Room Agriculture Research and Education Center, Colorado State University
- 3:00 Conference Registration Opens
- 3:15 Tour of the Facilities
- 4:15 Tour of the Facilities
- 5:15 Tour of the Facilities
- 6:00 Adjourn
Wednesday, June 11th AgNext Research Summit 2025 Day One
Location: Colorado State University – C. Wayne McIlwraith Translational Medicine Institute 2350 Gillette Dr. Fort Collins, CO 80523
- 8:30 Coffee and Continental Breakfast
- 9:00 Welcome
- Dr. Kim Stackhouse-Lawson, Director AgNext
- Dean Sue VandeWoude, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
- Dr. Patrick Doyle, Department Head Animal Sciences
- 9:15 Innovative Technologies to Reduce Beef Industry Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- Project overview | Dr. Nathan DeLay, Assistant Professor of Livestock Economics
- Emissions and performance in backgrounding | Dr. EJ Raynor, Research Scientist and Anna Shadbolt, Research Associate
- Emissions and performance in finishing | Dr. Sara Place, Associate Professor Feedlot Professor and Marisa Werner, Graduate Student
- Economic considerations and survey work | Dr. Nathan DeLay and Dr. John Ritten, Director of Grazing Land Research and Engagement
- 11:15 Break
- 11:30 The Role of Communication in Sustainability and Animal Agriculture Research
- AgNext Communications Showcase | Erica Giesenhagen, Communication and Outreach Specialist
- Science Communications Panel | Moderated by Erica Giesenhagen
- 12:15 Lunch
- 1:15 Sustainable Grazing: Rangelands
- Grazing projects updates and overview | Dr. John Ritten
- Grazing Management Principles in Action | Anna Shadbolt
- Producer Principles Panel | Moderated by Erin Karney, Executive Vice President Colorado Cattlemen’s Association
- 2:45 Break
- 3:00 Calf Health and Welfare: Enhancing Early Life Development as a Proxy of Livestock Systems Sustainability
- Effects of extended colostrum feeding on beef on dairy calves’ health and growth performance | Dr. Pedro Carvalho, Assistant Professor and Feedlot Specialist
- Dairy heifer microenvironment, management considerations and animal stress responses | Dr. Diego Manriquez, Dairy Systems Specialists
- Producer Panel: Sustainability challenges for beef and dairy calf raising systems | Moderated by Dr. Diego Manriquez
- 5:00 Cocktail Hour and Student Poster Competition
- 6:30 Adjourn
Thursday, June 12th AgNext Research Summit 2025 Day Two
Location: Colorado State University – C. Wayne McIlwraith Translational Medicine Institute 2350 Gillette Dr. Fort Collins, CO 80523
- 8:30 Coffee and Continental Breakfast
- 9:00 Animal Health in the Dairy Industry
- Update on HPAI research | Dr. Jason Lombard, Associate Professor and Dairy Systems Specialists
- Air Quality Research | Dr. Diego Manriquez
- Environmental Impacts of Dairy Operations: Cradle-to-Gate Analysis of Healthy vs. Disease-Affected | Dr. Leticia Campos, Postdoctoral Fellow of Agricultural Modeling and Lifecycle Assessment
- Producer Panel: What are the priority animal health challenges for the dairy industry? | Moderated by Dr. Jason Lombard
- 11:00 Break
- 11:15 Developing Worker Education Programs for Enhancing Labor Acquisition and Retention
- Human-animal interaction on the dairy farm | Natalia Herrera, Auora Organic Dairy Farm Operations Business Specialist
- Multilingual education modules | Dr. Diego Manriquez
- 12:15 Lunch
- 1:15 Innovation in Feedlot Systems
- Feedlot Research Overview | Dr. Sara Place
- Effects of cattle breed, growth-promoting technologies, and season on cattle growth performance and enteric methane emissions | Dr. Pedro Carvalho
- Determination and evaluation of enteric methane under confined conditions | Dr. Juan Vargas, Research Scientist
- Hub for Emissions Reduction Data (HERD) model phase 1.5/2 overview and demonstration | Dr. Fidel Maureira, Lead Modeler, Dr. Ames Fowler, Earth Systems Modeler, and Dr. Shree Sharma Dangel, Lead Modeler
- Key things we have learned and what’s next | Dr. Sara Place
- 3:00 Closing Remarks | Kim Stackhouse-Lawson
- 3:15 AgNext Research Summit 2025 Concludes
**This agenda is tentative and the AgNext team reserves the right to adjust**
June 13th: Colorado Department of Agriculture Methane Day
Location: Taylor Conference Room Agriculture Research and Education Center, Colorado State University
- 8:30 Coffee and Continental Breakfast
- 9:00 Welcome and Introductions
- Dr. Kim Stackhouse-Lawson, Director AgNext
- Cindy Lair, Deputy Director of Conservation Division, Colorado Department of Agriculture
- 9:20 Colorado’s Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap: Update and Status
- Clay Clarke, Climate Unit Director, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
- Kristen Boysen, Managing Director Drought and Climate Office, Colorado Department of Agriculture
- 9:50 Regulation 85: Lessons Learned
- Moderator: Dr. John Ritten, Director of Grazing Land Research and Engagement
- Panel Participants:
- Bill Hammerich, Retired CEO of Colorado Livestock Association
- Kenan Diker, Director Agriculture Water Quality Specialist Colorado Department of Agriculture
- Robert Sakata, Agricultural Water Policy Advisor, Colorado Department of Agriculture
- 10:50 Break
- 11:00 Vision for Agriculture Methane in Colorado
- Kate Greenberg, Commissioner of Agriculture, Colorado Department of Agriculture
- Evanne Caviness, Conservation Services Division Director, Colorado Department of Agriculture
- 11:15 Current Barriers and Opportunities Related to Reducing Methane Emissions in Colorado
- Dr. John Ritten
- 12:00 Lunch
- 1:00 Update on Current Research and Methane Mitigations Strategies
- Dr. Sara Place, Associate Professor of Feedlot Systems
- 2:00 Tour of Climate-Smart Research Facility
- 3:00 Break
- 3:15 Net Zero Initiative in the US Beef and Dairy Systems: Integrative On-Farm Recommendations for Greenhouse Gas Reduction
- Dr. Kim Stackhouse-Lawson
- 4:00 Producer Perspectives on Methane Mitigation
- Moderator: Zach Riley, Chief Executive Officer, Colorado Livestock Association
- Panel Participants:
- Steve Wooten, Beaty Canyon Ranch
- Juan Velez, Auroa Organic Dairy
- Karissa Isaacs, Superior Farms
- Tom McDonald, Five Rivers Cattle Feeding
- 5:00 Concluding Thoughts
- Evanne Caviness
- 5:30 Adjourn

