Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

One of the main highlights of this year’s meeting was the increase of international collaborations in presented research with 10 out of 26 papers, or 38.5% including or consisting of international co-authors. Another 10 out of 26 papers, or 38.5%, were authored by the researchers from the same institution.  The remaining 6 out of 26 papers, or 23%, are collaborative works by researchers at different institutions. This regional project is one of the main catalysts for the works. However, all of the research is discussed before participants from many institutions. All participants attend this meeting to hear about works from researchers at other institutions that are in the area of expertise addressed by the project. As well, this meeting remains an important venue for graduate students to present their work. This year, 16 graduate students attended the conference, many of them presenting papers co-authored with faculty members.

This year’s conference was attended by 46 participants despite travel challenges associated with COVID-19 pandemic.  Most of the presentations were in-person.  However, necessary arrangements were made to facilitate several virtual presentations due to COVID-19 travel restrictions at USDA and some other cases. It was acknowledged that participation remained strong despite travel budget constraints and restrictions at many universities.  

Final papers presented at the conference will be published as electronic proceedings on the NCCC-134 website. The site address is http://www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu/nccc134/ . The site will continue to hold committee announcements as well as all papers from all past meetings.