The highlight of yesterday’s Naturally Boulder Days conference was Dr. Fred Kirschenmann’s keynote address, which detailed the challenges ahead for those involved in agriculture. I first encountered Fred 20 years ago while working with Coleman Natural Meats, and he continues to amaze me with his smart, practical approach to agriculture. In addition to managing his own 3,500-acre farm in Iowa, Fred is a Distinguished Fellow at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture in Iowa, and is President of the amazing Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture near Tarrytown, New York.

His key point: tomorrow’s farmers will have to be more creative and resilient than ever before because they face a new set of challenges.

Fred stresses that farmers will have to find ways to produce food using less energy now that cheap energy is a thing of the past, they will have to adopt new systems that use less water, which will be more scarce, and the kinds of crops currently being planted will likely change because of climate change. There is hope for the future, thanks to those who are pioneering new highly energy-efficient farming systems, including aquaponics.

Check out some of Fred’s views here. He is my new hero.