Media advisory issued December 4, 2003, effective immediately.
For media inquiries, contact Caroline Booth Lara, Communications Specialist, (580) 224-6379.
  email: cblara@noble.org.

Foundation to Present at National Conference on Grazing Lands

ARDMORE, Okla. — Agricultural producers, experts and governmental officials from around the country will have a chance to learn about the Noble Foundation's efforts to improve agriculture during the Second National Conference on Grazing Lands in Nashville, Tenn.

"I've known the Noble Foundation for nearly 40 years, and it's one of the best-kept secrets agriculture has, in the state of Oklahoma and even in the nation," said Bob Drake of Davis, Okla. Drake is the national chairman of the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative, one of the sponsors of the conference.

The Foundation will have a special concurrent session from 1:30 to 3 p.m. on Dec. 9. The session, titled "The Noble Foundation: A Unique Agricultural Service and Scientific Research Organization in Southern Oklahoma," will feature Mike Cawley, Foundation president; Rick Dixon, director of the Plant Biology Division; Joe Bouton, director of the Forage Improvement Division and Hugh Aljoe, a member of the Agricultural Division's Ag Management Group (AMG).

In addition to the special session, AMG member and forage specialist Matt Mattox and forage discipline assistant Chan Glidewell are presenting a poster and forage specialist Chuck Coffey will present a paper.

"We've got something special here with the Noble Foundation," Drake said. "We need to share it with more people."

Heightening awareness of the economic and environmental benefits of grazing lands is the goal of the conference, which runs from Dec. 7 through 10 and is expected to draw 1,500 participants. It is organized around four themes: building partnerships between agriculture and urban communities; cutting-edge management technologies; economic and public policy implications and optimizing grazing land health.

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The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is a non-profit organization conducting agricultural, forage biotechnological, and plant biology research; providing grants to numerous non-profit charitable, educational and health organizations; and assisting farmers and ranchers through educational and consultative agricultural programs.

More news releases available at www.noble.org/Press_Release