The 2026 Family Farm Alliance Annual Conference brings producers, policy makers, and water professionals from seventeen Western states together for two days focused on what comes next.
This year’s theme, Growing the Pie: Innovation for the Next 100 Years, puts innovation on center stage: new water storage at every scale, desalination, groundwater recharge, and the emerging technology helping irrigation districts modernize their systems. These themes will be explored alongside the policy outlook from Washington, drought response, and how we pay for the infrastructure the next century of Western agriculture will need.
For dates, registration, and hotel information, see the buttons below.
Questions?
Contact Executive Director Samantha Barncastle at samantha@familyfarmalliance.org or (575) 202-2705.
An afternoon working session for Reclamation district managers and board members. Limited seating, application required. Check the box when you register and we will follow up.
Keynotes, policy panels, and innovation showcases, plus the opening luncheon and an evening reception with colleagues from across the West.
Morning sessions on the issues that will define next year, wrapped by midday so you can travel home Friday afternoon.
Conference Registration
2026 Conference Agenda (Draft)
“Growing the Pie: Innovation for the Next 100 Years” • Draft schedule. Speakers and sessions are still being confirmed, so check back for updates.
Download the Draft Agenda (PDF)
Wednesday, October 28
| 7:00 to 10:00 a.m. | Family Farm Alliance Board of Directors Meeting and working breakfast. Silver Legacy Conference Rooms. |
| 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. | Board of Directors and Advisory Committee Internal Meetings and working lunch. Silver Legacy Conference Rooms. |
| 1:30 to 5:00 p.m. | Family Farm Alliance and Reclamation Workshop. Silver Legacy Conference Rooms. |
| 5:30 p.m. | Cocktail Hour. Reception and happy hour in the President’s Suite. (Board of Directors only) |
| 7:00 p.m. | Board Dinner. Group dinner at Roxy Restaurant and Bar. (Board of Directors only) |
Thursday, October 29
| 7:00 a.m. | Registration Desk Open. Grand Exposition Hall, Silver Legacy. |
| 8:00 to 8:15 a.m. | Pledge of Allegiance led by the O’Toole Scholarship Award Recipient. Welcome and introduction from President Mark Hansen and Executive Director Samantha Barncastle. |
| 8:15 to 8:30 a.m. | Opening Keynote Speaker (invitation pending) |
| 8:30 to 9:45 a.m. | Western Water at a Turning Point: A Look at D.C. from the Hill. Invited panelists include key committee staff from the Office of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and majority and minority staff from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senate and House Agriculture Committees, and House Natural Resources Committee. Moderated by Mark Limbaugh, The Ferguson Group. |
| 10:00 to 11:15 a.m. | Reclamation Roundtable. This signature panel brings together leaders from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, including regional directors and representatives from the Commissioner’s and Interior Secretary’s offices, to discuss Reclamation priorities and challenges and their impact on Western agriculture. |
| 11:15 to 11:45 a.m. | Rethinking the Funding Model. What happens when a state decides to invest big in its water future? A look inside Texas’ innovative new approach to funding water infrastructure and developing new supplies. |
| 11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. | Luncheon Keynote Speaker (invitation pending) |
| 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. | Growing the Pie. Thinking big about the West’s water future: exploring large-scale storage, new water supplies, and collaborative ideas to grow the pie for the next 100 years. Moderated by a Bureau of Reclamation designee and Samantha Barncastle, Executive Director of the Family Farm Alliance. |
| 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Not all water investments are created equal. How can we identify the projects that deliver the greatest return, and build the capacity to get them done? Hear from the experts working on this issue with the Alliance, and learn how this work could help shape smarter water investment decisions across the West. |
| 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. | Building Resilient Water Systems Together. The West’s water challenges won’t be solved with one tool or one approach. Hear how collaboration, innovative technology, water sharing and transfers, and system-level planning can bring diverse interests together to build more resilient water systems. Moderated by Tanya Trujillo. |
| 4:15 to 5:00 p.m. | Water and Tribes Initiative. What does meaningful collaboration look like from the tribal perspective? Hear about the opportunities, challenges, and emerging models for building stronger relationships between Tribal Nations and Western agriculture, and creating a shared path toward the West’s water future. |
| 5:00 to 5:15 p.m. | 2026 Annual Meeting |
| 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. | Evening Reception at Novi. A private night club on the Mezzanine level of the Eldorado Resort, adjacent to the Silver Legacy. Drinks and heavy hors d’oeuvres will be served. |
Friday, October 30
| 7:00 a.m. | Registration Desk Open. Grand Exposition Hall, Silver Legacy. |
| 8:00 to 8:30 a.m. | Closing Keynote Speaker (invitation pending) |
| 8:30 to 9:00 a.m. | Watershed Technology for Advanced Forecasting. Better information leads to better decisions. Hear how cutting-edge snowpack monitoring technology is transforming watershed forecasting and giving water managers and farmers a clearer picture of the water supply ahead. |
| 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. | Putting Innovation to Work. Innovation only matters if it is put to action on the ground. Hear from innovators developing new tools for Western irrigated agriculture, and explore what it will take to connect those technologies with the farmers, water managers, and policymakers who can put them to work. Moderated by Professor Camille Calimlim Touton. |
| 10:00 to 10:30 a.m. | The Work Ahead: Turning Big Ideas Into Action. The challenges facing Western agriculture are big, but so are the opportunities. Hear from the Alliance’s leadership, legal team, and lobbyists about the priorities, initiatives, and strategies we’re taking into the year ahead, and leave energized, united, and ready to fight for the future of Western agriculture. |
| 10:30 to 10:45 a.m. | Awards Ceremony and Closing Comments |
| 10:45 a.m. | General Session Adjourns |
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