Kathy Draeger
Sustainable agriculture and food systems; supply chains; disaster, disruption and resilience
Faculty Leadership Council
Background & Expertise
Kathryn Draeger is statewide director for the University of Minnesota Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships and adjunct professor of agronomy and plant genetics. She oversees statewide programming in sustainable development, including clean energy and sustainable agriculture and food systems. Draeger is currently principal investigator on USDA-AFRI-NIFA grant to develop innovative supply chains for locally produced food as well as other sustainable ag related efforts. She served as an environmental protection commissioner in Iowa and was appointed to the Governor's Roundtable for sustainable development in Minnesota. Before joining the University she founded two successful corporations, Sustainability International, Inc. and Environmental Ground, Inc. Draeger holds a doctorate in water resources and master's in soil science from the University of Minnesota.
Featured Project: Kathy Draeger
Addressing Climate Change by Reducing the Meat Processing Bottleneck
Challenge
There is a lack of access to legal slaughter and processing for grass-fed and pasture raised livestock, particularly for Native farmers. While processors do exist throughout Minnesota, small and medium-sized farmers have difficulty maintaining consistent access due to issues like spatial proximity, scheduling, timing of animal development and plant closures.
Meet the Project Team
Project Lead
All Projects Featuring Kathy Draeger
New Project Aims to Identify Challenges in Small-Scale Meat Production and Pave the Way for Equal Access to GHG-Reducing Farming Practices
Last fall, IonE hosted the Agricultural Climate Solutions Workshop, which culminated in participants co-creating meaningful grant proposals that aim to address common barriers to sustainable farming practices and thereby reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Minnesota’s agricultural sector. In addition, the proposed projects share the goal of creating a more inclusive and equitable agricultural sector in which farmers thrive.