Collie Graddick is a Consultant with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) a Partner in the Community Table Association of Cooperatives (CTAC), the Farm Educator for the Charles Sherrod Community Development Corporation/South West Georgia Project (CSCDC/SWGP) and a lifetime member of the West Georgia Farmer’s Cooperative (WGFC) and the Federation of Southern Cooperatives (FSC). Collie has been with the MDA for 28 years, working in the Seed, Noxious Weed, Fertilizer, Endangered Species and Pesticide Regulatory programs. He has been a partner and trainer at CTAC for 11 years, assisting immigrant, minority and small farmers with working together on developing Local Community Cooperative Food Systems throughout MN. He has worked with CSCDC/SWGP for the past year educating farmers throughout southwest Georgia. Collie grew up on a 200-acre sustainable farm in Hamilton, Georgia producing fruits, vegetables, forestry and livestock. He received his B.S. degree in Agronomy from Fort Valley State University, GA and his M.S. degree in Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Production from Tuskegee University, Alabama.