The host for the Association of Equipment Manufacturers AgExecutive Forum in St. Louis this week is Doug DeVries, Senior Vice President of Ag Equipment Marketing for Deere & Company – shown here doing a little pre-event prep work on Wednesday night. Doug heads up AEM’s Ag Executive Council which represents the farm machinery segment of the equipment manufacturers organization. He passed up being in Sarasota this week for the big Deere event that Chuck is covering to be at this event because of it’s importance to the industry.

“We’re going to have a broad range of discussions about a number of issues around what’s happening in the industry today,” Doug told me. That includes economic issues, renewable energy, commodity prices and more.

Doug says he is really looking forward to introducing plans for the new AG CONNECT 2010 expo. “We’re really excited about AG CONNECT as the first AEM-sponsored, agricultural equipment show that is brought to our customers by the industry and for the industry,” he said. “We believe it will be a different type of experience for people.” He is most excited about the global focus of the expo and the educational opportunities they plan to offer.

Listen to an interview with Doug here – and tune in for AgWired Live TV from the AgExecutive Forum Thursday starting at 8:00 am central with Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer followed by a discussion about AG CONNECT with Doug and several of his industry colleagues who are helping to plan and support the new show.

You can also download the 4:00 interview with this link: Doug DeVries Interview (mp3)