Voting delegates to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 95th annual meeting concluded this week by approving resolutions that will provide the organization with its marching orders in 2014 on unfinished business like the farm bill and immigration, as well as setting policy on new issues such as drones and agricultural data. “Congress is still haggling over dairy policy, but for …
Not-so-beardless Duck Dynasty Brother at AFBF
He’s been called the “beardless brother” of the Robertson clan, but he had a full face of fur at the Farm Bureau meeting this week, albeit not quite the ZZ Top look the other “Duck Dynasty” males sport. As the newest member of the “Duck Dynasty” cast, Alan Robertson told thousands of farmers and ranchers that his reason for joining …
AFBF Voting Delegates Make Policy
The annual meeting of the voting delegates of the American Farm Bureau Federation is underway here in San Antonio, TX. This is grass roots at its finest. Throughout the day the delegates will work through the AFBF policy book making changes and perhaps adding new policy positions. Each one is placed on very large screens so everyone can easily read …
United Soybean Board Tackles Weed Resistance
Bob Haselwood, Kansas soybean farmer, is the Vice Chairman of the United Soybean Board (USB) and Chuck met up with him during the 2014 American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Convention to see what we can see from USB in the upcoming year. Bob shared that their main focus during AFBF is to talk with farmers about weed resistance. USB recently …
Bridging the Gap Between Farmers and Consumers
Delegates of the 2014 American Farm Bureau Federation Convention are a few of the lucky ones who get a sneak peak of the Farmland film. Directed by James Moll, USFRA is a huge sponsor of the documentary that takes you into the lives of farmers and ranchers across the county. Randy Krotz, U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) talks about …
Ag Secretary Vilsack Speaks to AFBF
This morning’s general session at the American Farm Bureau Federation Convention featured a speech by our U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. Yes, he spoke about the farm bill and the need for Congress to pass a new one. Interestingly, he also told us a personal story about being an orphan. Through his adopted father’s side of the family he’s …
Ensuring Accessibility to Biotechnology
Ensuring access to biotechnology was the topic Biotechnology Industry Organization’s (BIO), Dr. Cathleen Enright, presented on during the 2014 American Farm Bureau Federation convention this week in San Antonio. Cathleen is the Executive VP for Food and Agriculture at BIO. Her presentation focused on the need to advocate on behalf of biotech in light of challenges from activists and others. …
AFBF Awards
The opening general session at the American Farm Bureau annual meeting is always awards time and there were plenty presented on Sunday, starting with the Distinguished Service Awards which were presented this year to to Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Dr. Abner Womack. Sen. Lugar served in the U.S. Senate for 36 years and was a member of the Agriculture …
Drones to Increase Profitability
Kansas State University’s Dr. Kevin Price was one of the presenters at the 2014 American Farm Bureau Federation Convention. His presentation was titled Drones: Turning Technological Controversy into Profit. The use of using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s) to fly over crops and livestock to maximize profits is one of the hottest topics entering the agriculture sector. He shared how this …
Farm Bureau Priorities
Welcome to another day at the American Farm Bureau Federation Convention live from San Antonio. I want to give a shout out thank you to Case IH for being the sponsor of the media work room this year and to Monsanto for sponsoring our wonderful media reception last night. I’m in our general session room getting caught up on some …