U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer will be keynoting the AgExecutive Forum this Thursday in St. Louis, sponsored by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. Douglas DeVries of Deere & Company is the forum host.

Schafer will be addressing concerns related to the future of agriculture in our global economy and how agribusiness and renewable energies may impact agribusiness. Other highlights of the forum include Going Global in the Ag Industry: Trade Barriers, Obstacles and Partnerships, presented by economist and futurist Dr. Jay Lehr, science director with The Heartland Institute; an AEM Public Policy Update from Nick Yaksich, Vice President, Global Public Policy of AEM; Renewable Energy: What are the Real Costs and Benefits? by Terry Francl of the American Farm Bureau Federation, and much more.

A major feature of the event will be a look ahead to “The Next Generation of Ag Show” – AG CONNECT 2010. AEM members from Krause Corporation, Deere & Company, Krone NA, AGCO, Case IH and MacDon Industries will all be discussing what is ahead for this major new show scheduled for January 12-15, 2010, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

A panel discussion on commodity trends will feature Fred Stemme, vice president of marketing, National Corn Growers Association, Steve Censky, chief executive officer, American Soybean Association, and Alan Tracy, president, U.S. Wheat Associates.

AgWired will be covering the forum from start to finish this week, so stay tuned for live updates – including streaming video of the Secretary’s address at 8:15 am central time on Thursday, assuming the internet allows. Both audio interviews and photos will be available for media to download here on the site.