The International Farm Management Association 17 (IMFA 17) Congress, held at Illinois State University this week, came to a close on Friday, July 24 with a unique keynote address from Dr. Lowell B. Catlett. His presentation, “New Frontiers that Change Everything,” was an eye-opening discussion about the future of farm management in connection to changes that have developed within society.

Dr. Catlett began his address with a story about antibiotics first being discovered by those in the agricultural world. “Change is tough, it ‘ain’t’ what we don’t know that will kill us, it’s what we know that we don’t want to be so,” Catlett said in reference to the medical world’s slow acceptance of the claims made by those in the agricultural field about antibiotics and neurogenesis.

“If you want healthy humans, you can’t separate them from animals and nature,” Catlett said multiple times throughout his address. He emphasized the importance of farm managers in providing for the changing needs of each generation. “What’s a luxury for one generation, is a necessity for the next,” he said.

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