American Farm Bureau Federation president Bob Stallman gave a rousing “rally the troops” address to thousands meeting in Seattle for the AFBF 91st Annual Meeting Sunday morning.

“We gather in Seattle this week to measure progress along our own Passage to Success,” Stallman began, continuing on to talk about the many challenges currently impacting the industry – from critics to carbon credits.

Stallman was especially critical of the climate change legislation, or “cap and trade,” being considered by Congress, and he called on members to tell lawmakers – “Don’t CAP Our Future!” – by stopping by the trade show booth and signing a petition.

“At the very time that we need to increase our food production, Climate Change legislation threatens to slash our ability to do so,” Stallman said, noting that USDA estimates it could take as much as 59 million acres out of production. “That’s like setting aside every acre of land used for crop and food production in California, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Tennessee…that means eliminating about 130,000 farms and ranchers that grow food and crops.”

Listen to or download Stallman’s 2010 AFBF annual meeting address here: