Our friends at Farm Foundation will team up with the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) to hold a Presidential Forum on Agriculture, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012, at the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates, 100 Locust Street, in Des Moines, Iowa. The forum will use Nebraska Senator and former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns to represent the Romney campaign and former Iowa Lt. Governor and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Patty Judge to represent the Obama campaign.

“It is a challenging time in agriculture and it is exciting to see the presidential campaigns engage directly on these important issues with leaders from across the country,” said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey, who is the current NASDA President. “This forum will highlight the impact agriculture has on nearly every aspect of our economy. I encourage voters to tune in and learn more about where each candidate stands on important issues affecting agriculture.”

“As a non-advocacy organization, Farm Foundation has an important role in providing this opportunity for voters to learn more about the platforms of the respective candidates,” says Neil Conklin, President of Farm Foundation, NFP. “This Forum is an important opportunity to focus on the candidates’ attention to the enormous challenges facing the global food system, agriculture and rural communities.”

There will be a moderator and questions from the invitation-only audience, but it will be streamed live online on Iowa Public Television (IPTV), www.iptv.org, and viewers can submit questions via Twitter using the hashtag #AgForum. It will re-air at 1 p.m. Sept. 16, and at 8 p.m. Sept. 19 on IPTV WORLD. The forum precedes the 2012 NASDA Annual Meeting taking place in Des Moines Sept. 12 to 17.