This morning American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman gave his annual address to members during the 2014 Convention. Stallman is a rice and cattle producer from Texas. As you might guess, the farm bill was a key topic of his remarks. He called on Congress to get a farm bill passed. He used Farm Bureau members themselves as an …
2014 AFBF Convention Underway
The 2014 American Farm Bureau Federation Convention is underway in San Antonio. It’s my first stop on the agriblogging highway of the new year. Over the next several days we’ll find out what the largest general farm organization is working on and I’m sure a farm bill is at the top of the list. There are a lot of activities …
AFBF Convention Social Communicating
An estimated 7,000 farm and ranch leaders from around the country are heading to San Antonio this weekend for the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 95th Annual Convention (Twitter hashtag #AFBF14). The meeting begins January 12 and runs through January 15 in San Antonio. Numerous speakers will be on hand to address topics, ranging from crop and livestock outlooks to farm …
2014 AFBF Convention Coming Up
It’s almost time for my first venture out on the agriblogging highway of 2014 – The American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention. It’s off to San Antonio this weekend and it looks like the weather is going to cooperate for most of the U.S. This is the most media friendly farm convention I know of. In fact, I was on …
Celebrity Speaker Announced for AFBF Convention
The “beardless brother,” Alan Robertson, will be the keynote speaker at the general session during the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 2014 Annual Convention, January 12-15 in San Antonio. Alan stars on A&E’s hit reality show “Duck Dynasty” and is the oldest son of Phil Roberson, founder of the Duck Commander Company, the family’s Louisianan-based duck call business. Before rejoining Duck …
AFBF Annual Convention Around the Corner
The 2014 American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Annual Convention is right around the corner in San Antonio, TX. January 12-15 marks the organizations 95th convention and the event is expected to attract 6,000 farmers and ranchers from across the country. Cindy caught up with AFBF’s Mace Thornton, Director of Communications, during the National Association of Farm Broadcasting’s Convention where he …
AgMazing 500 Receives Farm Bureau Award
Members from Cook, Marshall-Putnam and Randolph counties are among 24 County Activities of Excellence (CAE) Program winners chosen from 123 national entries. This is the second straight year for Illinois Farm Bureau to have three CAE winners.The CAE program acknowledges and shares successful county Farm Bureau programs and activities focusing on education and ag promotion, member services, public relations and …
Lowering Biofuels Targets Could Hurt Farmers
Representatives from state government, the agriculture community, and the ethanol industry all say the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) biofuels requirements would have a negative impact on agriculture and rural economies. During a telephone press discussion today about the proposal Iowa Governor Terry Branstad said he was proud of his state’s leadership in biofuels production and …
Biotech Crops Alliance Names Secretariat
An alliance of organizations supporting biotech crops has named a leader to help “spearhead collaborative efforts to improve the environment for technology innovation and the market for U.S. crops produced through modern biotechnology.” Dr. Michael J. Phillips has been selected as the first secretariat for the U.S. Biotech Crops Alliance (USBCA), which was established by several organizations under a memorandum …
Giving Thanks for Affordable Food
When we sit down this week to tables heaping with delicious food, we should all take a moment to reflect upon how blessed we are to live in a land of abundant and affordable food. We have seen stories this year about food costs being higher, often blaming last year’s drought and ethanol production, but in fact our Thanksgiving meal …