American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) president Bob Stallman fielded questions from the press for 40 minutes on Sunday afternoon at the annual meeting in Atlanta, covering a wide variety of topics. Several questions centered on the legal action AFBF intends to take against EPA over the regulation of the Chesapeake Bay total maximum daily load (TMDL), a so-called “pollution diet” …
Going Mobile To Teach Children Where Food Comes From
Out on the AG CONNECT Expo floor in the AFBF trade show pavilion you’ll find the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau’s Mobile Ag Ed Science Lab. This is one of a number of mobile classrooms to teach children where their food comes from. The Lab is a project of the PA Friends of Ag Foundation. I visited with Tonya Wible, Program Director …
Kenny Wallace Supporting Family Farmers
Kenny Wallace, NASCAR driver, says, “Ethanol all the way in NASCAR!” That’s what he told me this afternoon in the American Farm Bureau Federation Pavilion on the floor of the AG CONNECT Expo. Thanks to Tricia Braid, Illinois Corn Growers, for setting up our interview and taking the photo. Kenny was signing autographs in the Nationwide Insurance exhibit. You won’t …
Korean Free Trade Optimism
Korea’s ambassador to the United States is optimistic that Congress will pass the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement when it is submitted by the president. Han Duk-soo spoke at a town hall forum sponsored by American Farm Bureau during the Ag Connect Expo on Saturday and then held a press conference, accompanied by AFBF’s Congressional Relations Director Chris Garza. “The momentum …
Chambliss Welcomes Farm Bureau to Georgia
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) welcomed the huge American Farm Bureau crowd of farmers and ranchers from around the country to his “sunny, warm” home state. “Y’all from North Dakota and Montana brought your weather with you,” he joked, as a winter weather watch is in effect for the deep south with the potential for ice and snow over night. Chambliss, …
50 Years of Membership Growth for American Farm Bureau
To the tune of the “Rocky” theme song, American Farm Bureau Federation president Bob Stallman showed off a special membership jacket made just for him to celebrate 50 consecutive years of membership growth for the general farm organization at 92nd annual meeting opening general session on Sunday. “American Farm Bureau membership stands at 6,279,813 member families,” Stallman said proudly during …
AG CONNECT Expo Showing Significant Growth
This morning the media got an update on AG CONNECT Expo with some statistics you’ll find interesting. Pictured are (l-r), Dennis Slater, President, AEM, Martin Richenhagen, President/CEO, AGCO and Chairman of the show management committee, Charlie O-Brien, VP Ag Sector, AEM and Sara Truesdale Mooney, Show Director. There are 12,000 AG CONNECT Expo and AFBF registrants with more than 60 …
Agriculture’s Incredible Shrinking Footprint
American agriculture has a great story to tell of increasing productivity while at the same time decreasing its environmental footprint. The first of the Town Hall Forums held Saturday at AG CONNECT Expo in the Successful Farming Innovations Theater was “The Shrinking Environmental Footprint of Agriculture” which was moderated by former National Resources Conservation Service chief Bruce Knight, a third-generation …
Ag Sector of Economy Healthy
This morning at AG CONNECT Expo the first session was the Ag Executive Forum. The keynote speaker for breakfast was Thomas Cunningham, Economist and Associate Research Director, Federal Reserve of Atlanta. Thanks to Mary Thompson, Farm Foundation, for taking a photo of us in the hallway during my interview with him. According to Thomas the economy is recovering but at …
Live Stream – AG CONNECT Expo Opening Ceremonies
We live streamed the opening ceremonies from AG CONNECT Expo here and will post both video and audio later since we have it recorded. In the meantime you can check out our photo album from the link below. It’s growing by the hour! The preview day is history and it’s party time in Atlanta. Post Update: You can listen to …