The National FFA isn’t the only agricultural youth education organization involved with Ag Day. I visited with several more this week starting with Jessica England, President (left) and Lauren Greaves, First Vice President, Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow. I learned that you pronounce it A-C-T to start off! This college level student organization promotes leadership with agricultural communications majors. They were attending Ag Day activities because they wanted to help make sure elected leaders in the Capitol were aware of how important the industry of agriculture is. We also talked about different activities conducted by ACT like their annual meeting that’s held in conjunction with the Ag Media Summit.
You can listen to my interview with Jessica and Lauren here: ACT Interview
Another organization represented at National Ag Day was 4-H. I spoke with Brad Copenhaver, Virginia Tech, who has been active in 4-H for many years. He says his Grandmother has been a 4-H volunteer for over 50 years! He started with 4-H when he was nine years old. He served on his state 4-H cabinet and is still involved. He was asked to be a 4-H representative at National Ag Day activities to help promote how important agricultural education is.
You can listen to my interview with Brad here: 4-H Interview
And I also spoke with Nancy Barcus, Agriculture Future of America. Nancy is the Director of Leader Development Programs. She says that AFA works with college men and women who are preparing for a career in agriculture with leadership programs that help them become more competitive. There were twenty five student members attending Ag Day activities. She says that their attendance helps them understand how policy affects agriculture.
You can listen to my interview with Nancy here: AFA Interview
2011 National Ag Day Photo Album
AgWired coverage of National Ag Day is sponsored by:
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One of the sponsors of Ag Day is 
The General Counsel for the 
During National Ag Day activities I visited with some big time supporters who are urging other companies and organizations to get involved. I’m going to share their thoughts with you here starting with Barry Nelson, 
Also serving on the board of the Agriculture Council of America is Kent Schescke, National FFA. He says that FFA has been involved for years as a sponsor and by having students participate as student advocates. They spent Monday at the 4H Center getting some preparation for visiting with legislators to talk about agriculture. He says that building good leadership skills goes hand in hand with good advocacy skills.
The newest member of the board of the Agriculture Council of America is Colin Woodall, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (pictured on the right). Colin says there are two things that really prompted NCBA to become involved as a sponsor of Ag Day. One is the ability to use Ag Day as a mechanism to reconnect with the American consumer. The second thing is getting young people involved and Ag Day spends a lot of time getting that done. He says that these things are extremely important. Like Barry and Kent, he encourages more companies and organizations to get involved.
The 
During the National Ag Day banquet I met one of our sponsors for Ag Day coverage, Andy Lavigne, 
The winners of the 
“Bury Derry Day” was a day of mixed emotions for family, friends and fans who attended his funeral and celebration of life Wednesday in California, Missouri. There were many tears, but I would say that most of them were tears of laughter remembering Derry Brownfield’s life. I have not laughed so hard in a long time listening to his oldest son Jay (who looks just like him!) relate stories about Derry through the years.
The Chairman of the