State Agriculture and Rural Leaders Conference

I am currently at a State Agriculture and Rural Leaders Conference in Saint Louis, Missouri. This is the 6th conference and is a collection of State Legislatures' Agriculture Committee Chairs and Rural Leaders from the United States and Canada as well as agribusiness and agricultural organizations from the same.

Today we have had the opportunity to discuss some very diverse topics that affect rural America and agriculture. We listened to presentations from Jack Schultz, author of the book Boomtown USA as well as the Miran Wall, co-director of the Heartland Center for Leadership Development. Both discussed the issues facing rural communities viability and opportunities for their success. Following their presentations we had a question and answer period for the attendees to discuss issues in our states and seek additional information on how the example communities they used in their presentations were successful.

One of the issues that was missing from their discussion was the role of production agriculture and agribusinesses in these rural communities. We got a chance to discuss this with the presenters during the question and answer time.

Later in the morning, we had the opportunity to attend one of five breakout sessions on topics from global warming and carbon trading to livestock regulations and the impact of state livestock regulations and he animal rights agenda for livestock production.

I attended the breakout session on State Livestock Regulations. This was a very interesting discussion of the implications of very well organized and coordinated efforts of animal rights organizations whose goal is the elimination of animal agriculture and the policies they are promoting from the Congress to the Statehouse to the Courthouse. The information was also very insightful as to the tactics and attempts by organizations to do what they can to impact the ability of independent producers to make a living. We also learned of the lack of consideration in the decisions being made in the market are not always based on facts nor are they in the best interest of producers or consumers.

Following the breakout sessions we were fortunate to listen to former Secretary of Agriculture Clayton Yeutter. Secretary Yeutter was very interesting and was able to explain the policy and politics behind the farm bill debate, trade agreements, as well as the energy policy for the United States. Secretary Yeutter is originally from Nebraska. Last year the attendees got to have Secretary Johanns in Washington D.C.

The afternoon sessions were also done via five breakout sessions and the topics ranged from Rural Development to Infrastructure Needs in a Changing Commodity Market to How to Reduce Brain Drain

I attended the session on How to Reduce Brain Drain. Melissa Dearmont was one of the presenters. Melissa was born and raised in Nebraska and attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for her undergrad and Arizona State for her graduate program. Melissa is now a Licensed Independent Mental Health Practitioner. (Last year I introduced and got passed a bill to allow LMHPs to finally practice independently in Nebraska.) She returned to her family's ranch and cattle operation after her father passed away. She spoke of the opportunities she has as a mental health professional in rural Nebraska as well as the obstacles to returning to the ranch and starting a practice. This topic is definitely not new to rural Nebraska and was prominently discussed this summer in the Ag Committee's interim study on Ag Policy. There is a lot of work to do to provide meaningful policies and encouragement for future generations. I am pursuing some of those policies in the Legislature this year and look forward to your insight as input.

This evening out keynote speaker was also a former Nebraskan. I am amazed at how many people who have been invited to address this conference in the past two years, are from Nebraska.

Charlie Arnot is the Chief Executive Officer for Center for Food Integrity (www.foodintegrity.org) in Kansas City, MO. Charlie is also a Nebraska Alum and presented some very interesting research and surveys about the opinion of consumers and the food they eat. It was very challenging to listen to his presentation and to get some ideas of how to begin to restore and regain the trust and confidence of consumers.

This has been one of the most insightful conferences I have been to and I look forward to taking what I have learned here back to Nebraska as we work together to make Nebraska Agriculture better.