Missouri

Policy makers, agricultural leaders and farmers will gather Dec. 7 to begin "Raising the Curtain on the 2007 Farm Bill." The event, at the Holiday Inn Expo Center in Columbia, Mo., is one of the first to address the current farm economy and the issues likely to be discussed during 2007 farm bill debates.

The event is hosted by the Agricultural Leaders Of Tomorrow to gather policy makers, producers, ALOT members and others to discuss issues facing farming and rural economies.

"ALOT encourages people to be informed and to get involved in policies that affect agriculture and rural Missouri," said Kristin Perry, ALOT executive director.

"One of our alumni recently said, 'This 2007 farm bill is likely to be very different. We need to be thinking about these things, we need to get involved politically, and discuss whether we should be positioning our operations differently,'" Perry said.

"The debate on the next farm bill will include a lot of discussions about current commodity programs, program payment limitations to farmers and the need to reconcile U.S. farm policy with World Trade Organization rules," said Bruce Bullock, MU professor of agricultural economics and an advisor to the ALOT group.

"This farm bill will be created while the country is in the midst of dealing with budget constraints and the costs of recent disasters," Bullock said. "That will surely bring up a debate over agricultural program payments."

The conference begins Dec. 7 with registration at 7:30 a.m., followed by a series of panel discussions of farm bill policy topics. The first panel, at 8 a.m., is a group of Missouri government officials including Dan Clemens of Marshfield, Mo., and chair of the state senate agriculture committee; Peter Myers, Sikeston, Mo., and chair of the state house agriculture committee; Fred Ferrell, director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture; Doyle Childers, director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources; John Hoskins, director of the Missouri Department of Conservation; and Tim Kelley, Missouri director of the Farm Services Agency.

The second panel, focused on agribusiness views, begins at 10 a.m. and includes Dan Cassidy, Missouri Farm Bureau; Don Copenhaver, president and CEO, MFA Incorporated; Dale Ludwig, executive director/CEO, Missouri Soybean Association; Brent Rockhold, member of Missouri Corn Growers board; Scott Wheeler, president, Missouri Rice Research and Merchandising Council; Brent Bryant, executive vice president, Missouri Cattlemen's Association; Dave Drennan, executive director, Missouri Dairy Association; Don Nikodim, executive vice president, Missouri Pork Association, and Russ Kremer, president, Missouri Farmer's Union.

Panel three, which begins at 1 p.m. after a noon lunch, features a group of long-time farm bill experts, including Abner Womack, co-director, Farm and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI); Robert Young, chief economist, American Farm Bureau; Sally Schuff, Washington, D.C., editor, "Feedstuffs" magazine; and Keith Collins, chief economist, USDA.

The fourth panel will add the federal political perspective. Invited panelists include Missouri Sens. Kit Bond and Jim Talent; Reps. Jo Ann Emerson, Kenny Hulshof and many other members of the Missouri congressional delegation. Attendance will depend on congressional activities.

Following a 6 p.m. dinner, participants will gather from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. for a town-hall-type discussion of the day's topics.

Registration, including lunch is $95; add $35 for dinner. A $20 late fee will be added after Nov. 30. The town hall meeting is free and open to the public.

To register or for more information, contact Perry at 573-324-6538 or at alot@onemain.com.

"ALOT members, whether they are farmers or agribusiness members, will be directly involved in the implications of any new farm policy," Bullock said. "It speaks to their leadership that they are gathering this broad group of experts together to begin serious thinking about any changes in that policy. Anyone concerned about future farm policies should attend and take advantage of this chance to be part of the early discussions."