National Farmers Union

LAS VEGAS (March 4, 2008) – Day two of National Farmers Union’s annual convention provided Farmers Union members an opportunity to hear from leaders in a variety of fields.

“The day gave our members an insider’s view on a wide variety of issues facing family farmers, ranchers and rural Americans everyday,” NFU President Tom Buis said. “From the ever-increasing challenge to obtaining quality, affordable healthcare, to embracing new ways to make a profit from the marketplace, today’s sessions were excellent.”

Monday began with AARP President Erik Olsen who told members about Divided We Fail –a national effort designed to engage the American people, businesses, interest groups, non-profit organizations and elected officials in finding bi-partisan solutions to ensure affordable, quality health care and long-term financial security for everyone.

A panel discussion on risk management focused on staying competitive in today’s agriculture economy.

The fastest growing sector of the food industry, the local food movement was also discussed. Panelists included family farmers and a Las Vegas chef who provided a truckload of useful information for those thinking about making the consumer-to-producer connection.

Renewable energy production has changed rural America for the better and panelists spoke on ways to get involved in a project.

Ending the day was a discussion on the media’s perspective of agriculture. Much has been made in the urban press about the problems of farm programs; the panelists discussed why that is and what can be done to tell agriculture’s story.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 at 10:46 am and is filed under Agriculture Programs, Cooperatives, Economic Policy, Energy, Environment, Rural America, Trade. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.