Agri-Growth Council's conference is Nov. 16
By from news and staff reports
Date Modified: 11/02/2011 8:15 PM
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The conference is open to the public. Space is still available, but limited.
This year's luncheon keynote speaker, Temple Grandin, is attracting a higher than usual amount of registrants from the general public. Grandin is a designer of livestock handling facilities, author, one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people and a professor of animal science at Colorado State University.
She will speak with Minnesota Public Radio host Kerri Miller about her story as a person with high functioning autism as well as the attention she has received about her perspective on agriculture and animal handling.
"Her main theme is about a curious public and being transparent from the agriculture perspective," said Daryn McBeth, president of the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council.
The luncheon will include the announcement of this year's Annual Service Award recipient. The award is given to individuals who significantly contribute to strengthening Minnesota's food and agriculture industry.
Other speakers will address the outlook of Minnesota's agriculture economy as well as monetary policy and food price inflation.
Afternoon speakers include U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, who will speak about how the "super committee" working on budget reductions is affecting the 2012 farm bill.
This year's conference theme, "American Agriculture: Raising Food for Thought," will be highlighted as speakers come together for a panel on trends in food production and marketing.
In the past, the conference has had an attendance of up to 450 people.
Rates to attend are $30 for public officials, $75 for students, $120 for Agri-Growth Members and $140 for non-members.Farmers qualify for the Agri-Growth member rate if they are affiliated with one of the council's members, such as the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, Minnesota Milk Producers Association, Minnesota Pork Producers Association, Minnesota Soybean Growers Association or Minnesota Turkey Growers Association.
The council has more than 200 members. A list of them can be found on the council's website at www.agrigrowth.org/members.html.
To register, visit www.agrigrowth.org/annual. Or, call (651) 905-8900 or e-mail info@agrigrowth.org.
The Minnesota Agri-Growth Council is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that serves as an advocate for the state's food and agriculture industry. Its members include food and agriculture businesses, organizations and producers as well as the service industries that support them.