Dear Neighbor,
One of the summer’s annual agriculture highlights will take place next Tuesday through Thursday (Aug. 1-3) as Farmfest 2017 happens near Redwood Falls.
I will once again be attending this event and am scheduled to participate in a panel discussion Tuesday to address coping with financial difficulties currently present in the ag. industry. The forum officially is titled “Strategies for Farming in Challenging Times,” with six people on the panel, including myself and Ag. Commissioner Dave Frederickson.
The panel discussion will be 1:15 p.m. Tuesday in the Wicks Building on the Farmfest grounds. The other members of the panel include:
- Pauline Van Nurden, U of M Center for Farm Financial Management
- Bob Worth, Minnesota Soybean Association and farm operator
- Bob Roesler, Farm Business Management instructor, and
- David Bau, Regional Extension Educator
Those of us who have careers in ag. know just how challenging it can be, so I look forward to what should be an interesting discussion.
Another big event scheduled for Farmfest is the ceremony to recognize each of the 2017 Farm Families of the Year. The program recognizes families from Minnesota's 87 counties who have made significant contributions to Minnesota agriculture and their communities. Award winners from three counties that are part of District 12B include:
- Douglas County: Dave and Amy Staples family
- Pope County: Emmert family
- Stearns County: Radermacher Dairy LLC
Congratulations to each of the award winners. It is good to see these people receive recognition for their hard work and dedication to ag.
For more information on families that have been recognized, click on links for the Farm Families by Year or Families by County. More information regarding Farmfest in general is at this link.
Hope you are having a good summer and I'll be back with more news soon.
Sincerely,
Paul