MANHATTAN, Kan. — More than 800 Farm Bureau members from across Kansas will gather in Manhattan Dec. 3-5 for their organization’s 99th annual meeting.
Held at the Manhattan Conference Center, the meeting will discuss public policy issues, craft Farm Bureau resolutions and workshops on water, farm bill, crop insurance and estate planning will be offered.
Speakers at this year’s meeting include Kansas State University President Gen. Richard B. Myers and Mary Kay Thatcher, Senior Director of Congressional Affairs for American Farm Bureau Federation.
The meeting begins the evening of Sun., Dec. 3 with the annual banquet. Kansas Farm Bureau President Rich Felts will deliver his state of agriculture address followed by recognizing 10 Kansas farm families for their service to Farm Bureau and their communities. Jerry McReynolds, Rooks County, will receive the Distinguished Service Award.
On Mon., Dec. 4, the morning general session will include awards for KFB’s Friends of Agriculture including Alan Boultinghouse, Crawford County; Marjorie Cartmill, Harper County; Mel Heddlesten, Haskell County; Harold & Jeanne Mertz, Riley County (posthumously); Warren Parker, Riley County; and Mick Rausch, Sedgwick County.
Marvin and Twylia Sekavec from Ness County will receive the Kansas Farm Bureau Natural Resources Award. This award goes to the farm family who exemplifies good land stewardship.
The first round of workshops will begin at 9:45 a.m. and run through 10:45 a.m.Topics include water, using social media, emergency management and holiday cooking.
At 11 a.m., the second round of workshops begin and include crop insurance, a KFB Legal Foundation update, farm bill and transportation regulations.
The general session beginning at 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 4 will feature county Farm Bureau awards for excellence, new horizon awards and progress awards. Graduates from class III of Leadership KFB will be recognized. They include Mindy Andres, Morris County; Alfred Crawshaw, Wilson County; Jessica Flory, Douglas County; Jacquelyne Leffler, Lyon County; Leigh Ann Maurath, Logan County; and Jackie Mundt, Pratt County.
After the conclusion of the general session, the third round of workshops will begin at 3 p.m. and include an update on the farm economy, ideas for membership growth for county Farm Bureaus, an overview of the NASS census and survey programs and agritourism.
The fourth and final workshop sessions will begin at 4:15 p.m. and include ways to tell the story of agriculture, an update on unmanned aircraft systems, a legislative update, ways to engage young leaders and farm transition.
On Monday evening, a fundraiser for Kansas Farm Bureau’s Foundation for Agriculture and Legal Foundation will be held at Kansas State University’s Forum Hall. The event will feature dueling pianos. The event is open to the public. Tickets can be purchased at www.kfb.org/fundraiser.
On Tue., Dec. 5, more than 400 voting delegates will debate and adopt policy statements for 2018 and elect the KFB vice president and board members from the odd-number Farm Bureau districts.
For more information visit, www.kfb.org.
— Kansas Farm Bureau
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