The Crave Brothers Farm, Waterloo, WI hosted approximately 80,000 visitors, about 1,000 exhibitors, and 1,000 volunteers, July 21-23, 2009. This exciting event featured the Crave’s 1,100-cow dairy, on-farm cheese factory, and anaerobic manure digestion system that creates electricity for the farm, cheese factory, and neighbors. Educational displays in many tents offered fun and entertainment for youth, adults, agricultural producers, and consumers who wanted to learn where their food comes from.

To view highlights from the three-day show featuring daily press releases and photos, visit www.dodgefarmtech.com.

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We spent our last morning in Washington, D.C. at the home and education center of our first president, George Washington. 

 

Mount Vernon was a self-contained community.  Nothing was purchased that could be produced on site.  Yet the Mansion House Farm was so well designed that the service lanes did not intrude upon the area reserved for the enjoyment of Washington, his family, and their many guests. From the Potomac River on the east to the Estate’s west gate entrance ran the pleasure grounds and wide vistas; along the north-south line were the outbuildings, where much of the work was done. Over the past 150 years, George Washington’s architectural achievements at Mount Vernon have been painstakingly preserved and restored for visitors to appreciate.

Following our tour of Mount Vernon, we boarded the bus and departed to Old Town Alexandria for lunch and some shopping. 

As we boarded the flight that would bring us back to Wisconsin, we all realized the exciting and exhausting experience we enjoyed during our final session of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Leadership Institute Class II.

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For the last two days of our trip to Washington, D.C., we will be tourists and enjoy all the amazing sites!  After an awesome night tour of D.C., we toured the U.S. Capitol and Arlington National Cemetery.  During our visit to Arlington National Cemetery four members, Pat O’Brien, Rosalie Geiger, Jaclyn Pettis and Brad Schulte, of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Institute Class II had the honor of participating in the laying of the wreath ceremony at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 

We then visited the eternal flame that burns at the grave of John F. Kennedy.

During the evening we had our farewell dinner.  We had the chance to share the experiences, talk about the memories we made and plan for our futures with our new found leadership skills.

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Wow!  Another busy day for the Farm Bureau Institute members and the WFBF board members and staff that joined us on the trip.

The morning started with briefings at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).  Here we had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Jan Lewandrowski, an economist that discussed climate change issues.  We discussed several key areas on climate change including:

• An increase in CO2 concentrations
• Why agriculture should care about climate change - 1. Climate variability and climate change have effects on agriculture and land use.  2. Agricultural and forest systems are important sources of greenhouse gases.  3. Forest and agricultural emission reductions and carbon sinks offer potentially significant low-cost opportunities to address climate change.
• Climate change implications for animal agriculture
• Find more information regarding the likely effects of climate change at:  http://www.usda.gov/oce/global_change/index.htm

We then met with Doug Caruso the Administrator for the Farm Service Agency (FSA) regarding Farm Bill Implementations.  Doug highlighted that FSA program areas include:  Farm Programs, Direct/Counter Cyclical Payments, Price Support and LDP’s, CRP and Disaster Programming.  One area of the Farm Bill that we discussed was the ACRE program.  The ACRE program is revenue based, not price based, is based on state levels of production, not national levels and uses a moving average for payments.  To find out more about the ACRE program and/or to sign-up contact your county FSA office.

We then visited with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  During this briefing we discussed point and non-point sources, the Clean Water Act and watersheds.  The EPA also indicated that there will be no Cow Tax. 

After lunch the Institute Class and the WFBF board of directors discussed our congressional meetings from Wednesday.  The board of directors and staff members that joined the Institute Class included:  Dick Gorder (Vice President, District 3), Jim Holte (District 9), Matt Schleusner (Young Farmer Chair), Bill Bruins (WFBF President, District 5), Lloyd DeRuyter (District 6), Rosie Lisowe (Women’s Chair), Jerry Bradley (District 2), Wayne Staidl (District 7), Dave Daniels (District 1), Jeff Lyon, Director of Governmental Relations, Paul Ketring, Director of Communications and, of course, the impactful leader of the Leadership Institute, Dale Beaty, Director of Training and Leadership Development.   On behalf of the class, I greatly thank you for taking the time to join us for our final session of the Institute.  We hope that we can continue to work with in making a difference in the future of agriculture.  To find out more about the Leadership Institute and the Wisconsin Farm Bureau visit www.wfbf.com. 

The evening ended…late…with an evening bus tour of Washington, D.C.  Here are some photos.

 

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Today was a busy day for the Farm Bureau Institute Class, a visit to Capitol Hill to voice our opinions on several important agriculture issues.  The day started with American Farm Bureau issue briefings and congressional meeting preparation.  During our lunch we were joined by Congressman Paul Ryan.

After lunch it was time to meet with our congressional leaders.  During our visits, Institute members met with Rep. Kind, Rep. Petri, Rep. Baldwin, Paul Carver, Legislative Director for Rep. Obey, Rep. Sensenbrenner, Rep. Steve Kagen to discuss issues that are important to agriculture.  Here are a few of the issues that we discussed:

• Climate Change - Agriculture industry and Farm Bureau membership is concerned that this bill would increase operating costs - fuel, fertilizer and energy, and competitive disadvantage in international trade.
• EPA Cow Tax
• Clean Water Restoration Act - The CWRA deletes the term “navigable” from the Clean Water Act and expands federal regulatory authority to all intrastate waters.  The bill would dramatically expand the regulatory reach of EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers and federalize all waters and water-related decisions by removing a state’s independent authority to plan the development and use of land and water resources.
• Animal Care

We also had the opportunity to meet with Senator Russ Feingold and Senator Herb Kohl.  We again addressed topics such as animal care.  We shared our concern that there are several bills that have been introduced that could drastically affect our ability to raise livestock.  Including horse slaughter bills, minimum space requirements, eliminating the use of certain confinement systems, restricting antibiotic use and making the sale of non-ambulatory livestock illegal.  We asked them to oppose such bills, while sharing our production methods and the affects these type of bills would have on agriculture.

Talking with our congressional leaders was a phenomenal experience, allowing us to use the leadership skills that we developed through the Institute, as well as our agriculture expertise.

Tomorrow we will hear from the USDA and the EPA.

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After early morning flights - the Institute Class II is in Washington, D.C.  Here is what we did today!

Visited with the American Farm Bureau Federation on Trade Issues.  This session prepared us for our Congressional Visits.  We got an update on the trade economy and the short and long term outlook on exports within agriculture.

Visit to the Canadian Embassy.  Did you know? 

• Canada and the state of Wisconsin have a dynamic trading partnership that reached $10.7 billion in 2006. 
• Canada is Wisconsin’s largest trading partner for agricultural goods, and in 2006 sales of these products reached $484.2 million. 
• Wisconsin also represents an important customer of Canadian agricultural products, with sales amounting to $342 million in the same year.

Tomorrow we will have our Congressional Visits.  Stay tuned!

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Hi everyone, for the next five days I will keep you updated on happenings from Washington, DC.  I will be traveling with the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation for the final session of the Farm Bureau Institute Class II.

Let me tell you about myself…I grew up and continue to be actively involved in my family’s dairy farm operation.  We milk 140 Holstein cows, raise all our young stock and crop approximately 550 acres.  I stay actively involved by taking care of the calves, milking cows, and doing marketing/public relations work for the dairy.  I attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Dairy Science and Agricultural Journalism.  Currently, I work for the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board as their producer communications specialist.  

Check back for updates on the travels of Wisconsin Farm Bureau Class II.  Tomorrow we will be visiting the American Farm Bureau Federation and the Canadian Embassy.

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