American Farm Bureau’s annual convention concluded Tuesday with a session on policy priorities for 2024. AFBF President Zippy Duvall says the Farm Bill is the top issue.
“We stressed the importance of getting a new farm bill done and how urgent it is to get it done now. Labor was another hot topic, especially around stabilizing the wage rate and ensuring that we can make progress on year-round labor workers. Another takeaway was artificial intelligence and the need to seize opportunities related to AI while ensuring farmers’ data is protected. A fourth takeaway relates to contract poultry growers. Our delegates called for a fair pay structure and more transparency among poultry companies.”
Duvall says the policies begin at the grassroots county level.
“Then they rise up to the state level at their state conventions where they’re discussed and then it moves on to the national level where we finished that debate at our national convention. This year we had 350 farmer and rancher delegates from all across the country. And I want also to share an important point: We surveyed them, and 99 percent of them are family farms and two thirds of them come from small to medium sized farms, and that’s based on USDA classifications. We really do represent the diverse agriculture in America.”
More than 80 speakers and 4,500 registered attendees were at the event this year.
“We had a great convention here in Salt Lake City. The energy level was high among our attendees, and they are very optimistic about the future and taking on new frontiers. We’re all looking forward to getting together again next year in San Antonio, Texas. We invite every listener to join us. We want them to mark their calendars now for January 24 through January 29 for the AFBF Convention.”
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photo credit: AFBF