Tuesday, November 14 (3:30 – 5:00 p.m.)

Feeling the Pressure – Producers Who Have Adapted
Moderator: Don Wick, Red River Farm Network
Tyler Bruch, Bruchside Farms – Emmetsburg, IA & Bahia, Brazil
David Durham, Don Heil Farms & Paseo Biofuels – Hardin, MO
John Vrieze, Emerald Dairy – Baldwin, WI & Moscow, Russia

How are large producers helping the agriculture industry keep up with these changes and becoming a driving influence for suppliers? This producer panel is made up of a group of innovative individuals who have uniquely positioned their businesses for long term economic profitability. From a Wisconsin dairy producer who has connections to Moscow, Russia, to a producer who has expanded into South America; agricultural producers are crossing the globe, and managing these large businesses with a strategic focus to the end user. Veteran farm broadcaster, Don Wick, Red River Farm Network, will moderate this panel which will surely give marketing professionals new insights into production agriculture.

Don Wick is currently a farm broadcaster with the Red River Farm Network, Grand Forks, North Dakota. Previously, Don has led farm broadcast efforts at WCCO Radio in Minneapolis and WNAX in Yankton, South Dakota. Don is a two-time winner of the “Oscars in Agriculture” for excellence in agricultural journalism and is a past president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. Don is a columnist for DairyStar and publishes an electronic newsletter.

Tyler Bruch, Bruchside Farms, left his family farm in Emmetsburg, Iowa, after graduating from Iowa State University, three years ago to start a farming operation in LEM, Bahia, Brazil. He currently manages about 11,000 acres of soybeans, cotton and popcorn on acreage he owns and rents for investors through his company, Global Ag Investments. Next year, he plans to plant over 20,000 acres.

John Vrieze, Baldwin, WI, a third-generation dairy producer, owns an interest in more than 3,000 dairy cows in Wisconsin and Russia. John partners in the Emerald Dairy and Baldwin Dairy, as well as a transition management facility in Baldwin. He serves on the board of the Russian Farm Community Project that operates a 500-cow dairy 60 miles north of Moscow.

Welcome Reception/ABEF Casino Night
(5:30 – 7:30 p.m.)

Network with your peers as you view the regional Best of NAMA entries and participate in a “Casino Night” to benefit the Agri-Business Educational Foundation (ABEF).

If you are interested in sponsorship for the “Casino Night,” contact Eldon White at [email protected].

To register for the Agribusiness Forum visit, http://nama.org/forum/register.htm.

For more information on the Forum and the speakers visit, http://www.nama.org/forum/index.html.