The Utah Farm Bureau Federation will be holding its annual Midyear Conference July 16-17 at Southern Utah University in Cedar City.
The conference theme is Farm Bureau Proud. Conference topics will focus on pertinent production agriculture and rural issues.
“Midyear Conference provides a venue for Farm Bureau members to come together and discuss issues directly impacting production agriculture,” said Sterling Brown, UFBF Vice President of Public Policy. “Farm Bureau’s grassroots policy development process is what makes this organization strong and proud.”
Members will have an opportunity to participate in a Legislative panel discussion with Sen. Ralph Okerlund, Sen. Evan Vickers, and Rep. John Westwood. The panel will focus on rural issues confronting the legislature, and the challenge of ensuring these issues are not lost among increasingly urban representatives. The panel will include statements from each legislative member, followed by Q&A for the members in attendance.
In addition, a round table discussion will take place concerning laws governing public access to private roads in Utah. Rep. Kay McIff and Garfield County Sheriff Danny Perkins will lead this discussion with questions and answers to follow. Discussion points will include; what constitutes public access, what is a private barricade, and what rights do private landowners have?
Informational breakout sessions will also be included in the conference. These sessions give farmers and ranchers opportunities to learn about issues and topics they deal with every day. Topics include the authority of county government; holding effective County Farm Bureau meetings, a discussion on principle-based policy development, and developments surrounding new food safety guidelines, known as Good Agricultural Practices (GAP).
Midyear Conference is fundamental to grassroots policy development for the Utah Farm Bureau. The conference provides members a place to voice their concerns and bring attention to issues impacting the sustainability of farmers and ranchers. Participating in policy development gives Farm Bureau members the opportunity to create Farm Bureau policy, which then guides the organization in its advocacy and outreach efforts for the coming year.
“Farm Bureau’s grassroots policy process is a time-tested method for empowering local farmers and ranchers in their communities to solve problems facing their families and businesses,” said Leland Hogan, President of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation. “This Midyear Conference allows us to discuss ideas that have been gathered throughout the countryside, and focus on solutions to be debated and voted on at our annual meeting in November. We invite all farmers and ranchers to attend.”
Farm Bureau is an independent, non-governmental, voluntary organization of farm and ranch families united for the purposes of addressing their problems and formulating action to achieve educational improvement, economic opportunity and social advancement throughout Utah. Farm Bureau is local, county, state, national and international in its scope and influence, and is non-partisan in character. Farm Bureau is the voice of agriculture at all levels.
For an agenda or for more information on the conference, please contact Matt Hargreaves, Utah Farm Bureau Vice President of Communications, at 801-233-3003 (office), 801-455-4320 (cell) or [email protected].
