Young Leaders Attend Statewide Conference

 by Anthony Schafer

On February 3-4, Anthony Schafer, Scott & Lyndsey Johnson and their children Ella and Kevin, attended the 2012 Illinois Young Leaders Conference. This year’s conference focused on the importance of strong families. During our kick off session we were greeted by Dr. Ron Hanson. As a professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Nebraska –Lincoln, Dr. Hanson has spent the last 39 years becoming an expert regarding the transfer of management control between farming generations. His welcoming address somberly stressed the importance of healthy families, with the occasional poke at a comedic element of the daily stresses farming families often encounter. After his closing remarks we were then dismissed to our breakout sessions.

The morning sessions continued to address family and community. Dr. Hanson’s break-out session was a fast paced, hard hitting hour, where we discussed and explored many difficult aspects of the parent / adult child farming relationship. Another morning break-out session was hosted by Steffan Nass. Mr. Nass is the Weapons of Mass Destruction coordinator for the FBI’s Springfield Division. His area includes everything in Illinois south of I-80. His session was a brief overview of the current Agro-terrorism threats and what we can do to help.  During our time together, he opened our eyes to just how at risk our industry, community and families truly are. After lunch, the session’s focus turned to marketing, diversification, risk management and promoting a positive image of today’s industry.  After dinner we held a live auction to benefit the Harvest for All program. Several thousand dollars were raise.

 Overall, this year’s conference was a huge success. Apart from the sessions and formal addresses, this conference allows young farmer’s from across our incredibly diverse state, to come together sharing ideas, experiences and our growing families with each other. For all of this, we are truly grateful for support of the Peoria County Farm Bureau, helping our families and operations grow, develop and blossom.