State Agriculture and Rural Leaders

Legislative Ag Chairs Summit XII | Vancouver, British Columbia | June 7-9, 2013

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  • Resolutions from the 2013 Ag Chairs Summit are available here.
  • A final agenda with presentations is available here.
  • A printable brochure is available here.
  • Information on and for sponsors can be found here.
  • A brief printable agenda is available here.
  • Speaker profiles are available here.
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2013 Legislative Agriculture Chairs Summit

Final Agenda

The twelfth annual Legislative Agriculture Chairs Summit was held at the Delta VancouverAirport Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia. Names underlined below indicate linked materials.

Thursday, June 6, 2013
Arrival  Most attendees arrive. Free time

Friday, June 7, 2013
8:00 am Buffet Breakfast
8:30 am
 Agriculture and Carbon Emissions Protocal

Debbie Reed, Executive Director, Coalition on Ag Greenhouse Gases, Washington, D.C.

Karen Haugen-Kozyra, Senior Partner, The Prasino Group
9:30 am Open Dairy Discussion
11:30 am Buses leave for tours
  Attendees participate in tour of British Columbia agriculture
5:00 pm  Bus to Reception for late arrivals, spouses 
5:30 pm Return to Hotel
6:30 pm Reception and Dinner at Hotel - Canadian Ag Minister Ritz, special speaker

Saturday, June 8 2013
State and Provincial Policy: What Works, What Doesn't 
7:00 am Breakfast 
8:00 am Welcome
8:30 am PLENARY: State and Provincial Role in Energy

Dennis Hill, North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives

Warren McKenna, Farmers Electric Cooperative, Iowa

Representative Mike Bost, Illinois
9:30 am Breakout I 

Addressing Water Quality and the Bottom Line (session summary)

Ann Swanson, Chesapeake Bay Commission, Maryland

Dave Tuthil, Integrated Watershed Solutions, Idaho

Dr. Paul Genho, Farmland Reserve, Utah

Claire Schary, U.S. EPA Region 10, Washington

Successes in Rural Health Care

Jim Luker, former Senator, Arkansas
related: Health Care System Transformation

Stephanie Larsen, Assistant Director for Organizing, Center for Rural Affairs, Montana

Alan Morgan, CEO, National Rural Health Association, Washington, D.C.

The Future of State Fairs (session summary)

Senator Jim Anderson, Wyoming

Marlene Pierson-Jolliffe, CEO, West Virginia State Fair

John Putney, Executive Director, Blue Ribbon Foundation, Iowa State Fair

Tina Hlabse, General Counsel, North Carolina Department of Agriculture

What Does Science Say About Animal Housing (session summary)

Elizabeth Rumley, Staff Attorney, National Agricultural Law Center, Arkansas
  Dr. Janeen Lyn Salek-Johnson, Associate Professor, University of Illinois
  Dr. Janice Swanson, Chair and Professor, Animal Behavior and Welfare, Michigan State University
11:00 pm Review of State Efforts  
  New Hampshire » Farm Protection Legislation, Representative Bob Haefner (related)
  Arkansas » Road Sales and Use Tax Ballot Initiative, former Senator Jim Luker
  Utah » Metal Theft Prevention, Representative Jack Draxler
  West Virginia » Feed to Achieve Act, Senator John Unger
12:15 pm Lunch Session: A Learned Lesson in Talking to Consumers
Rory McAlpine, Maple Leaf Foods
1:30 pm Breakout II
  Calculating and Working with TMDLs and Discharge Footprints (session summary)
Claire Schary, Water Quality Trading Coordinator, U.S.EPA, Region 10, Washington
Ann Swanson, Executive Director, Chesapeake Bay Commission, Maryland

Legal Challenges, Right to Farm and Private Property Rights (session summary)
  Gary Baise, Attorney, OFW Law, Washington, D.C.
  The Immigration Debate
  Craig Regelbrugge, Vice President, American Nursery & Landscape Association, Washington, D.C. (related)
  Michele Morandini, Director, Temporary Foreign Worker Program, Western Territories Region, Service Canada, British Columbia
  Fran Boyd. Senior Vice President, Meyers and Associates, Washington, D.C.
  Local and State Food Labeling (session summary)
  Mark Walters, Partner, Frommer, Lawrence & Haug, LLP, Washington 
  Dr. Barbara Schneeman, Professor Emerita, University of California
  John Dillard, Attorney, OFW Law, Washington, D.C.
  Representaitive John Rusche, MD, Idaho (related)

David Zepponi,President, Northwest Food Processors Association, Oregon
3:00 pm Learning From a Decade of in Ag Diversification and Rural Development
  Norm Walzer, Senior Research Scholar, Northern Illinois University Center for Government Studies and former founding director of the Illinois Institute of Rural Affairs
  Roger Thomas, Executive Director, Governors Office of Ag policy, Kentucky
  Barry Denk, Executive Director, Center for Rural Pennsylvania
4:00 pm Breakout III
  Where is the Farm Bill? (session summary)
  Fran Boyd. Senior Vice President, Meyers and Associates, Washington, D.C.
  Learning How to Talk to Consumers and Voters
  Jennifer Grenz, President, Vision Bridge, British Columbia

Joe Dales, Co-Founder, Farms.com (case-study)

Working Together, Sharing Water Across Government Lines (session summary)
  Dr. Hank Venema, Vice President, Science and Innovation, International Institute for Sustainable Development, Manitoba
  John Stulp, Special Policy Advisor to the Governor, Colorado
  Mark Masters, Exectuve Manager, ACF Stakeholders, Georgia

Funding Rural Infrastructure
  Bill Stouffer, Associate, Flotron McIntosh, Missouri
  Jim Luker, former Senator, Arkansas
  Kathy Ruffalo, President, Ruffalo & Associates
6:30 pm Reception and Dinner: Economic Perspective
Glen Hodgson, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, The Conference Board of Canada, Ontario

Sunday, June 9, 2013
7:30 am Buffet Breakfast

Annual Meeting
Resolutions
Officer and Board Elections
9:00 am Optional Meeting Review

2013 Legislative Ag Chairs Summit Partners