The Minnesota Ag & Food Summit, hosted by AgriGrowth, returned last week with a lineup of engaging speakers who tackled top-of-mind-topics for the state’s corn growers. The future farm economy, trade policy and the post-election landscape all took center stage in Minneapolis last Thursday.

Jason Henderson, who is an associate dean at Purdue University’s College of Agriculture, kicked off the conference with a presentation that underlined the importance of identifying areas of emerging demand. Globally, he identified Latin America and India as developing areas. Domestically, he pointed to Millenials and the younger Generation Z. For both groups, Henderson argued value-added agricultural products will be an opportunity for farmers.

Dan Pearson, principal of International Trade Services, started the next session focused on trade with his own assessment of current policies enacted by the Trump Administration. In summary, Pearson believes the current tariffs will do far more harm than good for the future of American agriculture, with trade liberalization instead being the key for strong export markets.

After his speech, Pearson was joined by Kate Weiner, director of Hormel’s North American Customs, and Jack Shao, an international sales and marketing manager at Cargill. The consensus among the panel was today’s trade policy is not the best way to correct wrongs by China and other global powers. All pointed to action by the World Trade Organization as one alternative to tariffs imposed by the United States.

Minnesota Corn Growers Association Executive Director Adam Birr joined Compeer Financial CEO Rod Hebrink, Christensen Farms’ Glenn Stolt and Kristin Weeks Duncanson from Highland Family Farms for a luncheon panel. The group discussed the issues and opportunities in today’s ag landscape. Birr pointed to research investment in the AGREETT program and the growth of renewable fuels as bright spots for the state’s farmers.

The afternoon session began with a keynote address from Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari, who addressed the role of monetary policy and its impact on agriculture. One of many items he discussed in his presentation was the importance of strong wages in rural communities to bring people back to Greater Minnesota.

The summit wrapped up with a post-election panel featuring experts from both political parties discussing the 2018 midterm elections. Moderated by Red River Farm Network’s Don Wick, the group focused on the shifts in party majorities throughout Minnesota and how that will evolve going into 2020 elections.

The Ag & Food Summit was formerly known as AgriGrowth’s Annual Meeting. While the annual meeting still takes place, attendees for the summit now include leaders from across the spectrum of Minnesota’s diverse food and agricultural sector, state and federal government officials and academia.