by Kurt Lawton, 2019 Congress Co-chair
As the combines roll across the Midwest heartland and farmers reflect on their season, it gives me pause to reminisce about the 2019 Congress and what attendees gleaned in Minnesota.
On behalf of our organizing committee and all our great volunteers — we thank our international guests for the kind words and expressions of gratitude that we received both personally and on social media regarding the content of this Congress. It appears we achieved our goal to deliver a successful event.
Our goal was to organize a Congress to showcase the many aspects of farming here in the Upper Midwest of the U.S., as well as offer valuable sessions on important issues in agriculture and in journalism. John Rash explored President Trump’s impact on the media; Daphne Pellegrino with Reporters Without Borders discussed freedom of the press challenges; and we held a newsmaker panel to examine rural mental health issues.
We organized 14 different tours, which are the lifeblood of a good IFAJ Congress. They ran the gamut from a variety of livestock producers and grain crop farmers, to university research, precision agriculture technology, biotech seed, immigrant farming, urban tours and malt barley/hops production plus craft beer breweries.
Also, attendees got a chance to see and hopefully attend some of our many professional improvement sessions that we offer every year at our Ag Media Summit (AMS).
Always a highlight were the socializing and networking events. From the riverboat cruise and our Master Class/Young Leader recognition and Star awards evening at Gale Woods Farm, to the Let’s Go Crazy AMS Welcome Party, the impromptu IFAJ Band gig, the IFAJ Closing Dinner and the celebration dance party that followed. It truly was a great time of fellowship and fun.
Yes, I think it’s safe to say that the spirit of volunteerism continues to be alive and well in this great organization we affectionately call IFAJ.
I’d like to recognize a few individuals who, thanks to their leadership on key committees, truly helped plan and deliver the content of this Congress. My co-chair of the event: Carey Brown; Our all-important sponsorship chairs: Gregg Hillyer and Karen McMahon; Our local tour chairs: Greg Lamp and Karen McMahon; Our program chair: Kenna Rathai (or Prince, from the AMS Welcome Party); Jessie Scott, who organized the Master Class/Young Leader program; and our Pre and Post Tour team of Harlen Persinger, Steve Werblow, Karen McMahon, Lora Berg and Jennifer Carrico. And special recognition to the vital role of Diane Johnson, who truly helped herd all of us volunteer cats.
Finally, a huge thank you to all of our sponsors, because without their kind and generous donations and support, we would not be able to host such a high-quality event.
We hope everyone left Minnesota with fond memories, great information and fun times spent with new and old friends.
We look forward to seeing everyone in Denmark for the 2020 IFAJ Congress.
