MARL Alumni in Nashville

It was impressive and inspiring to watch and be with several MARL Alumni at the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Annual Meeting in Nashville this week. The theme for the annual meeting was "Many Voices, One Vision" and many voices included over 6,000 people in attendance. MARL Alumni participating included: Minnesota Farm Bureau (MFB) President Kevin Paap, Greg Bartz, John Chute, Debbie Chute, MN Farm Public Relations/Foundation Director Kristin Harner, Dan Hoffman, David Marquardt and past MARL Board member Duane Alberts.

MARL Alumnus Kevin Paap was re-elected to the AFBF Board of Directors, Kristin Harner was instrumental in scheduling several radio interviews for several of us and arranged a tour of RFD TV studios for me. David and Julie Marquardt represented Minnesota as the Minnesota Farm Bureau Achievement Award Winners while Kristy Miron represented MN as the MFB Discussion Meet Winner. Roger Dvergsten attended as the MN Outstanding Secondary Ag Educator and Ann Marie Ward-Thiel was in attendance as the MN Outstanding Extension Educator. I want to thank the Minnesota Farm Bureau for selecting and honoring me as "Ag Communicator of The Year" and the experience in Nashville.

 

US Secretary of Ag Tom Vilsack takes the stage as AFBF President Bob Stallman welcomes him.

 

 

 

US Sec of Ag Tom Vilsack spoke at the AFBF Annual Meeting.

 

 

NASA Captain Mark Kelly piloted the last space shuttle mission aboard the Endeavour. Captain Kelly delivered an inspiring message about his space travel experiences and the journey back to health that his wife former Senator Gabby Giffords has traveled after being shot in the head in Arizona.

 

The Minnesota Farm Bureau delegation returned in time for me to represent MARL at the MN Pork Congress in Minneapolis. Thank you to MARL Program Leader Mike Liepold for staffing the booth during the first day of the MN Pork Congress.

Invitation to MARL Leadership Banquet-St Paul

You are invited to attend the

MARL Leadership Banquet – St Paul

Thursday, January 24, 2013

6 PM Social ● 7 PM Banquet

Best Western Kelly Inn
161 Saint Anthony Avenue ● St. Paul, Minnesota

Keynote Presentation: “Clean Water, Common Ground”

                                           Bruce Tiffany                   Lark Weller                        Peggy Knapp

Bruce Tiffany - Bruce Tiffany is active in areas concerning water quality, renewable energy, and agriculture. The Tiffany family farms produce corn, soybeans, sweet corn, cattle, sheep and some custom work. Many of the soybean acres are used to produce seed. He is a proud member of MARL Class V. Bruce is married to Ann and they have three grown sons (two are married) and one grandchild. He is active in their church, United Way, Dollars for Scholars, Redwood Area Chamber of Commerce and Redwood Wrestling Boosters. Bruce also serves on the Board of Directors for Bio-business Alliance of Minnesota and Life Science Alley.

Lark Weller - Lark Weller is the Water Quality Coordinator at the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (a unit of the National Park Service), where she works with park partners to minimize the negative impacts of human activities on the park's water resources. She is the co-author of the recently-released State of the River Report, and enjoys the challenge of communicating complex water resource issues to people in non-technical ways. She organizes and hosts a monthly meeting series, the Mississippi River Forum, for water resources practitioners and decision-makers.

Peggy Knapp - Peggy Knapp, Ed.D., is the Director of Programs at the Freshwater Society, where she oversees civic engagement initiatives to protect, preserve and restore fresh water in Minnesota.  Prior to her work with Freshwater, Peggy was an assistant professor at Hamline University’s School of Education and the Center for Global Environmental Education, where her teaching and scholarship focused on effective strategies for science and environmental education. In her earlier work as reporter, producer and writer with CNN’s award-winning Earth Matters, and field reporter on PBS’ nationally acclaimed science education program, Newton’s Apple, Peggy traveled the world to bring science and environmental stories to national and international audiences.

Cost for the Banquet - $30 per person

 

Please register by January 18, 2013.

To register and pay for the banquet, please visit the MARL Web site at
www.MARLprogram.org or click here: REGISTER NOW.

For more information, call Dan Hoffman at 507-421-7167

MARL Class VII at SMSU in Marshall

MARL Class VII met at Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU) in Marshall on Dec 12-14, 2012 for their second class session. They were joined by the current South Dakota Ag and Rural Leadership class for training by Michael Brandwein and the MARL Leadership Banquet-Marshall. The class toured Schwans Food Company Research and Development, AURI Labs and reviewed their Emotional Intelligence Reports with Catie Rasmussen and Mike Liepold. The class spent considerable time learning about communications and crisis management. MARL Alumni Barb Frank and Becky Bruns were the banquet key note speakers with a presentation titled "The Chicken Came First: A Real Minnesota Farmer's Story". The class is preparing to meet with their elected officials in St Paul at their next MARL seminar.

 

SMSU President Dr. Ron Wood welcomed MARL Class VII to SMSU and Marshall.

AURI Meat Scientist Narissa Nath showed Class VII around the AURI facilities and told how her work and AURI adds value to Minnesota Agriculture.  

 

MARL Class VII member Michelle Rossman and several of her classmates stuffed sausage for the team building dinner.

 

 

MARL Class VII participants Nelva Lilienthal, Rod Jorgerson, Donna Boonstra and Scott Kodet showed pride in their freshly made apple dessert. This was their contribution to the meal the class made as part of a team building project in the SMSU Culinology kitchens.