U.S. Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Service Bill Northey will be the keynote speaker April 24 at the Hemphill County-Texas A&M AgriLife Beef Cattle Conference and Ag Tour in Canadian.
U.S. Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Service Bill Northey.
Northey will speak on the value of the beef industry to the U.S. and how the 2018 farm bill could affect the beef industry and agriculture in general. He also will participate in the conference to individually visit with beef cattle producers.
The cost for the two-day conference and tour, April 24 to 25, is $100 and a spouse ticket is $85. The main conference will be in Jones Pavilion, 1101 N. Sixth St. Tours will also take the group to the Rader Ranch and the Haley Ranch on April 25.
Go to https://www.hemphillcotxbeef.com for advance registration and a complete schedule. Participants can also call the AgriLife Extension office in Hemphill County at 806-323-9114 or contact Christa Perry at [email protected] to register or receive additional information.
Andy Holloway, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agriculture and natural resources agent for Hemphill County, said the attendance of Northey adds to the strength of this cattle conference, which has grown in size and emphasis.
“Producers come from across the nation to hear experts address industry hot topics at this conference, and with Mr. Northey only recently confirmed, we expect many people will be interested in what he has to say,” Holloway said.
In September 2017, Northey was nominated by President Donald Trump to become Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. His nomination was confirmed Feb. 27.
A member of the Republican Party, Northey previously served as the Secretary of Agriculture of Iowa, first elected in 2006. In that position he led the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.
He has been active in agriculture groups at the county, state and national levels and co-founded Innovative Growers LLC, an organization hatched from Iowa State University’s Extension Leadership. Innovative Growers is farmer owned and managed, and designed to capitalize on demand for specialty grain production.
