WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2014 – High-level leaders in the ag industry, including Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, Trade Ambassador Darci Vetter, and our own Agri-Pulse Editor Sara Wyant will convene in Washington Dec. 10-11 for the 2014 Farm Journal Forum.

But spaces are filling up fast and participants are encouraged to sign up as soon as possible. To register, go to the Farm Journal Forum website.

The theme of this year’s forum is “Globally Positioned Agriculture: Farming Smarter in the Face of New Challenges and Opportunities.”

The 2014 Farm Journal Forum, is Dec. 10-11 at the Loews Madison Hotel in Washington, D.C. Starting with an evening reception on Wednesday, Dec. 10, the event kicks into full gear with its newsmaker breakfast, followed by a full day of high-level speakers on Dec. 11.

Mike Stearn, COO of The Climate Corporation, will deliver the keynote address.

Other panels include:

•           “The Youth Quotient,” moderated by National Geographic’s Dennis Dimick and including Peterson Farm Bro Greg Peterson and other young ag advocates,

•           “Beyond the Farm Gate,” moderated by former California Secretary of Agriculture A.G. Kawamura, co-chair of Solutions from the Land,

•           “Packing Political Punch,” moderated by Wyant and featuring the Forum’s first-ever “Mini-Think Tank.” Audience participants will be encouraged to offer their own food and agriculture policy recommendations.                

“We are thrilled to work with Agri-Pulse again this year to bring a political punch to the Farm Journal Forum,” said Lesly Weber McNitt, director of government relations and program development at the Farm Journal Foundation. “We always welcome opportunities to make our policy dialogue more interactive and innovative. The addition of Sara's panel will build on our solutions-oriented theme and give the many thought leaders in our audience an additional opportunity to actively participate in the discussion.”

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Packing Political Punch, an Agri-Pulse initiative sponsored by DuPont Pioneer, explores U.S. agriculture's political influence.

"Our Packing Political Punch series allowed us to take a closer look at the changing demographics in rural America and how these trends impact the ability to influence the political process,” Wyant said. “We examined the strength of coalitions between diverse organizations, the power of political action committees, the importance of midterm elections and the role of young leaders stepping up to tell agriculture's story. We're looking forward to sharing our findings at the Farm Journal Forum."

About the Farm Journal Forum: The first Farm Journal Forum was held in Washington, D.C. in 1997. It was created because Farm Journal Editor Sonja Hillgren knew it was critical that American agriculture take an informed stand on the political issues that would shape the future of the industry.

The Forum is widely recognized as one of the premier food and agriculture policy conferences in the nation's capital, known for convening a diverse audience of farmers, policymakers, industry leaders, academics, non-profit representatives and other key stakeholders in food and agriculture.

To register, go to the Farm Journal Forum website. Follow the event on Twitter at #FJForum14.

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For more news and to see the complete “Packing Political Punch” series, go to www.agri-pulse.com.