Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture To Address American Farm Bureau Convention

by Neil Melancon, Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation

The Louisiana booth at the American Farm Bureau Federation convention is known for bringing a taste of the state to the national event.

This year in Phoenix, attendees will get more from Louisiana as the commissioner of agriculture and forestry, Dr. Mike Strain, will join AFBF President Zippy Duvall in a town-hall-style meeting during the convention.  Strain was named president of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture in 2016. 

“We’ll be talking about the issues and opportunities of agriculture,” Strain said.  “The American Farm Bureau is just a tremendous opportunity to see what the latest innovations in agriculture are, but also to talk about where we as a nation are going.”

Strain said those national issues will be front and center during the meeting and said he welcomes the opportunity not only to talk about these issues, but garner input from farmers on where they’d like to see grassroots policy move forward.

“We’ll be talking about the new Farm Bill, the new Congress, the new Administration,” Strain said.  “Who is the next Secretary of Agriculture?  What are our import and our trade opportunities?  So we’ll be talking about American agriculture, its current state and where we’re headed in the future.”

The 98th annual AFBF convention will be held January 6-11 at the Phoenix.  More information on the 2017 convention can be found at fb.org.