News

Farm Bureau FUSION conference tackles unique challenges

Farm Bureau members from across the country recently gathered in Pittsburgh to discuss and problem-solve challenges unique to agriculture.

Minnesota Farm Bureau district two representative Pam Uhlenkamp says the FUSION conference brings together those active in the Young Farmers & Ranchers, Promotion and Education, and Women’s Leadership Committees.

“Those three committees get together and basically fuse their ideas, hence the word ‘FUSION.’  It’s just a great leadership conference to gain a lot of knowledge (through) sessions and motivational speakers.”

FUSION stands for Farmers United: Skills, Inspiration, Outreach and Networking.

Uhlenkamp tells Brownfield the conference reinforced the value of a unified voice.

“Whether you’re in Minnesota, Texas, Oregon or New York, ag is a very diverse and unique industry.  And we’ve got to make sure that we include all those industries.”

She says issues like ag labor and state-specific property tax legislation seemed to garner the most attention during the three-day event.

And Uhlenkamp applauded fellow Farm Bureau members for consistently taking concerns to local legislators.