Illinois Farmer Participates in National Discussion

About 100 farmers, food company representatives, government officials and other agriculture sector leaders recently gathered on a central Iowa farm to discuss and find ways to advance a goal of continuing to co-create sustainable food systems.

“The forum created a unique opportunity to not only connect with farmers from around the country, but also connect with companies all along the value chain to discuss the changing landscape of agriculture,” said Jon Griffel, forum attendee and Illinois Farm Bureau’s (IFB) ambassador to U.S. Farmers & Ranchers in Action (USFRA). “The goal of bringing companies to the table with farmers is to utilize capital and climate initiatives in a way that elevates both while creating a sustainable food system.”

Entitled the “Honor the Harvest Forum,” the USFRA invitation-only, two-day event returned to in-person this year held on LongView Farms near Nevada, Iowa. The group asked Griffel to participate in a final-day panel entitled, “Reflections from Key Leaders & NextGen Farmers” moderated by Marcus Bernard, Ph.D., of Kentucky State University and president of Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences, along with Blake Van Der Kamp, Iowa FFA, and fellow USFRA ambassador Amanda Jones, a Pennsylvania farmer.

“I took this platform as a chance to drive home the fact that while companies can look toward agriculture as a part of the (climate) solution, they cannot look to us to solve the whole issue,” said Griffel. “Companies need to reduce carbon by changing their own practices and encouraging consumers to do the same. The best way to push forward the climate goals and practices in production agriculture is to incentivize farmers, not mandate the changes.”

IFB, the American Farm Bureau Federation and some other state Farm Bureaus are affiliates of USFRA, now in its second decade of existence.