Class of 2016 National Study Seminar: Day 2

From Washington, DC; Monday, March 9, 2015

Written by Katie Lyons, Matt Kellogg, and Whit Dhamer

Michael Alston, Class of 2008, meets with us at the USDA.

Today was our first big day in DC! We spent the morning at the USDA starting our time with Michael Alston (IALP ’08) from the RMA. He enlightened us with an overview of his position and allowed us to challenge him on the latest Farm Bill and crop insurance changes. Next we got to spend some time with another fellow Illinoisan, Kirk Hanlin, from NRCS. He shared some current opportunities and challenges that he currently faces in his role. We concluded our sessions at USDA with Phil Karsting of the Foreign Agriculture Service. Before we left the USDA we enjoyed a lovely lunch in the Executive Dining Room.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous today so we had the opportunity to walk over to the World Bank and enjoy some DC sites on the way. At the World Bank, Sarwat Hussain kicked off our sessions with a conversation around what the World Bank does. We then heard from Steven Schonberger who discussed some pretty significant world challenges including climate change that the World Bank faces daily in their choices to find ways to help feed the world. Shifting gears slightly, we wrapped up our time there with Mark Tobey from the Department of Justice. He provided us with a couple of examples of agriculturally related anti-trust cases that made his job very real to us.

Our evening concluded with a trip to CropLife America. We had a small reception with folks from Crop Life and some fun sharing some perspectives on modern farming. Then Dale Moore from the American Farm Bureau spoke about some hot topics he is currently working with including the hot debate on GMOs. We wrapped up the day hearing from another fellow Illinoisan, Jay Vroom, on CropLife America and their work. Monday provided some great sessions and we are excited for more!

Jay Vroom, President & CEO of CropLifeAmerica, discussses their efforts as Ryan Buckles, Steve Huls, and Matt Kellogg look on.

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