By MEGGIE I. FOSTER
Assistant Editor

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Designed as one-stop educational stop, the Indiana Livestock, Forage and Grain Forage on Jan. 28 has been coined a “must attend” event for all Hoosier farmers in 2011.

“It’s important that all of Indiana agriculture comes together because we face many of the same challenges and opportunities,” said Lynn Teel, Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) president and farmer from Chalmers, Ind. “Forum is a great place to share ideas, meet new people and is the perfect opportunity to bring in top-notch, national speakers to an audience filled with a wide variety of Hoosier farmers.”

With a goal to inspire and educate Hoosier farmers, the Forum will feature former Wall Street Journal correspondent and author of ENOUGH: Why the World’s Poorest Starve in an Age of Plenty, Roger Thurow as the keynote speaker.

Thurow’s mid-morning presentation will address domestic and world policy issues that affect feeding starving people.

The day begins at 9 a.m. at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Ind. with the early morning session that will feature a market outlook update by American Farm Bureau Federation Livestock Economist John Anderson. Immediately following will be a moderated session, where leaders from Indiana’s commodity groups, state agencies and Purdue University will discuss current issues in agriculture and suggest ways for farmers to get more involved.
“We hope the morning session we have put together will inspire and educate forum-goers to look at agriculture in a broader sense,” said Teel. “We are bringing in some dynamic speakers guaranteed to get people thinking.”
Following the presentation of the annual Beyond the Fence Awards, this year sponsored by Beck’s Hybrids, where five individuals will be honored for their outstanding service and contributions to the agricultural industry, will be a progressive lunch.

Megan Kuhn, communications director at ISA described the “progressive lunch” as an opportunity to engage in more in-depth conversations with individuals in varying sectors of the agriculture industry. “Participants will leave the lunch knowing some of their fellow producers better and have take-home tools to help them continue the conversation with those outside of agriculture,” said Kuhn.

After the lunch, each attendee will have the opportunity to attend two breakout sessions offered by one of the participating commodity organizations on a specific topic of his or her choosing.

The participating organizations include the Indiana Soybean Alliance, Indiana Corn Marketing Council, Indiana Farm Bureau, Indiana Beef Cattle Assoc., Indiana Forage Council, Indiana Horse Council, Indiana Pork, Indiana Professional Dairy Producers, Indiana State Department of Agriculture, Indiana Board of Animal Health, Milk Promotion Services of Indiana and Purdue Extension. According to Kuhn, this is Extension’s first year as a participating organization in the Forum.

Cost to register for the Forum is $50, which includes a continental breakfast, lunch and evening reception. Pre-registration is required at www.indianasoybean.com/forum or call  the ISA office at 317-347-3620.