Post-Election Implications for Agriculture
The Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City’s November 12 webinar will look at the results of the November 3 election and the implications for agribusiness. The panel will feature veteran farm policy reporter and analyst Sara Wyant who is editor-in-chief of Agri-Pulse Communications. She will be joined by Blake Hurst, president, Missouri Farm Bureau Federation and Ron Seeber, president and CEO, Kansas Grain and Feed Association and Kansas Ag Retailers Association. The panelists will share their views on the Federal elections and key state-wide races and how those results may translate into policy directions affecting agribusiness.
Sara Wyant is President and Founder of Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc., a communications firm devoted to covering farm and rural policy issues with offices in Washington, D.C., Camdenton, MO, and Sacramento, CA. As a veteran farm policy reporter, she is well recognized on Capitol Hill, as well as with farm and commodity associations across the country. Her firm’s subscription-only content includes the latest updates on farm policy, commodity and conservation programs, trade, food safety, rural development, and environmental and regulatory programs.
Blake Hurst was first elected the 14th president of Missouri Farm Bureau on December 7, 2010. Blake was a district board member on the Missouri state board for eight years, and served seven years as Missouri Farm Bureau vice president. He raises corn and soybeans with his father, brothers, nephews and sons-in-law. He also operates a wholesale greenhouse business with his wife, Julie; daughter, Lee; and sons-in-law, Ryan Harms and Matt Schlueter. The family raises flowers in two acres of greenhouses.
Ron Seeber is the President and CEO of the Kansas Grain and Feed Association (KGFA), Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association (KARA), and Renew Kansas. Ron is a native Kansan and earned a Political Science Degree from the University of Kansas. After graduating he worked for Senator Bob Dole in Washington, DC for five years. Ron then returned home and worked as the Deputy Secretary of Administration for Governor Bill Graves, Political Director of the Kansas Republican Party, and as a lobbyist for a law firm.