Please join us January 29 - 31 in Omaha, NE
Please Join Us January 29th - 31st at Marriott Downtown at the Capitol District, Omaha, Nebraska and enjoy a weekend full of fun and entertainment.
Central Valley Ag has developed an amazing lineup of speakers for the 2021 Young Farmers Conference. Please join us to listen to these prominent speakers who will share valuable insights to benefit your farm operation.
We want to give you the very best to keep growing and developing at a personal and professional level, so please register early for a special weekend getaway to enjoy good food, good fellowship and have some fun!
As a cooperative, we are committed to the success of our growers. Our goal is to create an environment where our young farmers are provided with the tools they need to build a strategy that brings them success. In current economic times, we must remain competitive, be passionate about our work, persevere and overcome all obstacles. We will meet the challenges ahead and rise above the competition to build our strategy together. We invite you to join us for the Young Farmers Conference.
We want to give you the very best to keep growing and developing at a personal and professional level, so please register by January 11th for a special weekend getaway to enjoy good food, good fellowship and have some fun!
A small registration fee of $75.00 will be charged. CVA will cover all other costs for the conference (rooms, meals, etc.).
Questions? Contact Peggy Hopwood at 402-362-8431.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 29th
4:30-5:30 pm Registration
6:00-6:30 pm Welcome Reception
6:30 – 7:30 pm Dinner with Welcome | Carl Dickinson, CEO
7:30 pm Dream Big, Dream Like a Champion - John Cook
SATURDAY, JANUARY 30th
7:00-8:00 am Breakfast
8:00-9:00 am Mental Health | Christine Chasek & Linda Emanuel
9:00 – 9:15 am Break
9:15-10:15 am Truterra | Jason Weller
10:15 – 10:30 am Break
10:30-11:30 pm Weather | Don Day Jr. 11:30-1:00 pm Lunch
1:00 – 2:00 pm Interactive Discussion led by CEO Carl Dickinson & SVP Agronomy Nic McCarthy
2:00-3:00 pm Hemp | Michael Bowman
3:00 – 3:15 pm Break
3:15-4:15 pm International Grain | Guy Allen
6:00 pm Reception
6:30 pm Dinner
7:30 – 9:30 pm Las Vegas Casino Night
SUNDAY, JANUARY 31st
7:00-9:00 am Breakfast
12:00 Check Out at your Convenience Ladies Option - if you signed up for one of the ladies activities, please meet in the lobby on Saturday at 1:30 PM. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD AGENDA PDF
Guy commenced serving as the Senior Economist for the IGP Institute at Kansas State University in the spring of 2019. In this role, he facilitates programs on marketing, supply chains and risk management of agricultural commodities.
Guy’s extensive career in grains and commodities spans three continents; North America, Australia, Asia and China. He has vast experience in commodity trading and risk management, supply chain logistics and commodity analysis; as well as new business development. He also maintains interests in grain production and farming activities in both Australia and the U.S.
Guy began his career in grain in 1986 at the local country elevator, Taloma Farmers. In 1988 Guy commenced work with Louis Dreyfus Commodities in Pekin, Illinois, located on the Illinois-Mississippi River system. From there he expanded his experience with trading and operational responsibilities while at locations across the Midwest in Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska; as well as in Australia and China.
While in Australia, Guy went on in 1995 to establish the grain trading division for GrainCorp Operations Ltd., in Sydney when Australia’s domestic market deregulation began, and over a seven period grew that business to maturity.
In 2002 he served as a Founding Director of Advance Trading AustralAsia, a leading risk management advisor to producers, commercial traders, consumers and end users.
Guy has worked closely with large and small grain consumers and end-users, where he developed risk management, raw material procurement and pricing strategies across Australia and New Zealand. This included implementing new commodity accounting and logistical systems.
During his time in Australia, Guy was a key player in the establishment of Australia’s Trade Rules and Dispute Resolution Rules and is an experienced GTA (Grain Trade Australia) Arbitrator. He is also a Licensed Futures Broker (AFSL) and holds Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.
Guy has trained and mentored many of the industry population and is a committed advocate for lifting the industry’s professional standards. His “grassroots” foundation in agriculture and his diverse international experience ensures that Guy brings unique perspectives and skills to the industry.
A passionate hemp advocate, Michael Bowman is a fifth-generation native of rural Colorado and has focused his adult life on key agrarian issues both nationally and internationally. He authored Section 7606 of the 2014 Farm Bill granting for the first time since 1933 the right to cultivate hemp under federal law. He is a co-founder First Crop, Inc., a public benefit corporation dedicated to expanding re-generative agriculture practices and developing new market opportunities for hemp products grown by American farmers.
Bowman’s pioneering work includes: founding board member of the Rocky Moun-tain Hemp Association, governor-appointee to Colorado’s inaugural Industrial Hemp Commission and founding Board Chair of the National Hemp Association. He co-founded the Colorado Farm2Cafeteria workgroup and was a founding board member of “25x’25” and the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance. Additionally he served on the Board of the North American Industrial Hemp Council , Advisory Board for DyneAquaculture and as Advisor to the Savory Institute. He served as Chair of Colorado’s New Energy Future and co-chaired Governor-elect Bill Ritter’s 2007 En-ergy Transition Team.
He was recognized for his transformative work relating to rural issues in 2011 be-ing named a “White House Champion of Change”. His education includes Universi-ty of Arkansas and graduate of the Colorado Agriculture and Rural Leadership pro-gram. He was a Next Generation Fellow in Columbia University’s American As-sembly and received a 2008 Colorado State University Gamma Sigma Del-ta’s Significant Achievement in Agriculture.
Chasek teaches Diagnosis and Treatment of Mental and Emotional Disorders, Techniques of Counseling, Clinical Treatment Issues in Addictions Counseling, Medical and Psychosocial Aspects of Addictions, Assessment Case, Planning and Management of Addictions, Research Methods in Psychology and Education, and Adult Development. Chasek is a member of the American Counseling Association, is the membership chair and president-elect of the Nebraska Counseling Association, is on the State of Nebraska Board of Alcohol and Drug Counseling, is involved in the Association of Counselor Educators and Supervisors, and is a member of the International Association of Addictions and Offender Counselors, the Chi Sigma Iota Counseling Academic and Professional Honor Society International and Rutgers Alumni Association of Alcohol and Drug Studies.
When John Cook took over the reins of the Nebraska volleyball program, the challenge facing him was daunting. Cook replaced one of the sport’s legendary coaches in Terry Pettit, who won 694 matches and guided the Huskers to 18 consecutive NCAA appearances and six National Semifinals.
Cook, who left an emerging power in Wisconsin to guide the tradition-rich Husker program, had his own vision for Nebraska volleyball. He saw a program that had even more potential to grow.
To date, Cook has led the Huskers to four National Championships, six Finals appearances, nine Final Four appearances, 12 Conference Titles, and 18 top-10 final rankings since 2000. Coach Cook currently has 749 career wins and is the fifth-winningest coach in NCAA history. Under Coach Cook, the Huskers have achieved 57 All-Americans and 19 Academic All-Americans, both among the best in the nation. He is a two-time AVCA National Coach of the Year, seven-time Conference Coach of the Year, a recipient of the USA Volleyball All-Time Great Coach Award, and was inducted in 2017 to the AVCA Hall of Fame.
“It is a reflection of Nebraska volleyball and the program, and not about one person or one player,” Cook said when accepting the AVCA Coach-of-the-Year Award in 2005. “We’re trying to be a leader in the sport. We’re trying to take risks and dream big, and fortunately, I’m surrounded by a lot of people who have that vision. I’m really proud of what we’re doing to try and enhance the sport.”
Don Day Jr. is president and chief meteorologist of DayWeather, Inc.
For over 25 years, Don and his DayWeather meteorologists have provided customized broadcast weather services to over 70 radio stations across Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska with emphasis on the rural/ag listener.
Day also specializes in weather forecasting and analysis for stratospheric aviation with emphasis on lighter than air vehicles (stratospheric balloons, airships, and very high-altitude experiments).
Don was the chief meteorologist for Felix Baumgartner’s record and groundbreaking Red Bull Stratos Stratospheric sky dive in 2012 and also was chief meteorologist for Google’s Alan Eustace stratospheric jump in 2014 (Stratex). Don has been featured in the documentaries “Mission to the Edge of Space - Red Bull Stratos” 2013 and “14 Minutes to Earth” (2016). Don was also the lead weather adviser for skydiver Luke Aikins’ “Heaven Sent - No Parachute Jump” Fox Network 2016.
DayWeather also provides long range and seasonal weather forecasts for agriculture and other private industries with an emphasis on long-term and known historic trends in ocean temperature and ocean circulation changes.
Don utilizes “analog forecast” principles which are more weighted to past observed weather events/patterns as opposed to computer modeling. Day believes the key to accurate long range forecasts are combination of identifying past weather patterns and comparing those patterns forecast by modern computer modeling.
Linda engages with the agriculture community as a health care advocate and educator. She develops webinars, on-site presentations, and resources to enhance learning in health and safety topics for the agricultural workforce. She promotes this work on a state, regional and national level. Her passion as an agriculture producer and co-proprietor of her three-generation Nebraska family farm enables her to act as a liaison between research and practice and drives her work to address the ever changing needs of this population.
If you would rather not attend the afternoon sessions, you can opt to explore the Old Market area on your own OR come with us to enjoy one of the activities listed below. Please register for one of the following if you are interested:
Please register for the activity you choose during registration to guarantee availability.