After a wildly successful 2013 Stakeholders Summit, the Animal Agriculture Alliance announced that it will be hosting its 14th annual Summit in Kansas City Missouri on May 6-7 2015—in an effort to connect with even more industry stakeholders, help present agriculture decision makers with the issues of the day and collaboratively problem solve.
This decision to take the historic Washington D.C. event “on the road,” is even more appropriate given that the 2015 Stakeholders Summit theme will be “Oh the Places Ag Will Go” and will focus on the future of animal agriculture, both literally and figuratively.
“This wasn’t a decision we took lightly,” said Alliance President and CEO Kay Johnson Smith of the “big move” to Kansas City—the first time the Alliance has hosted its yearly capstone event outside of Washington D.C. “We surveyed our entire membership, all of the 2013 Summit attendees and our Board of Directors, and the majority wanted us to alternate locations and make the Summit more accessible geographically.”
The Stakeholders Summit is a one-of-a-kind conference that is attended by a diverse group of decision makers, including representatives from farms, ranches, food processors, restaurants, grocery stores, legislators, universities and government agencies. The Alliance will once again welcome Andy Vance, renowned agricultural journalist for Feedstuffs and active National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) member, as the 2015 Summit moderator.
“Kansas City has been a hub for animal agriculture, boasting the headquarters for countless livestock production and animal health companies,” said Smith. “With Kansas City’s rich history with animal agriculture and its central location amid the ‘livestock corridor’ we see this year’s Summit as the opportunity to bring the mountain to Muhammad: bring our unique speakers and their innovative perspectives to the people that most need to hear them.”
More details on 2015 Summit speakers will be released in a few months, but for now, we urge industry stakeholders to mark their calendars for the May 2015 event.
“As a first-time attendee at the summit, I was struck by the level of discussion and passion — not just from the speakers but from all the participants,” said Janice Person, Online Engagement at Monsanto. “The program provided great thought-provokers and ideas that are not common in other agricultural events but allowed us to look at some of the new forces in society that are having a direct impact on our industry. Some of the conversations that started at the summit continue to move forward months later.”