Audacious goals and continuous improvement in the animal ag community

On March 19, we celebrated National Agriculture Day, honoring those in our communities who work hard year-round to provide the delicious, nutritious, and sustainable foods families need to thrive.?

Too often, the hard work of animal agriculture can go under-appreciated, despite the fact that all of us depend on farmers’ and ranchers’ deep commitment to caring for their animals and land. Without them we wouldn’t be able to fill our shopping carts or our family tables, so we really can’t express often enough how valuable their contributions are.

I’ve long held that the best and most important part of my job is helping everyone in the animal agriculture community share their stories and build relationships within and beyond our supply chain. That’s a key goal of the Alliance’s annual Stakeholders Summit. This year’s Summit is scheduled for May 8-9 in Kansas City, with the theme “Ready, Set, Solve! Advancing Animal Agriculture.”?

Our can’t-miss lineup of speakers and programs includes a kick-off by Joel Leftwich , chief strategy officer at Kansas Farm Bureau and president of the U.S. Agriculture Partnership Fund. Joel will address the importance of strengthening trust in farmers and food by engaging directly with voters - who are also our neighbors and friends. While relationships with elected officials can help play a role in safeguarding and supporting our community, Joel will share how we can use our voices and be trusted sources of information within our communities of engaged citizens.??

Building on the goal of bringing the animal ag community together Jeff Pigott ( National Pork Producers Council ), Haley Grimes ( American Humane ), and Jon Hixson ( 百胜集团 ) will explore the importance of partnerships to advance animal welfare, highlighting the value of collaborative efforts to merge science and data and drive real change.?

Measuring baselines, setting goals for the world we want to see, and driving change that aligns with our vision and values will be featured across the Summit. We know our expert speakers and engaged audience will value every minute, and we can’t wait for the discussions along the way.

To wrap up the Summit experience (hard to believe, but all good things eventually come to an end!), we are looking forward to our closing session with J.J. Jones , executive director at the National Institute for Animal Agriculture . J.J. will challenge us and our community to be audacious - specifically, to go after Big Hairy Audacious Goals that are aspirational and inspire innovation and creativity.

If you’re planning to attend the Summit, let us know in the comments what you’re most looking forward to. Or share how you think about goal-setting for yourself and your community. We’ll be taking notes and doing our part to help the animal agriculture community be audacious as we drive our goals forward.

It’s not too late to register for the Stakeholders Summit or explore sponsorship opportunities. Help us spread the word by referring a friend to attend and you both could win a $100 gift card! Get the latest agenda and other updates here .

Regardless of whether we’ll see you in person, join us on Twitter , LinkedIn , TikTok , Instagram , and Facebook to keep the conversation going.