February 2018 Articles

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2018 American Farm Bureau Federation Convention

2018 American Farm Bureau Federation Convention

My sister, Brittany, and I had the opportunity to travel to Nashville, Tennessee for the 2018 American Farm Bureau Federation Convention held at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. If you have never visited the Gaylord, you should. The hotel has everything you can imagine and there is no reason to ever leave if you don’t want too. We loved looking at all the shops. We finally figured our way around about the time we left.
The convention was held over a 3 day period and was packed with opportunities to learn more about agriculture. There was a trade show that show cased the latest technologies for the agriculture industry. The RFDTV show, FarmHer, had a booth there as well. We were excited to meet FarmHer founder, Marji Guyler-Alaniz and visit with her. If you aren’t familiar with FarmHer, the show highlights hard working women in the agriculture industry across America. (Pictured left to right, Brittany Canterberry, Marji Guyler-Alaniz, Velvet Roberts)
There were also numerous training sessions covering a variety of topics. Brittany and I attended several of these sessions. But our favorite was hosted by Adam Moody, Sharla Mortimer, and Amelia Kent about direct marketing tips for individual producers. Amelia is a Louisiana farmer and represents our state well. All three of these presenters are from different parts of the United States, so it was very interesting to hear their stories. They all had common ground but different approaches with their farms. I loved a statement that Mr. Moody made in this session. He stated that he simply was trying to put Ag back into our Culture! I thought that was a very profound statement with so much truth behind it.
Nashville is known as “Music City”. So of course, AFBF would showcase some of Nashville’s stars. Country Music singer, Reba McIntire was one of the guest speakers at the closing session. Reba was very humble and appreciative of her agriculture roots. She spoke of growing up on a ranch in Oklahoma and the importance that it played in her life. Brittany and I enjoyed hearing her speak. We were eager to tell our sister, Avery, all about it. Avery is a huge Reba fan.
A few weeks before the convention, AFBF announced that President Donald Trump would be speaking to the group. I was super excited. Not everyone gets the opportunity to hear our President speak. My Dad and my husband, Johnny, were both a little envious. They had both turned down the opportunity to go, before the President was added to the agenda. I don’t think my Dad or Johnny could have handled the waiting in the long line or all the security that we had to endure to see Reba and President Trump.
President Trump was the first president in twenty- five years to speak to the AFBF. He spoke of the importance of rural America and the American Farmer. I can’t even begin to describe the feeling I had hearing him speak. There was a feeling of awe, respect, and patriotism in the room that I had never experienced before. His love for our country was evident in his speech. President Trump made a statement that day: Farm Country is God’s Country! I will always remember that day and the feeling I had getting to hear the President of the United States speak.
Brittany and I had an amazing time at the convention. We met a lot of very nice people from across the nation. We had to stand in line half the day to be able to get in to hear the President and Reba speak. This gave us lots of time to visit and get to know people in line with us. It was very interesting getting to talk with people from all across our nation. We were able to get ideas from others that, hopefully we can use here in our area.
On the last night of the convention, Purina sponsored a special performance at the Grand Ole Opry. We got to see Wynonna Judd, Jerod Neiman and Eric Paisley. I laughed at Wynonna. She stated that the crowd was a little subdued compared to the ones she usually played for. I think everyone was tired from standing in line most of the day waiting to see President Trump and Reba. However, we enjoyed the performance at the Grand Ole Opry very much.
It was honor and a privileged for both of us to represent Union parish and Louisiana at the convention. This trip will be one that we will always remember. If you are on Facebook, you can look at my page or Ag Trader USA to see some of the video highlights from our trip.
I would like to thank Mr. Tim Payne for giving us the arm bands to get in to see Reba and President Trump. Thank you to Louisiana Farm Bureau and my dad for giving me the opportunity to go. Last a special thanks to my sister, Brittany, for being such a great travel partner. I look forward to celebrating the 100th anniversary of AFBF next year in New Orleans. I hope to see y’all there! Velvet Bennett Roberts