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Even at an early age, Cheryl Day was a passionate and practical advocate for agriculture. As a young child, Day convinced her father that raising Angus Cattle was more than just a hobby but a chosen career path. She followed the footsteps of eight generations before her, as an agriculture producer. The need to tell her agriculture story had become a priority for Cheryl. As a teenager Day encountered many attempts from anti-agriculture groups to erode the business of agriculture. During her college years, Cheryl was a powerful voice for keeping her college’s agriculture program alive when politicians threatened to end the program. On a campus in the heart of Illinois farmland, Day quickly realized that her fellow college students had no idea where their food came from and the fight to keep the program open became a stage for educating. After earning her degree in Ag-Business from Illinois State University, she returned to farm. Day, along with her husband and two children, raises corn, soybeans, and registered Angus Cattle in Illinois. As an accent to her agriculture enterprise, Cheryl freelances as an agriculture communicator and public relations consultant. In addition to her work experience, Day has dedicated countless volunteer efforts to speaking out for agriculture and organizing grassroots efforts to protect the science of producing agriculture products for the next generation to come.

Charlie O’Brien is the Vice President, Agricultural Services at the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), where he oversees efforts on behalf of AEM members that manufacture Ag equipment. He oversees and coordinates working groups, committees and is the chief staff liaison to the AEM Board of Directors for agriculture issues. O’Brien is AEM’s primary liaison with Ag organizations, customer groups and government agencies. He also leads AEM initiatives related to the forestry sector as well as renewable energy. O’Brien has been in agriculture his entire life. He was raised on a dairy farm outside of Madison, Wisconsin, and after graduating from the University of Wisconsin, Madison with a BS in Agriculture, he joined John Deere Credit, and later earned an MBA from Drake University in Des Moines. Before joining AEM, O’Brien served as President and CEO of FPC Financial, as well as Farm Plan & AgLine (Canada) Product Manager and Sales Manager for John Deere Credit, part of Deere & Company’s Worldwide Credit Operations. He has also served as Branch Manager and Director of Strategic Initiatives for Deere Credit’s England operations and held Deere Credit management positions in sales, market and business development and risk management. AEM is the North American-based international trade group representing the off-road equipment manufacturing industry. AEM is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with offices in the capitals of Washington, D.C., Ottawa, Beijing and a European presence in Brussels. It represents more than 800 companies in the agriculture, construction, forestry, mining and utility sectors.

Senior Policy Advisor at Olsson Frank Weeda Terman Bode Matz PC, John Block has dedicated his professional career to the fields of agriculture, food, and health. His accomplishments in agriculture began with the building of a large and successful hog operation in his home state of Illinois where he also served as the Director of Agriculture from 1977-1981. He was tapped by President Reagan to serve as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1981-1985, where he played a key role in the development of the 1985 Farm Bill. He was President and Chief Executive Officer of Food Distributors International (formerly National American Wholesale Grocers Association) from 1986-January 2003. Mr. Block serves on the Board of Directors of The Farm Foundation, Hormel Foods Corporation, and Digital Angel Corp. He is Chair of the Citizens Network for Foreign Affairs Agribusiness Alliance and a member of the Board for the Friends of the World Food Program. He is a Non-resident Senior Fellow with the National Center for Food and Agriculture Policy. John Block is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy.

Gail Martell, Senior Agriculture Analyst, was one of the first meteorologists on Wall Street with more than 20 years of experience in the commodities markets, focusing on corn, soybeans and wheat.

I am a farmer in Southeastern Indiana, and have recently graduated from the University of Indianapolis with a degree in business and about ready to finish my MBA in finance.

Noelle Taylor grew up in a small town in Iowa. She is now living in Metro Denver with her husband and 6 children. She works part time as a postpartum doula and full time as a homemaker. She has been a member of a CSA since 2006.

Dan Goehl, DVM, and his wife own and operate Canton Veterinary Clinic in Canton, MO, where Dan works primarily with stocker and cow/calf beef operations. Dan is also partner in Professional Beef Services, LLC, which offers herd consultation and helps in data management and marketing of beef cattle.

Satya Banerji is an Internet publisher with a focus on the safe and judicious use of pesticides in India. His qualifications and professional experiences are in the Life Sciences. He would like to build bridges between farmers from the U.S. and India through his blog.

The Kansas City Board of Trade provides a daily newsletter, the KCBT Review, which traders at the Kansas City Board of Trade use on a daily basis to keep on top of the market. You can read the KCBT here. For more information, visit www.kcbt.com.

Actively involved in farming since the late 80’s. Family includes my wife of 29 years, a son, a daughter and a grandson. I was raised on the farm I now operate, but was away from farming for 10 years. I came back to the farm because it was what I wanted to do.