New ag group ‘growing connections’

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — What started as a lunch gathering of local agribusiness leaders several months ago culminated into a very successful Illinois Agricultural Summit.

The premier event, held Feb. 18 and hosted by the newly-formed Illinois Agricultural Alliance, drew about 400 east-central Illinois farmers and agribusiness representatives for breakout sessions, a panel discussion and networking.

Breakout session topics ranged from confinement livestock production to estate transition planning to government and policy updates.

“Really, the start of it was when a few of us agribusiness leaders from the area were having lunch at a local restaurant about six, seven months ago. We were just sitting around talking about what we do as individual companies,” said Matt Hardecke, Alliance president and Farm Credit Illinois regional manager.

“We all have programs and we all have things that we do for our own customers. However, there wasn’t a collaborative effort. So, it was over that lunch and the reality is we saw a need there and luckily the people at that table had the desire, had the determination and the horsepower to make it work.

“We really started on a pretty quick time schedule to get this done and obviously find a date and come to this wonderful facility. Everything just kind of clicked. When you have a good team, you can really move mountains and that’s really what we did.

“It’s a conglomerate of various east-central Illinois ag businesses that have really come together to collaborate on an event that’s unique and special for farmers in east-central Illinois. This is our first event sponsored by the Illinois Agricultural Alliance. It’s an opportunity for all ag businesses to come together, to pool our resources and really bring a dynamic event to local farmers.”

Strong Start

The Alliance hit the ground running with such a well-attended first-time event in terms of the speaker lineup and support from a long list of sponsors that made it all possible.

“That was our goal. We really wanted to put together good, quality information for the farmers that were coming to this, and I think by bringing everyone together, all of the agribusinesses, we’ve really done that in this first year and we hope to do that in the years to come,” said Lucas Stark, Alliance vice president and Champaign County Farm Bureau assistant manager.

“The real goal of this is we have a lot of expertise in the agribusinesses around Champaign County and really it was bringing all of those businesses together so that farmers are not hearing somebody from Washington, D.C., or Chicago or California, but really learning from experts that are local on the ground, that are working day in and day out with the farmers in our community. That’s the goal and that’s what we’re trying to deliver,” Hardecke added.

Alliance members set a maximum registration of 400 attendees and were near that goal.

“This is a great size group. This size of group allows us to have a networking hour because that’s the goal. The goal is not just to preach, but to network and to build that collaboration,” Hardecke said.

“The theme of our conference this year is ‘Growing Connections’ and that’s really the idea, to allow people to create connections that benefit their farms, benefit their agribusinesses and expand our community.

“We’re thankful for everyone who came out and supported us. Obviously, thank you to all of our sponsors. An event like this takes a lot of resources to undertake. We have a wonderful ag community here, and if anything it strengthens that alliance.

“We ended our meeting with Greg Warren, a world-class comedian. We hope to not only educate and network, but have a good time.”