Event News

Registration is open for the NGFA’s 123rd Annual Convention. Join Land O’Lakes CEO Beth Ford, CSX President and CEO Jim Foote and top leaders from major agribusinesses at The Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, Fla., to explore the most important issues facing the industry in 2019. Save money by registering before the Feb. 15 early bird deadline!  The convention provides an ideal opportunity to learn the latest, network with fellow industry leaders and spend time with NGFA colleagues at the luxury beach resort located on Amelia Island’s 13 miles of coastline. Several tours will provide ... Read More

By Sarah Gonzalez, Director of Communications and Digital Media During the 47th annual Country Elevator Conference and Trade Show conducted on Dec 2-4, 622 attendees gathered in St. Louis, Mo., where they discussed the economic outlook for the grain elevator sector, as well as opportunities for leadership and growth in their companies.   In addition, more than 100 exhibitors filled the St. Louis Union Station Hotel, where they met with NGFA members. Learn more about their experience in this video completed by Grain Journal. Will Secor, CoBank Knowledge Exchange economist, ... Read More

The NGFA and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are hosting a major safety outreach effort, the “Stand-Up for Grain Safety Week” from March 25-29, to help raise awareness about grain handling and storage hazards, provide education and training, and convey safety best practices. During the Stand-Up for Grain Safety Week, companies may participate by providing a focused activity and/or toolbox talk on any prevention measure. Participating companies will be encouraged to fill out information about their safety activities on this website, which provides training ... Read More

In March 2010, two days after receiving its largest order ever, a fire destroyed millions of dollars in equipment, materials, the offices and the flagship store of Wendell August, America's oldest and largest forge. But a fire that could have destroyed a business instead became a catalyst for new thinking and new opportunities. During the NGFA’s 47th annual Country Elevator Conference, Will Knecht, president of Wendell August, will offer an insightful and inspiring presentation on how challenges can become the foundation for future success and greatness. Also during the 2018 Country ... Read More

During the 47th annual Country Elevator Conference, join Advance Trading Inc. for a breakout session that will provide attendees with an understanding of the impacts of upcoming changes to the CME corn and soybean futures contracts. The session also will delve into recent issues with the cash and futures convergence on U.S. grain and oilseed futures, and discuss real time merchandising implications and strategy in a marketplace where the imposition of tariffs have led to unprecedented ending stocks levels in soybeans.  Curt Strubhar, commercial merchandising consultant and vice ... Read More

During the 47th annual Country Elevator Conference, keynote speaker Mitzi Perdue — an accomplished businesswoman, daughter of Sheraton Hotels co-founder and widow of Perdue Farms founder, Frank Perdue — will share specific techniques used by Frank Perdue to grow his company from a father-son operation to one that employs 22,000, as well as actionable and innovative ideas for inspiring career-long loyalty from employees. Perdue, who began a family wine grape business which now is a large supplier of wine grapes in California, also will reflect on her father’s path toward co-founding Sheraton ... Read More

The tense trade environment between the United States and China and a burgeoning 2018 harvest are having a profound impact on grain basis, carries, trade flows and transportation. During the NGFA’s 47th Annual Country Elevator Conference and Trade Show, Will Secor, an economist in CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange Research Division, will share how a grain system designed to send more than 1 billion bushels of soybeans per year to China is recalibrating to new trade flows and what that means for grain elevators in 2019. Secor will be a featured speaker at the 2018 Country Elevator Conference, Dec. ... Read More

Indigo Ag Inc. an agricultural startup specializing in microbial and digital technologies, officially announced in September its launch of Indigo Marketplace™, a digital platform for buying and selling grain. Indigo, which first launched in 2014 to help farmers improve crop health, made its online grain marketplace available to its network of farmers in June. Since then, growers have entered more than $6 billion in grain inventory and buyers have entered more than 4,000 bids representing over $2 billion in demand, the company said in a September press release. “Directly connecting ... Read More