11:00 - 11:45 a.m.
Policy Resolutions Committee

11:45 a.m.
PAC Committee Meeting

1:00 p.m.
HORIZONS Legislative Strategy Meeting

5:30 p.m.
PAC Reception

6:30 - 8:30 a.m.
Buffet Breakfast

8:00 -- 11:00 a.m.
General Session

Chairman's Reports:
M. Wayne Lambertson, Chairman, Farm Credit Council Board of Directors
Gary Matteson, Chairman, FCCServices Board of Directors

FCA Chairman's Report:
Nancy C. Pellett
Chairman and CEO
Farm Credit Administration

Nancy C. Pellett is Chairman and CEO of the Farm Credit Administration, the independent federal agency responsible for regulating and examining both the Farm Credit System and the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac). Ms. Pellett was appointed to a six year term on the three-member FCA Board by President George W. Bush on November 14, 2002, and she was designated Chairman on May 22, 2004. Her term expires on May 21, 2008.

Ms. Pellett brings to her position on the FCA Board extensive experience in production agriculture and agribusiness. In partnership with her husband, she managed a family-owned cattle farm from 1966 until her appointment to the Board. She served as vice president and secretary of Prairie Hills, Ltd., a feedlot, cow-calf, and row crop operation in Atlantic, Iowa, from 1979 until 2002. Ms. Pellett was president and treasurer of Fredrechsen Farms, Ltd., a family-owned swine and row crop operation in Walnut, Iowa, for more than 20 years.

A long-time beef industry leader, Ms. Pellett has held state and national leadership positions in cattlemen’s industry organizations. As a member of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association she has served as the chairman of the Check-Off Division, chairman of the Consumer Marketing Group, and most recently as a member of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board. She has also been president of the Iowa Beef Industry Council.

Dale Moore
Chief of Staff to USDA Secretary Johanns

Dale Moore is Chief of S taff to Secretary Johanns, and also served as Chief of Staff to former Secretary Veneman. Before joining USDA, from February 1997 until his appointment in February 2001 Moore served as the executive director for legislative affairs at the Washington, DC-based National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. He was the legislative director of the Committee on Agriculture at the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995-96, where he worked on the formulation and passage of the 1996 Farm Bill. From 1993-94 he worked as the Republican legislative coordinator for the House Agriculture Committee.

Moore served as the minority counsel for the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Department Operations, Research, and Foreign Agriculture from 1991-93. From 1985-91 he was the agricultural legislative assistant for [then] U.S. Rep. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), who is now a U.S. Senator from Kansas.

A native of Copeland, Kansas, where he was raised on a livestock, hay, and grain farm, Moore holds a B.S. degree in animal science/biology from Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas.

Ideas That Stick:
Chip Heath
Professor of Organizational Behavior
Stanford Graduate School of Business

Chip Heath is a Professor of Organizational Behavior in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. His research examines why certain ideas-- ranging from urban legends to folk medical cures, from Chicken Soup for the Soul stories to business strategy myths—survive and prosper in the social marketplace of ideas. A few years back Chip designed a course, now a popular elective at Stanford, that asked whether it would be possible to use the principles of naturally sticky ideas to design messages that would be more effective. The material from that course, How to Make Ideas Stick, has been taught to hundreds of students including managers, teachers, nonprofit leaders, doctors, journalists, venture capitalists, product designers, and film producers.

Chip is the co-author (along with his brother, Dan) of a book titled Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. The book will be published by Random House in early 2007.

11:15 a.m. -- 12:15 p.m.
Breakout Sessions

Carbon Credits: New Opportunity for Agriculture
This session will examine the emerging market for trading in carbon credits and how farmers are organizing to profit from that market. Led by agriculture journalist/consultant/policy wonk Bob Heuer, the session features Ed Heslop, CEO of the Environmental Credit Corporation, and David Miller of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation.

Regulations That Work: You Make the Difference to Agriculture and Rural America
An in-depth look at the latest developments from the System’s regulator will be presented by Tom McKenzie, Director of FCA’s Office of Examination and Chief Examiner; Andrew Jacob, Director of FCA’s Office of Regulatory Policy; and Charlie Rawls, FCA’s General Counsel.

Resources to Help Borrowers Be Successful
Looking at ways that Farm Credit institutions can help customers be successful by using federal and state grants and other means will be the focus of this breakout session, featuring Dallas Tonsager, member of the FCA Board of Directors: Michael Gerber, President of Farm Credit of Western New York, and LeeAnn Oliver, USDA Deputy Administrator of Cooperative Programs.

How Agriculture Can Meet 25% of U.S. Energy Needs by 2025
University of Tennessee professor Burton English will present findings from a recent study which found that U.S. agriculture can meet the goal of producing 25% of U.S. energy needs by 2025 — the aim of the 25x25 Coalition, of which the Farm Credit Council is a member. Coalition Co-Chair J. Read Smith will discuss the political and legislative outlook for achieving the coalition’s goals.

12:30 p.m.
Luncheon

Featured Speaker:
Mark Shields
Columnist and Political Commentator

Mark Shields is a nationally known columnist and commentator with unmatched credentials as an analyst of the U.S. political system.  He is best known for his work as moderator on CNN's Capital Gang where he debated policy issues with Robert Novak, Al Hunt, Kate O'Beirne, and Margaret Carlson.

Since 1979, Mark Shields has been writing his column on national politics for The Washington Post.  The column is now distributed nationally by Creators Syndicate.

In 1987, the political analysis team of Mark Shields and David Gergen became a regular feature of The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour.  The 1989, Political Almanac named Shields and Gergen the “best television pundits of the presidential election year.”

From 1993 to the Fall of 2001, the analysis team of Mark Shields and Wall Street Journal columnist Paul Gigot has been on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS, seen every Friday and during primaries, national conventions and elections.  Shields now shares that feature with David Brooks, senior editor of The Weekly Standard.

Shields is also an author, whose book about the 1984 presidential campaign, On the Campaign Trail, has been praised as “funny,” “irreverent,” and “insightful” and for bringing that “race to a magnificent light.”  As one reviewer wrote: “Mark Shields is the wittiest political analyst around, and he is frequently the most trenchant, fair-minded, and thoughtful.”

3:00 -- 4:00 p.m.
Breakout Sessions
Morning breakout sessions repeat 

4:15 -- 5:30 p.m.
Ice Cream Social

5:30 -- 7:00 p.m.
Open Cocktail Reception
Sponsored by CoBank and Farm Credit Leasing
 
All Farm Credit conference attendees and their guests are invited to a CoBank and Farm Credit Leasing sponsored cocktail reception on the Springs Ballroom Patio.  Please join us!

6:30 -- 8:30 a.m.
Buffet Breakfast

7 -- 7:45 a.m.
Delegate Body Session 

8:30 -- 10:30 a.m.
Spouse and Guest Program (see description below) 

8:00 -- 10:45 a.m.
General Session

Ag Economic Outlook:
Robert L. Thompson
Gardner Chair in Agricultural Policy
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Professor Robert L. Thompson holds the Gardner Chair in Agricultural Policy at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, where he carries on an active program of classroom- and extension-education in public policy. He serves on the USDA-USTR Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee for Trade and as Chairman of the International Food and Agricultural Trade Policy Council.

From mid-1998 until late 2002 Thompson was at the World Bank where he served as its Director of Rural Development, with administrative responsibility for the Bank's worldwide agriculture, forestry and rural development programs. He also served as the Bank's Senior Advisor for Agricultural Trade Policy.

From mid-1995 to mid-1998, Thompson served as President and CEO of Winrock International Institute for Agricultural Development, a not-for profit institution which carries on projects in 40 countries worldwide to reduce poverty and hunger by increasing agricultural productivity and rural employment while protecting the quality of the environment.

From 1987 to 1993, Thompson was Dean of Agriculture at Purdue University, where he oversaw agricultural instruction, extension, research, international programs, and regulatory affairs for the State of Indiana. In addition, he was a professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University from 1974 to 1993, focusing on agricultural trade policy, U.S. agricultural policy, and world agricultural development.

Thompson was Assistant Secretary for Economics at the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1985 to 1987 and Senior Staff Economist for Food and Agriculture on the President's Council of Economic Advisers from 1983 to 1985. In these capacities, he played an instrumental role in writing the 1985 farm bill and preparing for the Uruguay Round of GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade) negotiations.

Active in all facets of agriculture, Thompson is a past president of the International Association of Agricultural Economists and a former board member of the National Cooperative Bank; PSI Resources, and its wholly owned subsidiary, PSI Energy; the Vigoro Corporation; Terra Industries, Inc., Rabobank's North American Agribusiness Advisory Board, and the International Agribusiness Management Association. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Farm Bill Panel Discussion:
Moderated by Sara Wyant, editor and publisher of Agri-Pulse newsletter

Farm and commodity group leaders will discuss the goals of their organizations for the upcoming Farm Bill

11:00 -- 11:45 a.m.
Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation Stockholders Meeting

Noon -- 2 p.m.
Luncheon

Presentation of the Phelps-Martin Awards for Community Service  

Featured Speaker:
Andrew H. Card, Jr.
Former White House Chief of Staff

On November 26, 2000, Andrew H. Card, Jr., was appointed to be Chief of Staff in the presidential administration of Texas Governor George W. Bush. Mr. Card was chosen because of his impressive service record in the public and private sector, including serving in the administrations of two former presidents. Mr. Card's last day was April 14, 2006, making him the second-longest serving White House chief of staff.

From 1992 until 1993, Mr. Card served as the 11th U.S. Secretary of Transportation under President George Bush. In August 1992, at the request of President Bush, Secretary Card coordinated the Administration's disaster relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Andrew. Later that year, Secretary Card directed President Bush's transition office during the transition from the Bush Administration to the Clinton Administration.

From 1988 to 1992, Mr. Card served in President Bush's administration as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff. He managed the daily operations of the White House staff and participated in the full range of economic, foreign, and domestic policy development.

Mr. Card served in President Reagan's administration as Special Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and subsequently as Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, where he was liaison to governors, statewide elected officials, state legislators, mayors and other elected officials.

Prior to being named Chief of Staff for the presidential administration of Governor Bush, Mr. Card was General Motors' Vice President of Government Relations since 1999. Mr. Card directed the company's international, national, state and local government affairs activities and represented GM on matters of public policy before Congress and the Administration.

From 1993 to 1998, Mr. Card was President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Automobile Manufacturers Association (AAMA), the trade association whose members were Chrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company and General Motors Corporation. The AAMA dissolved in December 1998.

He served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1975-1983. In 1982, Mr. Card was named Legislator of the Year by the National Republican Legislators Association and received the Distinguished Legislator Award from the Massachusetts Municipal Association.

Cents of Style Workshop

Andy Paige is the owner of CENTS OF STYLE, an organization dedicated to helping women strategically build their wardrobe for $100 or less, as well as giving them tools to enhance their inner beauty and confidence through personal beauty and style coaching. Andy has elevated "Guerrilla Shopping" to an art form and women everywhere sing the praises of her "Beauty Boot Camp" and sold out "Cents of Style" Workshops. Andy’s mission is to teach the lost principles of proper fit, beautiful make-up, easy hair and personalized flair, all while living on a super tight budget.  This workshop focuses on how to create an entire fashion look for $100 or less, everyday.  You will learn the skills required in hunting, finding and determining a bargain, as well as what fashion items you should invest in and what items can be considered disposable.  All of these skills will allow you to create a fantastic look for $100 or less!

Andy's popularity ignited as she appeared as a cast member of the hit TV show, "Starting Over", NBC's first daytime reality drama produced by Bunim Murray.  She later returned to Starting Over as the Make-Over Captain for the Clairol Nice and Easy Starting Over Street Team.  You can also see Andy on Soap Talk with Lisa Rinna and Ty Treadway, as a regular fashion contributor.

The Spouse Program takes place from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 16.

Gold-Level Sponsors:

American Identity

Nationwide Insurance

Bronze-Level Sponsors:

Lands' End



Red Wing Software

Ice Cream Social Sponsor:

Farmer Mac