The National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA) will host the 2025 Annual Conference – Securing Our Future: Don’t Just Talk…Act! at the Kauffman Foundation Conference Center in Kansas City, Missouri next week, April 7 – 9, 2025. NIAA has planned three days of programming that focus on the future of animal agriculture and maintaining trust throughout the value chain.
Annual Conference will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, April 7 with capstone presentations from Cohort 3 of the Advanced Training for Animal Agriculture Leaders. For the past 16 months, Cohort 3 group have been preparing their capstone presentations to present to animal agriculture stakeholders. The capstone groups are designed to explore pressing issues in animal agriculture and think futuristically and critically about the topic. The presentation topics include:
- Data Collection for a Healthier World
- Responsible Use of Technology
- Globalization in Animal Agriculture
- The Future of Animal Agriculture
The Capstone presentations are open to the public, but registration is requested.
NIAA Council and Working Group meetings will begin at 1 p.m. Meetings will include:
- Animal Disease Issues & Emergency Management
− Identifying biosecurity hazards through disease outbreak investigations, Kate Dion DVM, Iowa State University – College of Veterinary Medicine
− Enhanced biosecurity planning resources for foot-and-mouth disease preparedness for cattle veterinarians & producers, Julia Herman DVM, MS, DACVPM, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
− SHIC Update on Japanese Encephalitis Virus Prevention and Preparedness for the US Swine Industry, Megan Niederwerder, DVM, PhD, Swine Health Information Center
− WALK, RUN , CRAWL- H5N1, what we have learned in dairy cattle this past year, Jason Lombard DVM, Colorado State University
− Overview of HPAI in Dairy Cattle, Jennifer Siembieda DVM, MPVM, PhD, USDA – APHIS - Antibiotics
- Animal Identification & Information Systems
− A State’s Perspective on EID, Garrett Girk, Kansas Department of Agriculture
− The Progression of ID and Technology: How we can accomplish an Animal Disease Traceability System for the US Beef Cattle Industry, Callahan Grund, U.S. CattleTrace - Sustainability
- Equine Working Group
- Animal Agriculture Innovation & Investment Working Group
NIAA’s Annual Meeting will begin at 4:30 p.m. and will conclude with a welcome reception at 6:00 p.m.
On Tuesday, April 8, the opening keynote, Andy Curliss from National Prok Producers Council will set the tone for the day with his presentation: The War on Food. Other sessions will include Consumer Insights, a License to Operatepanel and workshop, an Ag Legislation panel featuring association executives, and a discussion with the board from the U.S. Ag Partnership Fund. Additional speakers will include:
- Rick Stott, Superior Farms
- Dr. Jim Heird, Texas A&M University
- Matt Durian, The American Royal
- J.J. Jones, NIAA
- Danette Amstein, Midan Marketing
- Kip Tom, Chairman and former US Ambassador to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
- Collin Peterson, Former Chairman of the US House Agriculture Committee
- Randy Russell, President of the Russell Group and former USDA Chief of Staff
- Lisa Van Doren, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives Vice President and Chief of Staff
- Michael Schumpp, The Meat Institute
- Julie Broadway, American Horse Council
- Zach Helder, Kansas City Agricultural Business Council
- Joel Leftwich, U.S. Agriculture Partnership Fund
- Justina Graff, U.S. House of Agriculture Committee
The day’s program will conclude with an evening of awards celebrating current participants of the Advanced Training for Animal Agriculture Leaders and entertainment from Mark Mayfield – “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Barn…”
There are two additional sessions happening on April 9. The American Sheep Industry Association is hosting What’s Next After Scrapie Eradication? with a virtual, listening only session available. NIAA is hosting Convening & Coalescing National Animal Disease Preparedness and Responses which is intended for participants and stakeholders of the USDA National Animal Disease Preparedness & Response Program (NADPRP) and will host a panel featuring Dr. Tiffany Lee, Clemens Food Group, Dr. Julia Herman, NCBA, and Dr. Cheryl Eia, Iowa State University, and will conclude with a roundtable discussion. There are separate registration options for attending these sessions individually.
Join leaders at NIAA’s Annual Conference to secure the future of animal agriculture. For more information about the 2025 Annual Conference, please visit www.AnimalAgriculture.org. For assistance or a media pass, please contact Morgan Young, Director of Communications and Outreach for NIAA at morgan.young@animalagriculture.org
