First State Bank to host 24th annual Ag Conference in Mendota

First State Bank, Mendota, will host a special conference for area farmers at 10 am Thursday, Jan. 25, at the Mendota Civic Center, 1901 Tom Merwin Drive.

Starting the 24th annual First State Bank Ag Conference program will be Kelly Jackson Hardy, principal, Clifton Larson Allen. Hardy serves client needs related to tax consulting, planning and compliance. She serves primarily the agribusiness industry and cooperatives. She comes from a farm background and understands the nuances of agriculture. Her talk will focus on the areas of ag taxation and farm succession planning.

Following Hardy will be will be Daniel Overberg. He is director of customer risk for Archer Daniels Midland Company. Overberg specializes in risk management solutions for producer and end use customers. He has been with ADM for 17 years in various trading and risk management roles.

The keynote speaker, Mike Pearson, will take a deep dive into What is Driving Agriculture Now? Pearson interviews more than 1,000 professionals in the ag industry each year. These folds range from experts on the volatile commodity markets to Washington politicians, and trade experts from around the world. In this talk, Pearson will synthesize what he has learned from these professionals and helps the audience understand what might be ahead in the markets, ag policy and in trade. He was born and raised in South Central Iowa where he grew to love agriculture on his family’s hog and cattle farm. He’s previously hosted “Market to Market” on Public Television, the Ag News Daily podcast, and currently, viewers can find him behind the anchor desk on “This Week in Agribusiness” on RFD_TV and listeners can hear him every day as the host of Agriculture of America, a daily ag-focused radio show carried by affiliate stations across the country.

Area farmers were encouraged to contact First State Bank at 815-539-3834 before attending the event.

ADM Grain Company, Mendota, and Prairie State Tractor, Mendota, will serve as major co-sponsors of this event and will provide lunch for all those in attendance. First State Insurance will be sponsoring the morning coffee and donuts. Clifton Larson Allen is sponsoring the soda. Door prizes are being provided by several area businesses including: Amanda Andreoni-Hageman Realty, Beck Oil Co., Cantlin Law Firm, Chris Eller – the Retirement Specialists, Country Village Meats, Crop Productions Services, Dinges Fire Company, Earlville Farmers Coop, Guilfoyle & Stevenson Law Firm, Hornung Tiling, Inc., Foster’s Tax & Accounting, LLC., Leffelman & Associates, Leone Grain & Supply, Maplehurst Farms, Mendota Mutual Insurance, Meriden Grain-Pioneer Seed, Northern Partners Cooperative, Prescott Bros Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram, Schimmer Automotive Group, Sublette Farmers Elevator Co., Sublette Mechanical, Troy Grove Coop, Vaessen Bros. Chevrolet, Vaessen Implement & Repair, & West Brooklyn Farmers Coop.