AEM’s Ag Sector Board of Directors met on July 31 in Chicago, Illinois, to discuss a number of key sector initiatives. The agenda also featured updates from AEM staff regarding the association’s service areas, including Advocacy, Regulatory Affairs, and Safety & Product Leadership.
Ag Sector Board Chair Bill Hurley, VP of global government Affairs, AGCO, called the meeting to order and welcomed Directors to the second meeting of 2024.
Hurley shared several updates on key ag sector initiatives aimed at achieving the board’s 2024-2025 goals. These updates included:
- Membership
- Safety & Product Leadership
- Ag Leadership Groups
- Commodity Classic
- AEF Plugfest
Celebration of Agriculture on the National Mall
AEM Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs Nick Tindall provided a recap of the Celebration of Modern Agriculture on the National Mall.
Regulatory
Tindall then provided an update on the Moving Forward with Alternative Power: Understanding Opportunities and Risks for the Non-road Equipment Industry paper and how it has been leveraged with various regulatory agencies such as the Department of Energy (DOE), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the California Air Resources Board (CARB), and the Environmental and Climate Council of Canada (ECCC).
AEM Director of Agriculture, Austin Gellings then provided an update on the ongoing situation with the spread of the H1N5 virus amongst dairy cattle, highlighting the evolution of the situation and the ongoing attention that the situation is receiving from regulatory bodies. Gellings then highlighted the work that AEM has been doing to engage and align with interested regulatory bodies and various industry partners to help limit the spread of the disease amongst dairy herds.
Market Share Statistics and Business Intelligence Update
AEM Senior Vice President of Membership, Business Development & Data Sara Truesdale Mooney reviewed AEM’s proposal to enhance its business intelligence offerings and how it fits into overall AEM member feedback and AEM's Strategic Plan.
Council for Agriculture Science and Technology (CAST)
Council for Agriculture Science and Technology CAST CEO Chris Boomsma provided an overview of CAST and how AEM and its members can leverage either the current work that CAST is doing as well as get involved to develop future work focused on precision agriculture to provide apolitical research to policymakers and other relevant stakeholders.
Ag Technology Leadership Group
Topcon Vice President of Sustainability and Global CSR Michael Gomes provided an update from AEM's Ag Technology Leadership Group which, along with the CE Technology Leadership Group, recently defined shared AEM priorities related to technology, including autonomy, interoperability, and cybersecurity.
Advocacy
AEM Senior Vice President of Government and Industry Relations Kip Eideberg and AEM Vice President of Federal Affairs Kate Fox Wood reviewed recent legislative accomplishments and discussed potential challenges and opportunities at both the state and federal levels as the AEM team continues to build relationships and momentum for our industry.
Safety & Product Leadership
AEM Senior Director of Safety & Product Leadership Jason Malcore provided an update on the current global regulatory environment and the work AEM has done to monitor and engage with a growing number of regulations around the world focused on not only short-term concerns like safety and engine emissions, but also long-term concerns like chemicals, decarbonization, and lifecycle assessments.
Malcore also discussed a proposal for a governance structure to help prioritize and make recommendations for funding support for special project work to address the challenges of the global regulatory and compliance environment. The Ag Sector Board recommended the proposal for AEM Board approval. For more information on AEM's Ag Sector, contact Curt Blades at cblades@aem.org.
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