A panel of industry leaders will provide attendees with updates on pressing issues in animal agriculture – including sustainability, public health and antibiotic use - at the 2017 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit. The 2017 Summit, themed “Connect to Protect Animal Ag” will be held May 3-4 in Kansas City, Mo. Online registration for the event is open through May 1.
Speakers on the “Key Issues Update” panel will include:
- Colleen Parr Dekker is the director of global corporate communications at Elanco Animal Health, a division of Eli Lily and Company. Elanco provides comprehensive products and services to improve animal health and food-animal production in more than 70 countries around the world. Dekker leads internal and external global corporate communications and is focused on how the company increases animal productivity in order to feed a growing global population.
- Dan Thomson, D.V.M., Ph.D., is the Jones Professor of Production Medicine and Epidemiology at Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Thomson is recognized internationally as a leader in animal welfare, beef cattle production and cattle health management. He serves as the Global Co-leader for McDonald’s Beef Health and Welfare Committee, sits on the Yum! Brands Animal Welfare Council and serves on the Animal Welfare Advisory Board of the Food Marketing Institute, the Beef Quality Assurance Committee of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Animal Welfare committees of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners and the Academy of Veterinary Consultants.
- Steve Solomon, M.D., is a principal and founder of Global Public Health Consulting. As the founder of Global Public Health Consulting, LLC, Solomon provides advisory services to industry, clinical programs, non-profit organizations and governmental public health agencies. He is board certified in internal medicine, infectious diseases and preventive medicine, and has been elected to Fellowship by the American College of Physicians and the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Prior to retiring from government, Dr. Solomon held several senior executive positions at CDC, most recently as Director of CDC’s Office of Antimicrobial Resistance from April 2011 to May 2015.
"No gathering of leaders in animal agriculture would be complete without touching on some of the most prominent issues in our industry today," said Kay Johnson Smith, Alliance president and CEO. "This group of experts is exceptionally well-qualified to talk about consumers' opinions and confusion about antibiotic use in animal agriculture, the need to rely on science in making animal care and food policy decisions, and ultimately the impact on the public's health if they don't. Our audience will learn new insights about these complicated yet critical issues they probably haven't thought about before."
Be sure to check the Alliance website for the most up-to-date Summit information. You can also follow the hashtag #AAA17 and #ActionPlease2017 for periodic updates about the event. For general questions about the Summit please contact [email protected] or call (703) 562-5160.
Make your plans to attend:
The online registration rate of $475 is available through midnight on May 1. Discounted rates are available for Alliance members, government officials, university representatives and students. To see all rates and register, visit http://animalagalliance.org/summit/register.cfm. Complimentary registration is available for reporters covering the event for media outlets. Contact Hannah Thompson-Weeman at
[email protected] for details.
The Summit will once again be held in Kansas City in 2017 with all events taking place at the InterContinental Kansas City at the Plaza.
Get involved:
There is still time to sponsor Summit! For more information on sponsorship opportunities, contact Allyson Jones-Brimmer at [email protected].
Thank you to our 2017 Summit sponsors: Farm Journal Media, Meatingplace, Watt Global Media, American Feed Industry Association, Boehringer Ingelheim, Farm Credit, National Pork Board, National Pork Producers Council, National Turkey Federation, United Soybean Board, Elanco Animal Health, American Veal Association, Council for Biotechnology Information, Midwest Dairy Association, Summit Livestock Facilities, United Egg Producers, Cobb-Vantress, Inc., National Biodiesel Board, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Protect the Harvest, The Mosaic Company, AdFarm, Agri Beef, BPI Technology, Inc., GNP Business Unit of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation, Kemin, National Chicken Council, American Farm Bureau Federation, Dairy Max Inc., Live Oak Bank, North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation, Eggland’s Best, Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City, Food Industry Environmental Network, LLC, Kansas Farm Bureau and Kansas Soybean.
The Alliance thanks the following members for their continued support of Summit and other Alliance programs: U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, Merck Animal Health, Charleston|Orwig, Diamond V, Zoetis, Alltech, Inc., Aviagen Group, Bayer HealthCare LLC, Cargill, Cattle Empire, LLC, Genus PLC - PIC/ABS, Hendrix Genetics, Hy-Line North America LLC, Potash Corp., Provimi North America, Inc., Seaboard Foods LLC, Smithfield Hog Production and Iowa Soybean Board.
