Annual Meeting
Wednesday, March 15
Wilder Business Center, Calmar Campus
Free
Join the Northeast Iowa Dairy & Agriculture Foundation for the 2023 Annual Meeting on Wednesday, March 15. The meeting will be held at Wilder Business Center on the NICC Calmar Campus starting at 9:00 a.m. The morning session will feature a variety of speakers discussing business strategies and social media in agriculture followed by the annual meeting in the afternoon.
All interested in the Dairy & Agriculture Foundation and the event’s speakers are encouraged to attend. There is no cost to attend and lunch is provided. The event is made possible by generous support from community sponsors.
SCHEDULE
| 9:00 a.m. | Registration |
| 10:00 a.m. | Social Media in Agriculture Megan McAllister, @Megan_DairyGirl |
| 10:25 a.m. | Message from the College President Herbert Riedel, Ph.D., President, Northeast Iowa Community College |
| 10:30 a.m. | High Octane Business Strategies David M. Kohl, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Virginia Tech |
| Noon | Lunch and Sponsor Exhibits |
| 12:45 p.m. | Annual Meeting
|
| 2:00 p.m. | Board of Directors Meeting |
PRESENTERS
MEGAN McALLISTER
@Megan DairyGirl
Megan McAllister hails from New Vienna, in Northeast Iowa. She and her husband, Ted, are 6th and 7th generation farmers working side-by-side everyday on Ted’s family dairy. The farm consists of 270 milking cows, Holsteins and Jerseys, along with nearly 450 acres of hay and corn silage.
In September 2020, Megan started sharing her dairy life on the social media platform, TikTok, where she gained an active following quickly. Her TikTok boasts over 317,000 followers, with 10.5 million likes and a rapidly growing Facebook following of nearly 90,000. The couple shares information about their dairy farm, industry practices, animal care, nutrition facts, and debunk common misconceptions.
In addition to being an active Dubuque County Farm Bureau board member, Megan serves on the county Young Farmer and Public Relations Committees, competed in state Discussion Meet, and received the 2021 Young Farmer Leadership Award. Megan and Ted currently serve as the District 1 representatives on the Iowa Farm Bureau Young Farmer Advisory Committee.
Follow along (@Megan_DairyGirl) on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.
DAVID M. KOHL, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Virginia Tech
David Kohl received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University. Kohl is Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Finance and Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia. He was on special leave with the Royal Bank of Canada working on advanced initiatives for two years, and also assisted in the launch of the successful entrepreneurship program at Cornell University.
Kohl has traveled over 10 million miles throughout his professional career! He has conducted more than 7,000 seminars and 500 webinars for agricultural groups such as bankers, Farm Credit, FSA, and regulators, as well as producer and agribusiness groups. He has published five books and over 2,500 articles and video blogs on financial and business-related topics online and in journals, extension, and other popular publications.
He has received 11 major teaching awards while teaching over 10,000 students, and 25 major Extension and Public Service awards from Virginia Tech, Cornell University, and state and national organizations. Kohl is a two-time recipient of the prestigious American Agricultural Economics Association's Outstanding Teaching Award. Kohl is one of only five professors in the 100-year history of the Association to receive the award twice. He received the Governor's award for his distinguished service to Virginia agriculture, the youngest recipient to receive this award. Kohl was recognized as one of 30 leaders who are the brains behind innovative business management and economic information that agriculture uses today. He also has been named one of 7 economists and bankers who challenge the status quo.
Kohl has addressed the American Bankers Agricultural Conference for more than 45 consecutive years, and has appeared before numerous state bankers’ schools and conferences throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the world. He is also one of the top-rated instructors at the LSU and Colorado Graduate Schools of Banking, and is Chancellor of the nationally acclaimed Farm Credit University, which has had over 7,000 enrollments of lenders and producers using a blended online and face-to-face educational approach.
As facilitator of the United States Farm Financial Standards Task Force and member of the Canadian Agricultural Financial Standards Task Force, Dr. Kohl was one of the leaders in establishing guidelines for the standardized reporting and analysis of agricultural producers' financial information on a national and international basis. The Kohl Agribusiness Centre has been established in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech in honor of his long-term commitment to practical teaching, research, and extension. In 2017, Kohl was inducted into the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Hall of Fame. Dr. Kohl recently received the 2022 Distinguished Service Award given by Ag Communicators Network.
Kohl is currently President of AgriVisions, LLC, a knowledge-based consulting business providing cutting-edge programs to leading agricultural organizations worldwide. He is also a business coach and part owner of Homestead Creamery, a value-added dairy business in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
On a more personal note, Dave enjoys playing basketball and likes most sports, farms, dogs, and covered bridges; he dislikes lazy students, administrative bureaucracies, and paperwork!
