THANK YOU TO OUR GUEST SPEAKERS, SPONSORS. AUCTIONS AND TRADE BOOTHS / VENDORS FOR MAKING OUR 110TH ANNUAL MEETING A GREAT SUCCESS! STAY TUNED FOR INFORMATION ABOUT A NEW MEETING FORMAT IN 2026!

Guest Speakers:

afbf economist, Daniel Munch

Mr. Munch will be our guest speaker at lunch on Thursday.

Danny works as an Economist within AFBF’s public affairs department with a profile that covers issues including dairy markets, transportation & infrastructure, natural disasters, aquaculture, endangered and invasive species, public lands, and specialty crop markets.

Born and raised in the shoreline New England town of East Lyme, Connecticut, Danny was an active 4-H member and heavily involved with Northeast agriculture. After graduating from UConn in 2018 with a double major in Livestock Management & Policy and Resource Economics, he worked within the U.S. House of Representatives on agricultural policy research for Connecticut’s second congressional district on Capitol Hill. In 2020,

Danny graduated from Cornell University with a Master of Science in Agricultural and Food Economics. Throughout his graduate career, Danny was heavily involved with providing valuable strategy insights to farmer-owned cooperatives and agribusinesses, including hands-on projects with Ocean Spray, Palabana Fisheries (a tilapia producer in Zambia, Africa), and Farm Credit East. Before joining the American Farm Bureau Federation, Danny worked as a protein market commodity analyst for Urner Barry, focusing on protein crop markets.

AFBF Vice President, Scott VanderWal

Mr. Vanderwal will be our guest speaker at dinner on Thursday.

AFBF Vice President Scott VanderWal is a third-generation corn and soybean farmer and cattle feeder from Volga, South Dakota. Their family operation is just west of Brookings, South Dakota, which is the home of South Dakota State University.

VanderWal was elected AFBF vice president in 2016 and continues to serve as president of the South Dakota Farm Bureau, a position he’s held since June 2004.

His early Farm Bureau leadership roles include service on the SDFB Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee and the AFBF YF&R Committee. VanderWal also traveled to Germany as a McCloy Fellow in 1996 and represented agriculture during missions to Brazil in 2001 and Cuba in 2004.

VanderWal and his wife, Michelle, are proud parents of two sons and grandparents of six, and are active in their local community and church.

THANK YOU SPONSORS!