Members and guests gathered at the Tarkio Community Building for the annual Farm Bureau meeting, Wednesday, September 19, 2018. When everyone arrived and signed in they were treated to a meal.

President Matt Schlueter called the meeting to order. Formal business was taken care of before introducing the speakers for the evening.

Member Cody Joesting introduced Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst, who was first to speak as well as introduce the rest of the panel.

Blake covered several topics for the tariffs that had been placed on soybeans by China. Blake talked about the interest he had been receiving from around the world about this subject.

Next to speak was Missouri Soybean President Brooks Hurst. Brooks also touched on the price of soybeans and the impact it would have on Atchison County. To see a report go to the Missouri Soybean Association’s website and check out the research by county and the impact to the county.

United States Congressman Sam Graves followed with an update from Washington and the current issues. First were the tariffs by China. Next was the Farm Bill and some of the new changes that are being voted on.

Deputy Director of Missouri Department of Agriculture Garrett Hawkins also touched on the tariffs, but he was most excited about the work being done with the Department of Economic Development. This is something that hadn’t been done over the years.

Blake Hurst fielded questions from the audience for the panel before turning the mic back over to Cody Joesting. Cody and his assistants drew names for the door prizes before the meeting was adjourned.