Mid General Session

Attend the Mid-General Session to wrap up Sunday with presentations including:

• The Farm Dog of the Year Award
• Distinguished Service Award: the late Bill Northey, former Iowa Secretary of Agriculture
• 2026 Farmer Veteran of the Year
• Shaping the Future with Congressional Agriculture Committee Leadership, hosted by AFBF President Zippy Duvall
• YF&R Discussion Meet Final Four Announcement

Join us on Sunday at 4:00 p.m.

Shaping the Future Panelists:

• U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
• U.S. Representative Glenn "GT" Thompson (R-PA), Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture
• U.S. Representative Angie Craig (D-MN), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Agriculture
• U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry

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Catch the replay of the Mid-General Session below.

Speaker Details:

Sen. John Boozman

John Boozman is Arkansas’s senior U.S. Senator and the dean of the state’s Congressional delegation.

A fifth-generation Arkansan, John was raised in Fort Smith and graduated from Northside High School. He went on to play football for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks while completing his pre-optometry requirements. He graduated from the Southern College of Optometry in 1977 and entered private practice that same year co-founding a family business with his brother that would ultimately become a major provider of eye care to Northwest Arkansas.

Decades of experience as a successful healthcare provider and a small business owner guide John’s approach to governing. He is committed to advocating for economic policies that help Arkansas’s small businesses continue to grow and add jobs to our state’s economy. And since agriculture accounts for nearly one-quarter of Arkansas’s economic activity, John has been a consistent champion for our state’s farmers, ranchers and loggers as well as an instrumental voice in the fight for an equitable farm bill.

As the son of an Air Force Master Sergeant, John learned at an early age about the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform, as well as the unique challenges military families face. He brings these values with him to Washington where he is committed to enhancing the quality of life for both our veterans and their families. As a member of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, John has authored provisions to bolster care and services for women veterans, modernize educational benefits under the GI Bill and better reach and provide mental health care and resources to former service members.

John serves as Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, enabling him to play a key role in influencing policy that relates to the agriculture economy, nutrition programs and quality of life in rural America.

John will also continue to serve on the Committee on Appropriations, which is responsible for allocating federal funds, and the Committee on the Environment and Public Works, where much of the nation’s infrastructure policy is developed. He also rejoined the Committee on Rules and Administration in the 119th Congress.

Along with these committees, John serves on the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, commonly referred to as the Helsinki Commission. He serves on the Congressional Study Group on Europe (CSGE), a bipartisan organization dedicated to frank and candid dialogue between American lawmakers and their peers in European capitals and Brussels, and currently chairs the Senate Delegation to the British-American Interparliamentary Group.

In addition, John also serves as one of six Congressional Regents on the Smithsonian Institute's Board of Regents, which governs and administers the organization, as well as one of four congressional members of the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission that facilitates wetland conservation efforts and projects to sustain migratory bird populations.

First elected to the Senate in 2010, John was sworn in for a third term on January 3, 2023. Prior to serving in the Senate, he represented the people of the Third District of Arkansas in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Active in his community, John has served on the Rogers School Board and Benton County Fair Board, established the low vision program at the Arkansas School for the Blind in Little Rock, and worked as a volunteer optometrist at an area clinic that provides medical services to low-income families. He successfully raised Polled Hereford cattle that were competitive in the show ring, as well as in bull testing at Oklahoma State University.

John is married to the former Cathy Marley and they currently reside in Rogers. The couple has three daughters and four grandchildren.

Rep. Glenn "GT" Thompson

A life-long resident of Howard, Pa., Congressman Glenn 'GT' Thompson represents Pennsylvania’s Fifteenth District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Prior to being elected to Pennsylvania’s geographically largest congressional district, GT spent 28 years as a therapist, rehabilitation services manager, and a licensed nursing home administrator. Through his professional experiences, GT has touched the lives of thousands of individuals facing life-altering conditions. As a result, he has learned firsthand the importance of access to quality healthcare and has become a strong advocate for increased access, affordability, quality of care, and patient choice.

An Eagle Scout and 30+ year veteran of the Juniata Valley Boy Scout Council, GT has served as Scoutmaster, Council executive board member, and Council President. He has enriched the lives of youth throughout Central Pennsylvania. Among just 2,000 presented since 1969, GT received the National Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in 2012.

GT is also a former member of the Bald Eagle Area School Board, past vice-chair of the Private Industry Council of the Central Corridor, and a former Workforce Investment Board member. Because of these experiences, he was appointed to the House Committee on Education & Workforce in 2009. For more than a decade, Rep. Thompson has served as Co-Chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Career and Technical Education Caucus. In the 115th Congress, Thompson introduced the Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act which passed the House and Senate unanimously and was signed into law by President Donald Trump.

A community leader and a volunteer firefighter with over three decades of service, GT is acutely aware of the challenges facing Pennsylvania communities. As Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture and a senior member of the Education & Workforce Committee, GT is in a unique position to bring his expertise and knowledge to bear on the issues facing rural businesses, communities, and families, in order to improve the lives of the citizens of the Fifteenth District.

GT is a top speaker on the House floor, he views this as a responsibility to be a strong voice for the citizens of the Fifteenth District and an opportunity to influence the Washington legislative agenda.

GT is a proud graduate of Penn State and Temple Universities, where he earned a B.S. and a Master of Education, respectively. He and his wife, Penny Ammerman-Thompson, have three adult sons, Parker, Logan, and Kale, and two grandsons. GT and Penny reside in Howard, Pa.

Rep. Angie Craig

U.S. Representative Angie Craig represents Minnesota's Second Congressional District. She is fighting for a Minnesota where the middle class, small business owners and family farmers can thrive. Consistently ranked one of the most bipartisan Members of Congress, she'll work with anybody – and take on the Washington establishment – to improve the lives of folks in her district.

The granddaughter of a farm foreman, Angie learned the value of hard work from her family – and in particular, her mother, a single mom who raised three children while earning her teaching degree. Angie worked two jobs to help put herself through college.

She is the former head of Corporate Relations for a major Minnesota manufacturer and a former newspaper reporter. She and her wife Cheryl have four adult sons and three grandsons.

In Congress, Angie is fighting for career and technical training and to make sure that vocational jobs are available to every young person who wants one. She has consistently pushed to fully fund our special education programs in Minnesota schools and to cut bureaucratic red tape and waste in government.

Angie is a strong advocate for cutting taxes on small business and the middle class. She’s worked to lower health care costs by capping the co-pay of certain prescription drugs and expanding health care coverage for all Americans. She has secured major infrastructure investments to improve the roads, highways and bridges in her district and expand high-speed internet connectivity her rural communities.

Angie has led the bipartisan effort to secure the Southern Border and stop the flow of illicit fentanyl into Minnesota communities and she has taken on the social media companies allowing the marketing and sale of drugs on their platforms. She has been a champion for local law enforcement agencies, fire departments and first responders as they work to keep us safe. She remains dedicated to fighting to lower costs for hardworking Minnesotans.

As the top Democrat on the House Committee on Agriculture, Angie is committed to strengthening the farm safety net, improving opportunities for new and beginning farmers as well as protecting access to nutrition programs that feed hungry families and support America’s rural economy. She is working to lower energy costs by investing in an all-of-the-above energy policy that includes renewable fuels.

Angie is dedicated to listening to Minnesotans - and she hopes to hear from you directly about how she can best serve you and your community.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar is the first woman elected to represent the State of Minnesota in the United States Senate. Throughout her public service, Senator Klobuchar has always embraced the values she learned growing up in Minnesota. Her grandfather worked 1500 feet underground in the iron ore mines of Northern Minnesota. Her father, Jim, was a newspaperman, and her mother, Rose, was an elementary school teacher who continued teaching until she was 70.

Senator Klobuchar has built a reputation of putting partisanship aside to help strengthen the economy and support families, workers, and businesses. In the 117th Congress, she was number one in the Senate for introducing bipartisan bills and number three for passing bills into law.

Senator Klobuchar is guided by the belief that her first duty is to represent the people of Minnesota. She acted quickly to obtain full funding to rebuild the I-35W bridge just thirteen months after it tragically collapsed into the Mississippi River. She worked across party lines to expand education and job opportunities for returning service members, fought to ensure that Minnesota National Guard members received the full benefits they earned, and helped turn Minnesota's ground-breaking “Beyond the Yellow Ribbon” program into a national model. As a member, and now lead ranking member, of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Senator Klobuchar worked to pass several bipartisan Farm Bills to strengthen Minnesota’s rural economy and give farmers the certainty and support they need.

Working with both Democrats and Republicans, Senator Klobuchar has made key progress on legislation to keep people safe. She led the effort to pass landmark pieces of legislation to end human trafficking and combat the opioid and fentanyl epidemic. She fought to pass the most significant consumer product safety legislation in a generation, keeping foreign toxic products off our shores and out of our stores. She also pushed the cell phone companies to enact more consumer-friendly policies. Additionally, her efforts to protect consumers have resulted in the largest furniture and airbag recalls in American history.

As Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Senator Klobuchar is working on behalf of farmers, agriculture workers, and rural communities by fighting to expand the farm safety net, support food assistance programs, and expand voluntary conservation programs. She has also passed legislation to encourage the use of renewable fuels and to invest in programs to stop the spread of animal disease. Additionally, Senator Klobuchar is devoted to passing on Minnesota’s tradition of outdoor recreation, fishing, and hunting to the next generation and has secured significant funding for research, restoration, and conservation activities, including the 2022 Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Reauthorization Act.

As a member of the Joint Economic Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee, Senator Klobuchar has been a leader in working to implement a competitive agenda to ensure businesses have the tools they need to grow and create good jobs in their communities. She has established herself as a leader on addressing supply chain issues, successfully leading the bipartisan Ocean Shipping Reform Act to address sky-high shipping prices, which was ultimately signed into law. She has also authored legislation to lift the trade embargo with Cuba as well as legislation to help small businesses tap into new markets abroad and foster the creation and growth of new businesses across the country. She has successfully advocated to take action to combat illegal steel dumping. As co-chair of the Senate Broadband Caucus, Senator Klobuchar has been a leading advocate working to connect every American to high speed internet once and for all. Her provisions to expand high-speed broadband across the country were included in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was signed into law in 2021. She has also passed significant legislation aimed at increasing funds for STEM education and led national initiatives to boost American tourism, including a long-term reauthorization of Brand USA, which helps attract international travelers to destinations throughout the United States. Finally, she has established herself as a key voice on workforce training and leads bills to boost apprenticeships, skills training, and community and technical college so that America can continue to compete on the world stage.

Senator Klobuchar also serves as a senior member on the Senate Judiciary Committee where she has been active in advocating for legislation focused on increasing funding for police and first responders, protecting civil rights, expanding drug courts, improving our criminal justice system, and reforming our immigration laws. As Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and Law, she is committed to establishing guardrails online to protect Americans - from children exposed to harmful content and illegal drugs to consumers who have no privacy protections. She has also worked to reinvigorate America’s antitrust laws and restore competition to American markets. She introduced legislation to strengthen prohibitions on anticompetitive conduct and mergers, and make additional reforms to improve enforcement. In 2022, her bipartisan bill to create rules of the roads for digital markets became the first piece of antitrust tech legislation to pass the Senate Judiciary Committee since the advent of the Internet. She also passed bipartisan legislation to modernize merger fees and increase resources for antitrust enforcers. The Washington Post credited her approach, noting, “The moderate but meaningful proposals provide a launchpad for cross-aisle cooperation, a goal of much of the senator’s legislative handiwork.” She has also introduced bipartisan legislation to lower prescription drug prices by cracking down on “pay-for-delay” agreements, the practice of brand-name drug manufacturers using pay-off agreements to keep more affordable generic equivalents off the market. Long focused on bringing down costs for families, provisions from Senator Klobuchar’s legislation to finally unleash Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices with the big pharmaceutical companies were signed into law in 2022.

Senator Klobuchar previously served as the Chairwoman of the Senate Rules Committee, where she has worked to ensure fairness, transparency, and efficiency in government. In response to the January 6th insurrection, she led a bipartisan investigation into the security, planning, and response failures related to the violent and unprecedented attack. The report made numerous recommendations, including passing a law to change Capitol Police Board procedures and improving intelligence sharing. Senator Klobuchar has worked across the aisle to implement these recommendations, including passing bipartisan legislation to give the U.S. Capitol Police Chief with the authority to request assistance from the DC National Guard or federal law enforcement agencies in emergencies without prior approval of the Capitol Police Board.

Senator Klobuchar spearheaded the Freedom to Vote Act in the U.S. Senate and was instrumental in passing the bipartisan Electoral Count Reform Act. Additionally, she helped pass the most sweeping ethics reform since Watergate and has authored legislation to automatically register eligible voters when they turn 18. She has also led efforts to improve election security and prevent foreign interference in our democracy and successfully secured $1.2 billion to strengthen states’ election infrastructure and help protect them from future attacks by foreign adversaries. She was the lead Democrat chairing the inaugural ceremonies for the 59th and 60th Presidential inaugurations.

Before serving in the Senate, Senator Klobuchar headed the largest prosecutor’s office in Minnesota for eight years, making the prosecution of violent criminals her top priority while increasing the office’s focus on white collar crime. In the Senate, she has championed reauthorizations of the local COPS Hiring Program and has prioritized both the funding of local police officers across the country as well as federal law enforcement such as the U.S. Capitol Police, U.S. Attorneys Offices, the FBI, and the U.S. Marshals Service. She led the effort for successful passage of Minnesota’s first felony DWI law and received the leadership award from Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Her safe schools initiative, community prosecution efforts, and criminal justice reforms earned national awards from both the Bush and Clinton Justice Departments. She worked with the Innocence Project to advocate for videotaped interrogations across the country as well as innovative eyewitness processes to protect against false identifications. As a private citizen and before being elected to public office, Senator Klobuchar was the leading advocate for successful passage of one of the first laws in the country guaranteeing 48-hour hospital stays for new moms and their babies.

Senator Klobuchar’s work has gained national recognition. Vogue magazine described her as “personable, popular, and pragmatic,” The New York Times described her as a “former prosecutor with made-for-state-fair charms,” and Working Mother named her as "Best in Congress” for her efforts on behalf of working families. “Want to reform antitrust? Amy Klobuchar knows where to start,” The Washington Post headlined its opinion piece on her sweeping antitrust legislation, the Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act. She has received numerous awards from the National Farm Bureau and National Farmers Union for championing farmers and rural communities. She has been recognized for her work on behalf of children and consumers, and Refugee International gave her the Congressional Leadership Award for her work to support refugee communities. She received an award from the Service Women's Action Network (SWAN) for her work to fight sexual assault in the military, and the Disabled American Veterans honored her work to improve the lives of America’s veterans. She also received the “Outstanding Member of the Senate Award” from the National Narcotic Officers’ Associations’ Coalition and the Distinguished Public Service Award from the American Legion. In 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented her with the Order of Merit, First Class.

Senator Klobuchar was the valedictorian of her Wayzata High School class. She graduated magna cum laude from Yale University and the University of Chicago Law School. Her senior essay in college, published as the book "Uncovering the Dome," chronicles the 10-year-history behind the building of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and is still used at colleges and universities across the country. Her book, “Antitrust,” was on the New York Times Best Sellers list.

Senator Klobuchar is married to John Bessler, a native of Mankato, who attended Loyola High School and the University of Minnesota. Senator Klobuchar and John have a daughter, Abigail, who they are very proud of!