Participants will have morning sessions at Fowler Center, 201 Olympic Dr., then step next door to the Convocation Center for lunch and afternoon sessions.

Bob Stallman, a Texan who was elected president of AFBF in 2000, will be a panelist in a late morning session at Fowler Center, then present the luncheon address on "American Agriculture: Do We Have a Vision?"

The 2005 conference will focus on agricultural trade policy and its impact on producers, consumers, and agribusiness. The conference also includes commodity specific market information in the afternoon sessions, plus sessions on precision agriculture and farm business legal issues.

Panelists for the general session on agricultural trade policy will be:

-- Timothy Jossling of the Stanford Institute for International Studies, discussing how the current round of WTO negotiations will impact U.S. trade and agricultural policy;

-- William Gillon of Butler, Snow, O'Mara, Stevens & Cannada, discussing the WTO ruling on U.S. cotton subsidies and the implications of the ruling for future U.S. farm policy;

-- Stallman, who will give his organization's view of trade policy issues; and

-- David Schweikhardt, professor of agricultural economics at Michigan State University, who will summarize the general session and make his observations in a follow-up discussion.

A rice and cattle producer from Columbus, Texas, Stallman is serving his third term as president of the nation's largest general farm organization.

A 1974 honors graduate of the University of Texas, Stallman joined the family farm operation in 1975. He quickly assumed leadership roles in Farm Bureau, joining the board of directors of the Colorado County (Texas) Farm Bureau in 1977. He eventually served in all officer positions for the organization, including president.

From 1993 to 2000, he was president of the Texas Farm Bureau. He joined AFBF's board of directors in 1994, and served on various committees and boards during his tenure. He also sat on the International Trade Advisory Committee.

In addition to Farm Bureau involvement, Stallman has been selected to serve on various state and federal committees. In 1996, then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush appointed Stallman to the Citizens Committee on Property Tax Relief. That same year, he was appointed by then-House Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts to the Commission on 21st Century Production Agriculture, a panel that proposed recommendations to Congress and the administration.

In September 2001, he was appointed to serve on the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee for Trade (APAC), which provides the Secretary of Agriculture and the U.S. Trade Representative information and advice on trade negotiating objectives. He began a two-year term in June 2001 on the Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy (ACIEP), the State Department's principal advisory panel regarding international economic issues.

Stallman is a member of the Texas A&M College of Agriculture Development Council and a life member of the UT Ex-Students' Association. He has served as co-chairman of the Texas Agriculture Summit, and on the executive committee of the Texas Rice Task Force.

On-site registration begins at 8 a.m. in the Fowler Center. Lunch will be served in the Convocation Center at noon. Afternoon sessions end at 3:30 pm.

Joining the ASU College of Agriculture as conference sponsors are the Judd Hill Foundation, the Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation, AgHeritage Farm Credit Services, Farm Credit Midsouth, Liberty Bank of Arkansas, Riceland Foods, the USA Rice Federation, Busch Agricultural Resources, and Greenway Equipment Company.