Top Farmer Conference goes virtual in 2021

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Purdue Top Farmer Conference will be conducted on a virtual platform this year.

James Mintert, director of Purdue University’s Center for Commercial Agriculture, said it wasn’t feasible with COVID-19 to hold the annual conference in person because it is typically a large event with around 150 to 200 individuals.

“The advantage of going virtual is the accessibility for a lot of people who couldn’t get to West Lafayette,” Mintert said, adding that Farm Credit Mid-America is sponsoring the event so it can be offered at no cost to all individuals.

Mintert said they are doing their best to keep the conference as traditional as possible, but instead of being an all-day event, it has been shortened to three hours, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. EST Jan. 8.

Mintert said the event is still structured and people will be able to talk to one another and those presenting at the conference.

“It will be a different type than in person, but it provides an opportunity for those that couldn’t attend in the past,” Mintert said.

Mintert said Jason Henderson, who is the senior associate dean in the Purdue College of Agriculture and director of Purdue Extension, will give a macroeconomics outlook for economic recovery for COVID-19.

Mintert said Jayson Lusk, distinguished professor of agricultural economics at Purdue, will also be talking about different consumer trends that have been happening since the COVID-19 pandemic.

For more information about the virtual Top Farmer Conference, visit tinyurl.com/y4yuva2a.