Feeding the World, Sustaining the Land,
Inspiring Cooperative Action

March 30, 2012 marks the date of the Rod Nilsestuen Legacy Event at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. This event is held in honor of the late Rod Nilsestuen, secretary of the Department of Agriculture (Wisconsin) and a longtime leader in the national cooperative movement. He died unexpectedly in the summer of 2010.

Keynote speakers will be Jon Scholl, president of American Farmland Trust, and Martin Lowery, vice president of external affairs for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

The keynote speakers and distinguished panelists will explore important topics in the spirit of Rod’s gift for bringing people from diverse backgrounds together to find common ground on topics like the power of cooperatives, farmland conservation, the future of rural America and the increasing pressure on agriculture to feed the world. Speakers and panelists will also explore issues of ethics, trust and confidence in today’s society.

Both keynote speakers bring a wealth of experience in rural affairs at the state and national levels. Scholl leads an organization that focuses its work on how communities can be strengthened by protecting farmland and supporting local farmers, and how farmers and ranchers can best be engaged to conserve the land and protect our natural resources.

Lowery’s appearance coincides with the International Year of Cooperatives, and he has focused numerous presentations on how cooperatives are a viable and important business model in today’s economy. The nation’s more than 900 not-for-profit consumer-owned electric cooperatives provide power to more than 42 million people in 47 states.

The Rod Nilsestuen Legacy Event is being coordinated by the Ralph K. Morris Foundation, which was chosen to oversee the Rod Nilsestuen Legacy Fund to honor Rod and to sustain his legacy. Family, friends, colleagues and a host of cooperative and land conservation organizations joined together to create the Rod Nilsestuen Fund.