(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Farm Bureau is hosting an economic summit on Friday in Des Moines under the heading, “Managing Through Challenging Times.” Iowa Farm Bureau president Craig Hill says it’s been a tough couple of years for farmers and ranchers and this event will offer them help on several fronts. “We’ll bring in some experts and folks that have knowledge and wisdom about forecasting and what’s going to be happening in the future,” Hill says. “We’ll deal with macroeconomic issues as well as farm lending and what farmers’ balance sheets and current positions look like as well as going forward with trade.”

Hill says summit attendees will be able to learn more about how the Farm Bill is being implemented. “The Farm Service Agency director from Washington D.C. will be joining us to give us some insight there,” Hill says. “There’s just a whole host of people that have knowledge and beyond, talking about technology, too, and how we manage in a changing world, in a challenging world, with technology.”

A delegation of Iowa farmers recently visited one of the countries at the center of trade disputes with the Trump Administration. Hill says, “We had a market study tour to China and the insight they gained and the experiences they had while traveling in China and learning about their agriculture and their needs going forward and the trade discussion is going to be very interesting to hear.”

He says it’s also a chance to share information about new revenue opportunities stemming from hemp, crop insurance, and blockchain technology. Registrations for the summit are still being accepted at the website: www.iowafarmbureau.com.