What are your plans for Dec. 1-3? Don’t tell me it is too early to plan that far out. Hobby Lobby has its Christmas decorations on sale, and pumpkin spice is everywhere. Let’s be honest. That isn’t very far away given that we are in the middle of harvest and moving cows home for the winter. I am sure the next six weeks will slip by fast.

So why are the first three days in December so important? It is the Kansas Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in Manhattan, and we will be celebrating more than 100 years of Kansas Farm Bureau. More importantly we will be looking at the next 100 years. Annual meetings are always a big event, but this year’s promises to be one of the biggest and best. You are not going to want to miss it, and that’s why we are making plans six weeks out.

If you have never attended a KFB Annual Meeting you really need to. If it has been even a couple of years since you last attended, you have missed out. Full days are planned with awards and recognition for the good work all our counties do on behalf of agriculture. You will be briefed on the latest from Topeka and Washington.

Sunday, we kick off with a townhall meeting featuring our elected officials and a banquet where we are recognizing some of our best farm families. On Monday, workshops will be offered that will appeal to all interests – I promise. General sessions will include timely topics and outstanding speakers. Tuesday is the business meeting where members finalize the policy book to guide the organization for the upcoming year. It is probably the most important day of the year in our organization. Kansas Farm Bureau packs a lot into three days.

I must be honest; the best part of annual meetings is outside of the meeting rooms and banquet halls. It’s a time for networking and seeing old friends. Often in agriculture we work long days where we don’t have much time to talk to anyone outside of family members, the guys at the parts counter or the vet. Annual meeting gives us a chance to talk to fellow farmers and ranchers from every corner of the state. It is a time to remember that we aren’t in this alone. It’s a chance to share ideas and more importantly stories with others who understand our rural lifestyle.

I hope you will take the time to make plans to attend annual meeting. I promise you won’t be disappointed. Take a minute, flip the calendar up to December and pencil in those three days. They will be here before you can say “pumpkin spice latte.” It is our time to take an active role in the life of our organization; one that has been the bedrock of agriculture for the past century and an organization poised to be the leader for the next 100 years.

“Insight” is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service. This week’s author is Glenn Brunkow, Pottawatomie County farmer and rancher. Contact kfb.org.