The good ole'days.

Stephanie Gable, Bayer CropScience, 2003-2004 NAMA Vice President

Each month in Agri Marketing, Bill Schuermann looks back at our industry 5, 10 and 20 years ago in the sidebar "This Month in Agri Marketing ..." To be honest, that sidebar hasn't always held a lot of meaning for me. But, even when I couldn't directly relate to the events of yesteryear, I did appreciate the vision contained within the sidebar.

The only thing constant is change. We've all witnessed, and most have firsthand experience of, the changes in agribusiness. Whether through industry consolidations, mergers, acquisitions, technology advances or global influences, our industry has changed. As we've faced those changes head-on, we've altered our perspectives and adapted our procedures to better meet the situation. That adaptation has taken place with our farmer customers, channel partners, manufacturing companies, communication agencies, media organizations and our professional development organizations.

Can NAMA change? The National AgriMarketing Association (NAMA) has also changed. The visions and inspiration of past members and leaders have molded us into an outstanding organization in 2004. But, does the NAMA of today meet our current membership needs? In the coming months, the NAMA executive committee and board are planning to analyze our needs as agribusiness professionals. I encourage you to participate in the market research or provide your comments to a NAMA executive committee or board member.

In the year 2024, I'm not sure what "news" we'll see from 20 years ago--but I'm fairly cofident we'll remember this time as the good ole' days.