Summer Convention

PRE-REGISTRATION AND SPONSORING ARE CLOSED

Sponsor Here

Thank You to our Thursday Evening Auctioneers

Next Convention:
August 12-13, 2026

Holiday Inn Convention Center
110 S 2nd Ave
Kearney, NE 68847
Phone: (308) 237-5971

Holiday Inn Room Reservations

$139.95/night

Call above number for Room Reservations or click below to register online

Golf Course: Meadowlark Hills

Downloadable Forms:

Summer Convention Registration Form

Summer Convention Sponsorship Form

Convention Details Brochure

2024 Summer Convention Agenda, August 15, 2024

Time

Event

Location

8:00-11:00 AM

Tee Times for first round of two-day golf tournament (9 holes, team scores will determine flights)

Meadowlark Hills Golf Course, 3300 30th Ave, Kearney, NE

11:00-1:00 PM

Lunch on your own

11:00-1:00 PM

Sponsors Set-Up Tables

Ballroom

1:00 PM

Registration Opens

Pre-Function Area

1:00-5:00 PM

Sponsor Tables Open for Viewing

Ballroom

2:00-2:30 PM

“News From The Hill” – presented by Senator Pete Ricketts

Ballroom

2:30-3:30 PM

“Agronomy and Horticulture at UNL - Past, Present, and Future” – presented by Martha Mamo, Department Head

Ballroom

3:30-4:30 PM

“Raven Precision Technology Group, the Total Precision Solution for Application” – presented by Gary Esselink, Raven Industries

Ballroom

4:30-6:30 PM

Steak Dinner

Ballroom

6:30 PM

Auction and Libations

Ballroom

2024 Summer Convention Agenda, August 16, 2024

Time

Event

Location

7:30-8:30 AM

Breakfast Buffet – “Recap of Legislative Issues” – presented by Scott Merritt, Association President

Ballroom

8:30-9:30 AM

“Confronting Broad Threats In Agriculture” – presented by Wade A. Greening, Supervisory Intelligence Analyst, National Security, FBI

Ballroom

9:30-10:30 AM

“U.S. Economic Outlook: Maintaining Resiliency in 2024 and Beyond” – presented by Matt Erickson, Ag Economic and Policy Advisor, Farm Credit Services of America

Ballroom

10:30-11:00 AM

Break

Ballroom

11:00-5:00 PM

Day Two of Golf Tournament at Kearney Country Club (18 holes, shotgun format) & Sport Shoot Tournament at R & J Sporting Clays (Pick up Box Lunches at Kearney Country Club)

R & J Sporting Clays, 11035 744 Road, Elm Creek, NE | Kearney Country Club, 2800 19th Ave, Kearney, NE

11:30 AM

Sport Shooters Leave for R & J Sporting Clays – Transportation Provided (Pick up Box Lunches at Kearney Country Club)

Kearney Country Club

5:00-6:00 PM

Burgers & Brats Dinner and Golf and Sport Shoot Awards – Kearney Country Club

Cottonwood Room

Convention Presenters

Martha Mamo

Department Head, Agronomy & Horticulture

Martha Mamo holds the John E. Weaver Professorship and currently serves as the Head of the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). Mamo has eighteen years of teaching, mentoring, and advising experience.

Senator Pete Ricketts

United States Senate

Senator Ricketts was sworn in as Nebraska’s 40th Governor on January 8, 2015 and reelected to a second term in November 2018. As governor, Pete dramatically improved services to Nebraskans, and worked with the Legislature to deliver tax relief, including over $10 billion in property tax relief, by 2027. Ricketts was appointed by Governor Pillen and was sworn in as Nebraska's U.S. Senator on January 23, 2023.

Gary Esselink

Customer Engagement Mgr

Gary Esselink has been with Raven Industries for over 16 years. He is responsible both as a trainer and promoter. He has helped with training in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Australia, Canada, and the US. Prior to his current role, he was a Product Manager working with multiple OEM's and helping bring multiple Raven products to the ag market.

Matt Erickson

Ag Economic And Policy Advisor

Matt Erickson provides perspective, insights, and commentary that help connect conditions in the agricultural economy to individual producer impact and resulting impacts to the organization. Before his role at Farm Credit, Matt accumulated approximately fifteen years of policy and agricultural economic experience in Washington, D.C. serving as Chief Economist at the United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Wade A. Greening

Supervisory Intelligence Analyst, National Security

Wade Greening is with the FBI Omaha Field Office covering the states of Iowa and Nebraska. Over the last five years, he has supervised the analysis of all National Security-related information across Iowa and Nebraska, including counterterrorism, counterintelligence, cyber, and weapons of mass destruction matters. In addition, SIA Greening is the Private Sector Coordinator, responsible for coordinating with private sector companies across Iowa and Nebraska.