Union

1305 Plum Street • Lincoln, NE 68502

www.nebraskafarmersunion.org

Contact John Hansen Office: 402-476-8815,

Fax: 402-476-8859, Cell: 402-580-8815

john@nebraskafarmersunion.org

Nebraska Farmers Union Sends College Students To

Minneapolis Conference To Learn About Cooperatives

For Immediate Release

February 19, 2008 Contact: Graham Christensen

402-476-8815 Office

402-217-5217 Cell

Lincoln, NE – Ag students from Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Southeast Community College in Beatrice, and The Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Curtis traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota last week to learn about cooperatives under the guidance of Nebraska Farmers Union. The College Conference on Cooperatives, which brought in about 70 students from 17 different colleges and universities across the Midwest, ran from February 14-17.

The event includes tours of the Cenex Harvest States Headquarters, housing coops, food coops, and a flour mill museum, and brings in speakers from a vast array of areas including ag coops, rural electric coops, credit unions, and new coops. NEFU Public Affairs Director Graham Christensen said, “Colleges participating it this Cooperative Conference get first-hand knowledge of how coops work. The students come back home excited about these new opportunities. They explore the opportunities coops can offer their communities under the conference format.

Nebraska Farmers Union and Nebraska Community Colleges have a lengthy history. Nebraska Farmers Union member and ex-state senator Wayne Ziebarth of Wilcox helped start the community college program in Nebraska. Christensen said, “Community Colleges help keep young and talented adults in Nebraska’s rural communities. We are proud to work with them to help accomplish their mission.”

The annual conference is sponsored by the CHS Foundation in cooperation with the National Farmers Union Foundation and allowed 20 Nebraska students to participate this year. The CHS Foundation approved a grant to the Nebraska Farmers Union to help defray participation costs for Nebraska college students.

Nebraska Farmers Union is a general farm organization dedicated to protecting and enhancing the quality of life and economic well-being of family farmers and ranchers, and their rural communities.

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