Some 580 industry representatives gathered in San Diego Feb. 2-5 for The Fertilizer Institute’s 2009 Fertilizer Marketing Business Meeting. Attendance was down slightly from last year’s record turnout due to the ongoing economic crisis and tighter travel budgets for some companies, but those who were on hand enjoyed perfect weather and an idyllic water’s-edge setting at the Manchester Grand Hyatt.
Unlike the weather, market indications were less than certain for conference-goers. “Some are doom and gloom, and others are taking a longer view,” said one attendee. “There are opportunities in either an up market or a down market. You just have to figure out what those opportunities are.” Added another source, “Everyone is focused on getting through this spring, emptying out the system, and starting over.”
One of the more visible casualties on the scheduled attendee list was Fox News Sunday host and veteran broadcast journalist Chris Wallace, who was scheduled to address the Tuesday breakfast session. Wallace cancelled at 3 p.m. on Monday because the conference appearance conflicted with an opportunity to interview President Obama.
Ruben Navarrette Jr., an editorial writer with the San Diego Union-Tribune and a native of California’s San Joaquin Valley, stepped in to take Wallace’s place. Navarrette is a nationally syndicated columnist with the Washington Post Writers Group, and his twice weekly column appears in more than 175 newspapers.
Navarrette said Americans are tired of polarized politics and hard-line ideology. He described the Patriot Act as an example of overreaching by the Republicans in the wake of 9/11, but said the nearly $900 billion economic stimulus plan may be overreaching by Democrats. “There is no quick fix,” he said about the current financial crisis. “We didn’t come into this crisis overnight, and we’re not going to get out of it overnight.”
Navarrette said he was glad to work “outside the bubble of Washington D.C., where journalists tend to all think alike.” He addressed the issue of media bias, claiming many journalists will likely feel an obligation to be supportive of President Obama because they’ve “staked their flag on the Obama presidency.” He had equally harsh words for some of President Obama’s most vocal critics, however, namely certain conservative radio talk show hosts who suggest that an Obama presidency means “white males are the new endangered species.”
Navarrette said he is “optimistic that [Obama] is a very intelligent, hard-working president who is hitting the ground running.” He warned, however, that the Democratic majority leaders in Congress may prove to be Obama’s biggest obstacle. “Don’t be surprised if he’s stabbed in the back by his own party,” Navarrette said, noting that on issues such as immigration reform and tax cuts, there is “plenty of room on the left for those who supported Obama to be disappointed.”
Tuesday’s breakfast session featured a keynote address from former congressman Charlie Stenholm, who represented Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1979 to 2005 and was one of the so-called “Blue Dog Democrats.” Stenholm outlined six challenges facing agriculture: the food vs. fuel debate, technological development, food safety, trade, immigration policy, and animal rights.
On the food vs. fuel issue, Stenholm said the days of cheap energy are over. “We need all the energy we can possibly produce in this country, and I mean all,” he said. He complained, however, that the corn ethanol industry built too many plants where the corn is and not where the demand is.
Stenholm said the Obama administration “will utilize sound science” in policy decisions. “We cannot possibly feed the world without the utilization of technology and biotechnology,” he said.
Referring to immigration policy, Stenholm said building a fence on the border “makes no sense,” and cautioned that U.S. agriculture would “come crashing down” if immigration policy reform is too sweeping and rigid. “Seventy percent of the work force in agriculture is undocumented,” he said. “They are here doing the things they want to do and that we want them to do.”
Stenholm warned that animal rights organizations such as the Humane Society and PETA “have convinced a lot of people that those of us in agriculture treat our animals badly.” He said 99.9 percent of those in animal agriculture “do a pretty good job,” but the animal rights movement is winning and it is not in the best interest of agriculture.
Both Navarrette and Stenholm closed their speeches with words of advice for conference attendees. “It has never been more important to stay clued in,” said Navarrette. “Grab on to whatever media you can, and learn to talk about politics again with civility.” Stenholm advised the industry to “do what you’ve always done: think big.”