It is our pleasure to enthusiastically welcome everyone to the inaugural AGMasters Conference! As many of you know, this year’s conference represents a significant transition from a rich history of conferences conducted over a 60 year-span to a new era. Those conferences included the Custom Spray Operators’ Training School, Illinois Agricultural Pesticides Conference, and the Crop Protection Technology Conference. Each of these conferences continues to leave us a lasting legacy of the commitment of the University of Illinois to our agricultural stakeholders and clientele. The University of Illinois Extension specialists who are Co-Chairs of this conference take very seriously the responsibility of a land grant university to serve the needs of residents throughout the state. It is particularly appropriate in 2009, the 200th birthday of our greatest President Abraham Lincoln, signer of the Morrill Land Grant College Act in 1862, that we begin a new journey with the AGMasters Conference. The planners of this conference have strived to bring to all participants the latest and most timely information in the crop production and protection arenas by featuring noted speakers who are well respected in their fields of scholarship. The first day of this conference will utilize a general session format designed to capture everyone’s interest and stimulate discussion. The second day (advanced session) will have a limited enrollment and will feature instructors in a classroom setting going over the latest scientific literature in specific biological and agricultural fields of study.  We know that some members within the agricultural community are increasingly demanding the most sophisticated information, of high relevance, we can offer – it is our intention to deliver on this request. We are in the midst of an agricultural revolution with the escalating use of transgenic crops, the heightened interest in crops used for biofuels, global warming and its impact on crop production, and the relevance of IPM being increasingly questioned in large-field crop settings. It is our hope that information shared at this conference will enable all of us to more effectively embrace these new challenges while creating innovative solutions. We look forward to bringing this new conference to each of you in 2009 and appreciate your participation and support!

Regards,

Carl Bradley, Vince Davis, Mike Gray, Aaron Hager, and Sandy Osterbur, Co-Chairs, AGMasters Conference