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ICA Policy Summit 

Turn Ideas Into Action

Date: Thursday, September 10, 2026
Location: FFA Enrichment Center, Ankeny, IA (1055 SW Prairie Trail Pkwy, Ankeny, IA 50023)
Time: 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.   

The ICA Policy Summit is a dedicated event to ensure that every ICA member has the opportunity to shape association policy and guide the direction of state and federal advocacy efforts.  

At this event, member participants will review policy recommendations and hear from expert guest speakers covering hot topics within the association's core policy areas: cattle production, beef products, and business issues.   

 Schedule: 

9:30 - 10:00 a.m.          Registration
10:00 - 10:15 a.m.        Welcome
10:15 - 11:00 a.m.        Beef Products Speaker
11:00 - 11:45 a.m.        Beef Products Meeting
11:45 - 12:30 p.m.        Lunch
12:30 - 1:15 p.m.         Cattle Production Speaker
1:15 - 2:00 p.m.           Cattle Production Meeting
2:15 - 3:00 p.m.           Business Issues Speaker
3:00 - 4:00 p.m.           Business Issues Meeting
4:00 - 4:30 p.m.           Meeting Close & Thank You

ICA requests your RSVP by registering

 Register Today!   

You must be an 'active' ICA member to participate. 



A Policy Packet is coming soon! Please review the materials and policy that will be discussed at this year's Policy Summit. Read below on how you can engage in the process and bring forth additional ideas.


Policy Summit Purpose 

Throughout the year, ICA collects policy ideas, issue areas, and member concerns through individual conversations, producer meetings, and industry events. We then organize these topics and present them to the relevant policy committees, where the committee members draft and review policy statements. From there, recommendations on both new and expiring policies are formed during committee meetings.  

During this day, participants will work through a collaborative review of these recommendations and have the opportunity to submit new policy ideas to help shape the association's future priorities. In previous years, this component was held during the Iowa Cattle Industry Convention and will be moving to a dedicated day. 

As an association, we want to continue to evolve and improve. In order to build on the grassroots policy process and develop quality policy that has been thoroughly vetted and researched, ICA is hosting summer committee meetings and the Policy Summit to heighten the process for policy development and to ensure ICA members have multiple opportunities for direct input. Additionally, formalizing policy recommendations earlier gives the ICA Government Relations team time to socialize potential policy initiatives or legislation with the relevant government officials ahead of the next year's legislative session. 

From there, all policies that have been approved during the Policy Summit will be proposed to the membership to be ratified during the Annual Meeting that will be held at the usual Iowa Cattle Industry Convention. 

Submitting Policy Ideas 

To submit a policy idea for consideration at the ICA Policy Summit, email the ICA government relations team before the event or use the submission form that will be available on-site. Your idea will be introduced during the appropriate policy area meeting at the Summit. *For an idea to be drafted for a formal policy statement and forwarded onto the membership at the ICA Annual Meeting for consideration, it must receive a two-thirds vote of members present in that policy area meeting. If it does not receive the required two-thirds support, the idea will be referred to the respective policy committee for further research and potential recommendation at the Annual Meeting. 

SPEAKERS:

Chris Pudenz

Iowa Farm Bureau

Christopher Pudenz is the Economics and Research Manager – Economist at the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation. In this role, Pudenz oversees Iowa Farm Bureau’s economic research activities, including those related to trade. He grew up on a farm in Carroll County, Iowa, where his family owns and operates a cattle feedlot. Pudenz obtained his PhD in Economics from Iowa State University, with a livestock economics research focus. He resides in the Des Moines metro with his family. 

Dean Dan Grooms

Iowa State University, College of Veterinary Medicine

Dan Grooms, DVM, PhD, became the Dr. Stephen G. Juelsgaard Dean of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University on October 1, 2018.  At Iowa State, Grooms oversees the College of Veterinary Medicine, its five academic departments, the Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center and the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. 


Prior to coming to Iowa State, Grooms was a professor, extension veterinarian, administrator and researcher at Michigan State University's College of Veterinary Medicine since 1997.   Grooms has also worked as a staff veterinarian for the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center and as a clinical veterinary associate at an Ohio mixed animal veterinary practice. 


An expert in bovine infectious diseases, Grooms has been an active researcher in his academic career, receiving multiple grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, higher education institutions and private companies. Grooms holds board certification from the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists with a specialty in veterinary virology. He is a former president of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners and has served on the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture's Committee on Animal Health. 


Grooms earned a bachelor's degree in animal science from Cornell University and two degrees from The Ohio State University - a veterinary medicine (DVM) degree and a Ph.D. in veterinary preventive medicine.

Dustin Balsley

Producers Livestock Analytics