Family Farm Alliance will celebrate its 29th anniversary Feb. 23-24 in Las Vegas with outside-the-box presentations and discussions from the West’s most effective grassroots irrigated agricultural organization.

The Family Farm Alliance will tackle the reality of the “Next West” head-on by challenging everyone in irrigated agriculture to consider new and unusual solutions and strategies in dealing with old and frustrating problems.

In Paul Taylor’s new paperback version of “The Next America”, and as evidenced by the recent election, the partisan gap in how Americans evaluate their presidents is wider now that at any time in the modern era.

“These days Democrats and Republicans no longer stop at disagreeing with each other’s ideas,” says Taylor, the former executive vice president of Pew Research Center. “It’s as if they belong not to rival parties but alien tribes.”

While Congress’ members are more polarized by party than at any time since the Reconstruction Era, a majority of Americans tell pollsters they’d like to see Washington state rediscover the lost art of political compromise. As ever, many Americans are pragmatists, ready to meet in the middle.

Moving into this “Next West,” it is no secret that irrigated agriculture has never faced more challenges. Western producers have led the way through proactive, flexible and strategic leadership and working with partners to find solutions to difficult issues.

Despite the best efforts, leadership of these problem-solvers have witnessed the slow but steady dismantlement of once prosperous Western rural communities, Taylor said.

The Family Farm Alliance’s 29th Annual Meeting and Conference will include speakers and discussions that address how we deal with these many issues and questions, which will determine the future of farming and ranching in the Next West.

The Family Farm Alliance is a grassroots organization of family farmers, ranchers, irrigation districts and allied industries in 17 Western states. The Alliance is focused on one mission: To ensure the availability of reliable, affordable irrigation water supplies to Western farmers and ranchers. In the past decade, the Family Farm Alliance has been invited to testify nearly 50 times before Congress on water and environmental challenges and legislation