The farm and ranch families of rural Texas face a crucial time of great risk—and abundant opportunity—the president of Texas Farm Bureau said during his address at the organization’s 77^thannual convention.

“It is a time of potential danger and enormous expectations, a time of great challenge and potential reward,” TFB President Kenneth Dierschke said. “It’s a time to reclaim the good name of farmers and ranchers that some seek to destroy, a time for leadership and commitment, a time for positive change.”

Dierschke addressed the TFB’s assembly of delegates here in the hometown of Texas Farm Bureau. He recognized a year of remarkable achievement, noting the organization today has over 450,000 member families, and acknowledged the hard work that lies ahead in both Austin and Washington, D.C.