Roger Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union, is scheduled to present the 2014 Aldrich C. Bloomquist Lecture Wednesday, April 16, at 7 a.m. in the Crystal Ballroom of the Ramada Plaza and Suites in Fargo.

In his talk, “Farmers Union and Cooperatives – Staying Power for Rural America,” Johnson will reflect on the history of cooperatives, why they first were organized and their current value. He will discuss how farmer-owned cooperatives have provided farmers and ranchers with tools to purchase inputs at lower prices while earning better returns from their production.

Johnson will consider how cooperatives today are essential as being economic engines for rural communities across the Upper Midwest. In many communities, larger “chain” stores closed, but cooperatives evolved and expanded their services.

Johnson is a third-generation family farmer from Turtle Lake, N.D., and an NDSU alumnus. He served as North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner, a position he was first elected to in 1996. From 2007-08, he was president of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture.

Gregory McKee, associate professor and director of the Quentin Burdick Center for Cooperatives at NDSU, will host the lecture and breakfast. RSVP to McKee at gregory.mckee@ndsu.edu no later than April 8.

The lecture series is named for Al Bloomquist, who served a distinguished career at American Crystal Sugar Co. as president and longtime executive. The series was established in recognition of his contributions to the company and the industry by American Crystal Sugar through the Quentin Burdick Center for Cooperatives.

NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.