Common Ground Coalition Builds Momentum in Omaha at Midwest Region Meeting
May 28, 2026
This week the Common Ground Coalition continues to build momentum during its Midwest Regional Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. Livestock producers and industry leaders are gathered in America’s heartland to discuss the future of American agriculture and the importance of preserving the next generation of ranchers and farmers.
Nebraska cattle producer Doug Shepperd is one of the founding members of the original Common Ground Summit held last year in Denver, Colorado. He says it truly was an historic event that laid the groundwork it for what has now become a growing grassroots movement across the livestock industry.
“You could tell that this wasn’t your normal get together,” Shepperd said. “It was truly an event that I saw and was so lucky to be a part of.”
The original Denver summit brought together leaders from across the livestock sector, representing different organizations, backgrounds, and viewpoints. Shepard said despite disagreements on certain issues, participants quickly realized they shared a common concern: the declining number of young people entering agriculture.
“That group that got assembled there in Denver really had all the same goal,” Shepperd explained. “We see that we are having a major decline in young people in this industry, and without the young people, we’re not going to go anywhere.”
The Omaha meeting marks the second stop in the coalition’s regional meeting series following the first gathering in Reno, Nevada, earlier this spring. Additional meetings are planned later this summer in Nashville, Tennessee, and Fort Worth, Texas.
According to Shepperd, the regional meetings are designed to expand involvement and bring more producers into the conversation.
“These meetings will go on, I believe, and then they’re going to get bigger because we’re getting more and more signatures that ranchers—and not just ranchers, but people—are saying,” he said.
Throughout the discussion, coalition members emphasized the importance of food security, rural communities, and maintaining a strong domestic livestock industry. Shepperd warned that the agriculture industry is facing increasing pressure as younger generations become further removed from farming and ranching.
“We all need the rancher to start because that’s where it starts,” he said. “The packing industry, the feeding industry—we don’t go anywhere without the rancher.”
Coalition leaders also stressed that solving long-term industry challenges will require a united voice in Washington, D.C. Shepard said lawmakers have encouraged the livestock industry to present broader, industry-wide priorities rather than fragmented organizational agendas.
“You can’t solve the problems until you identify the ones, and then you move on to that,” Shepperd said. “And if you’ve got solutions you’ve created, you create opportunities.”
A recurring message throughout the Omaha meeting centered on the idea that food security is national security—a theme coalition members say became even more apparent following the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“If we learned anything from COVID, our food isn’t as readily out there as we think,” he said. “If we start having to import everything, this country is going to be in the driver’s seat.”
As the coalition continues expanding its regional outreach efforts, organizers say they hope more producers and rural Americans will become involved in shaping the future of the livestock industry.
More information about upcoming meetings and the coalition’s efforts can be found at the Common Ground Coalition website.
Source: Western Ag Network
