The House and Senate are on recess this week, and government offices were closed Monday for President’s Day. Winter meeting season does continue, with a handful of going on this week.

U.S. Grains Council Annual Membership Meeting – This year’s 13th International Marketing Conference and 56th Annual Membership Meeting for the U.S. Grains Council will be held in Sarasota, Fla. The meeting provides members with the opportunity to meet with all of the council’s international directors and hear about its boots-on-the-ground activities in more than 50 countries around the world. In addition, the Advisory Teams (A-Teams) will review the council’s Unified Export Strategy and help set directions and priorities for the year ahead.

National Rural Electricity Cooperative Assn. (NRECA) Annual Meeting – From Feb. 14 to Feb. 17, NRECA will hold its annual meeting in New Orleans, La. On Wednesday, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack will give remarks on rural electricity.

Food Safety & Inspection Service Meeting - This week, the Food Safety & Inspection Service will hold a meeting of the Codex Alimentarius Commission to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items and draft U.S. positions to be discussed at the upcoming conference in China in March.