The American Farm Bureau Federation is having its annual Council of Presidents meeting in Boston, MA and I’m on location to do a presentation about social media this afternoon. During the lunch break I spoke with AFBF President, Bob Stallman, to get his perspective on the use of social media for an organization like his.
Bob says, “We’ve always been involved in the public domain. We’ve always tried to make our case to citizens and the public. Communications mechanisms have changed. It’s become very evident that this new concept and implementation of social media is going to influence people and that’s our goal, to influence people so we have to be involved. Now it does involve changing a lot of old mindset but it’s clear that we have to be engaged.” In my interview with Bob I also got an update on their current priorities which include regulation and in particular those surrounding the climate.
Earlier today I solicited some comments from the Twitterverse with the request, “If anybody has anything they’d like #AFBF Council of Presidents to know today please use the hashtag in your tweet. Thanks.” Thank you to everyone who has already posted a comment. You can find them by searching the #AFBF hashtag. Here are a few of them: skinnyhorse: @AgriBlogger I found it helpful to follow people like lobbyists at the State Cap. for breaking news on legislation, amendments etc. #AFBF
RayLinDairy: .@AgriBlogger #AFBF Time to join SM was yesterday don’t waste anymore time thinking about it.
AFBFMace: @AgriBlogger #AFBF Farm Bureau and ag are well represented in SM and we are growing the army every day. Sevrl state FBs are taking the lead
mpaynknoper: My comments for #AFBF are on FB – it’s critical more in #ag engage. Some producers prefer SM to give #farm facts vs. speaking to groups.
whitwallace: @AgriBlogger SM is influencing perceptions as we speak. When we aren’t part of the convo, our story is told for us, minus the facts. #AFBF
This request and response from a widespread audience is a perfect example of the power of a social media channel like Twitter. Literally within moments of my posting that request, responses were coming in and as I post this I’m seeing more pop up so please feel free to see how today’s Twitter “chat” turns out.
Kleffmann North America has teamed up with the Farm Progress Show to create a computer-based survey for attendees to take while at the show. Results will be analyzed and updated every day and will reflect attendees’ reactions to the event and their own forecasts for the ag industry.
Gold Standard Labs opened its sixth facility – this one located in Alma, Neb.
Electronic trading of Hard Red Spring Wheat (HRSW) futures and options reached 11,146 contracts at MGEX (Minneapolis Grain Exchange or Exchange), marking the highest electronic trading volume in Exchange history.
Although we have many people subscribing to the AgWired rss feed (http://feeds.feedburner.com/Agwired) what happens if you don’t want all our news? Wouldn’t it be cool if you could just subscribe to the content you’re most interested in?
Well you can. Here’s how:
Let’s say you work for an advertising agency and would just like to subscribe to news we give the Agency category to. That’s easy to find using our drop down menu of Categories which you’ll find in the left sidebar. The Agency category is this: http://agwired.com/category/agency/.
So to make that into a news feed (rss) that your news reader of choice will recognize, just add the word feed to the end of the url. There you go. A custom rss feed of all our agency categorized news. The url now looks like this: http://agwired.com/category/agency/feed.
This works for any of our categories and we’ve got 177 to choose from! So perhaps you’d like to just subscribe to news posts for John Deere, just add the word “feed” to that category url and here’s the url you use to subscribe with: http://agwired.com/category/john-deere/feed
Make sense? Easy isn’t it?
Let me add one more little item of trickery for you. Since you know we post so much audio and you may or may not want to listen to it on your computer how about if you create a podcast of our audio. Yes, you heard me right. Do the same thing I described above but use iTunes or some other podcatching software to subscribe. It will only search and pull from posts that have audio posted in them and by category or from our main rss feed, your choice. Try it. Then your iTunes will pull the audio into your computer and you can sync it to your iPod to listen to when and where you want.
Let me know if you have any problems. So for those of you who still aren’t using a news reader or subscribing to and listening to podcasts, here’s a few suggested links for you:
News Reader Software:
NewsGator – Has a web, PC, Mac and iPhone version and they all sync with each other. My favorite.
Internet Explorer – Yes your browser will do this for you. Here’s a How-To.
Firefox – Same goes for this browser. Google Reader
Most email programs do this now to.
A media event at World Pork Expo sponsored by Fort Dodge Animal Health gave the outlook in several different areas for hog producers – the market, H1N1 and control of Porcine Circovirus Type 2 (PCV2).
It goes without saying that the market outlook is pretty dismal. University of Missouri professor emeritus Glenn Grimes summarized his forecast simply. “Farrows trending down, continued productivity growth, fewer imports of Canadian hogs and pigs, decrease in pork exports, weak domestic demand, high feed costs, red ink for producers – and the bottom line is we have to reduce the herd five percent minimum and maybe ten.”
Download or listen to some of Dr. Grimes remarks here: Glenn Grimes
Dr. Greg Stevenson with the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory discussed swine influenza testing and USDA surveillance for swine flu. It was a pretty technical presentation that detailed the genetic difference between the H1N1 virus in humans and in swine. “When the USDA is going to be talking about surveillance, they’re going to be calling it H1N1 Flu Outbreak Virus (FOV), trying to distinguish it from the H1N1 that is in the swine population now in the U.S.,” said Dr. Stevenson. “We’ve got to talk about it intelligently and we’ve got to be careful to distinguish the two for the sake of the swine industry.” To talk intelligently about it, he says we’re all going to have to become virologists, and he proceeded to give a crash course in virology in 25 minutes. Learn more here. wpx09-stevenson.mp3
On the PCV2 control front, there is some good news for producers. Dr. Joe Connor, president of Carthage Veterinary Service, gave an update on PCV2 vaccines. Specifically, he talked about the efficacy of Suvaxyn PCV2 One Dose from Fort Dodge Animal Health. “We’ve had very high success with the vaccines in all the studies,” he reported. “We’ve shown in all of the studies that we are comfortable vaccinating with singe dose vaccines such as Suvaxyn at 3 or 5 weeks of age.” The studies done in commercial herds in the United States, Europe, Japan and New Zealand all indicated that Suvaxyn significantly reduced total mortality rate and improved growth performance. Nice to hear some positive news for pork producers!
Attendance was down a bit at World Pork Expo this year due primarily to the impact of the H1N1 virus or “swine flu,” which kept away many international visitors who would normally attend. Washing and sanitizing of hands was stressed more than normal and the flu was a topic of press conferences, media interviews and general conversation.
As we all know, the “epidemic” started in Mexico, and I talked with Jorge Gonzalez, Novus International sales manager for northern Latin America, about the impact it has had on the pork industry in Mexico. “The name of the virus, swine flu, affected the consumption in Mexico,” Jorge said. “Consumption decreased 30 percent so the pork producers are in a very bad situation.” Like the U.S., Mexico has also been impacted by restrictions on pork imports from North America imposed by China and Russia.
However, Jorge says the industry remains optimistic about the future and they hope that within the next two months consumption will be back up to normal levels.
Listen or download Jorge’s interview here. Jorge Gonzalez
Seriously, what would a pork expo be without racing pigs? While World Pork Expo is a serious event for producers who want to find out the latest information about their industry, it’s also a family event with fun stuff like pig races.
Hendrick’s Racing Pigs provides the entertainment in the cattle barn on the Iowa State Fairgrounds. The races are short – only about a minute – but the fun part is the Pig Lady’s commentary as she introduces the little critters who are named with various themes. Here is a video of the “Redneck Racers” – which included Jeff Hogsworthy, Bill Spamball, Ham Salad, and Larry the Bacon Guy.
Boehringer Ingelheim gets the cool giveaway award for the World Pork Expo this year with their rechargeable pig flashlights.
These nifty little gadgets use no batteries, so they are eco-friendly and sustainable – how about that?! They were definitely the most in-demand item at the expo and B-I ran out of them by the third day. I got one of the last ones. But, for those not lucky enough to get one for free, they were selling them at the WPX store for just $5.
No one would argue (especially not the men!) that women are the backbone of the agriculture industry and during a seminar at World Pork Expo sponsored by Novus International titled “Women in Agriculture” we heard from two world-class women making a difference in the swine industry.
Dr. Laura Greiner, who does research for Innovative Swine Solutions and Carthage Veterinary Service in Illinois, talked about some of the work they have been doing to help improve sow performance through nutrition. She noted that she has almost all female interns this summer and she is pleased to see more women going into the field of livestock research. “That seems to be the predominant trend in the universities that I visit,” Laura said. “Women are becoming more interested and they need positive role models.”
Listen to or download my interview with Laura here. Dr. Laura Greiner
On the production side, we heard from Kathy Chinn with Chinn Hog Farm in northeast Missouri. Kathy is a former Missouri state representative who is very active in the agriculture and pork industry on both the state and national level and a real positive voice and face for agriculture. It was very interesting to hear her talk about their family operation, which includes her two sons and her grandchildren, and how they faced the challenges of farming in their community and grown better because of it. She is a strong advocate of telling agriculture’s story and being involved on a community level – and she is really a neat, impressive and interesting lady.
Listen or download Kathy’s interview here. Kathy Chinn
A big congratulations goes to the four Heartland leaders for their recent honors given by The Agriculture Business Council in Kansas City.
A packed house gathered within the historic walls of the Kansas City Club, May 22, 2009, to celebrate four of the region’s most inspiring business leaders being honored by The Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City. The 2009 Award for Agricultural Leadership and Excellence, named in honor of the late Jay B. Dillingham, was awarded to R. Crosby Kemper, Jr., UMB Financial Corporation; Joerg Ohle, Bayer Animal Health and Morton Sosland, Sosland Publishing for outstanding contributions to agricultural and food related businesses. The Outstanding Volunteer of the Year went to Gina Bowman, CVR Energy.
“These individuals are legacy builders. Their spirit, innovation and vision have had a positive and lasting effect on our community and the way the public perceives modern day agri-business. Agriculture is no longer just farming, ranching and processing – it also includes bio science and security, animal pharmaceuticals, energy and commerce. Their personal success and excitement for their own business enterprises has spilled over to create new business opportunities for so many others. That’s worth celebrating,” says Bob Petersen, chairman of the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City.
To read more about the winners’ many great achievements on behalf of the agriculture industry, link to the press release at AgriBusinessCouncil.
BASF filed a lawsuit against DuPont for infringement of BASF’s patented technology that confers tolerance to a key class of herbicides. Specifically, DuPont’s Optimum GAT corn product incorporates BASF’s patented promoter which is an important genetic component that enables successful tolerance toward an herbicide class known as AHAS or ALS inhibitors.
Bunge North America announced that it has created a joint venture with ITOCHU and STX Pan Ocean to build and operate a state-of-the-art export grain terminal at the Port of Longview, Wash., called EGT Development, LLC.
Cygnus Business Media announced it has signed an agreement with IRON Solutions, Inc. to jointly offer co-marketed programs targeted to the construction and outdoor power equipment markets.
Kim Nicholson and Sanjay Patel have formed NFocus Partners, LLC, a management consulting firm that provides custom marketing solutions to domestic and international business clients.
Now that we have daughter Carly working for us I gifted my Flip Ultra to her which of course allowed me an opportunity to try out the new Flip Mino HD. This little gadget is smaller and records in an HD format. I got mine on Amazon. To try it out I visited the Coffee Zone so you could meet the master barista, Taisir Yannis.
So what do you think? This unit is so small and easy to use that I would add it to the list of items any multimedia agricultural journalist should have in their MoJo. They make a great tool to collect testimonials for posting to your corporate website too.
Another simply gorgeous day for the World Pork Expo. Today is the last day for the event – a change from previous years. The expo used to start on Thursday and end Saturday afternoon, shortly before judging of the Great Pork BarbeQlossal. The days for that event, which is sponsored by the National Pork Board, remain the same. Cooking starts later today with judging tomorrow.
There is rain in the forecast later today, but it could not have been more perfect this week with sunshine and temperatures in the 70s.
World Pork Expo 09 Photo Album
AgWired coverage of World Pork Expo made possible by Novus International and Boehringer Ingelheim
Most of you probably don’t remember when radio got started or probably even when we moved from black and white to color tv. But if you were around then, it was a big deal. It was “all the buzz.” Technological advances in entertainment and communications are always interesting and can have profound impacts on how we receive information. Can you imagine today what it would be like if you had to wait until a traveler passed by before you found out what was happening out in the world? Now, we want and demand information instantly.
Recently I’ve had a couple of people ask me if “blogs and podcasts are still relevant.” I was kind of taken back at first since there are so many surveys and studies showing how these new communication platforms are growing. Then I realized that what we’ve been calling “new media” is really no longer new. Blogs and podcasts are now part of our normal everyday lives. They’re not a new thing. Here at ZimmComm they’ve been a key component of our business for over 4 years. I guess you might even say they’ve become mainstream.
So, when it comes to the question of “Do we have a blog? Should we start a podcast?” the answer is Of Course You Should! What better way is there than to communicate directly with your customers or members? I know Twitter is a current buzz platform but it is really just the marriage of texting and blogging and with the addition of links to audio or video, it also incorporates podcasting. So, just because you’re not seeing a lot of stories about the new technology called blogs or podcasts you shouldn’t assume that they’re not relevant to your communications efforts. How often do you read headlines about radio or tv? Maybe from the standpoint that we have a new HD gadget to watch or listen but not that there’s really anything “new” about them.
Coincidentally, there’s a great new article out from eMarketer today titled, “Making Blogs Your Business.” I’ll say, Amen to that. It’s an interview with Elisa Camahort Page, COO, BlogHer. She is asked about the potential to monetize a blog and says that there are two main ways to make money from your blog. First is with advertising and I think it is a valid method but the other one can be even more fruitful.
However, the other opportunity is to make money because of your blog, and there are way more people doing this. Their blog is their platform—it gets them attention. And from there they get freelance writing work and editorial opportunities. They get consulting gigs. They get speaking gigs and honoraria. They create a portfolio career.
Now how cool is that? You get to write about your passion and make money doing it while working for yourself. But this concept also applies to anyone who is working in marketing and communications. Your company or organizational blog is your platform to communicate and get attention from your customers or members. Are you still not getting this? If not, what is your concern? Why aren’t you?
Participation in the Junior National Swine Show at World Pork Expo was up significantly this year. Apparently the kids don’t care that the hog industry is going through tough times right now!
Officials said there were over 2000 entries in the show this year, up from 1800 last year, and it is so funny to see some of these really young kids guiding their animals around the ring. This little guy got sixth place in a field of about 20 or so. He was a treat to watch. You can see more photos in the Flickr album.
World Pork Expo 09 Photo Album
AgWired coverage of World Pork Expo made possible by Novus International and Boehringer Ingelheim
The highlight of day two at World Pork Expo is the carving of the roasted hogs and there were four this year. We already saw Elvis Pigsly in the last post – here is the Novus International feast.
The hogs are roasted for almost 24 hours before they are carved up and offered for passers-by to enjoy, with a nice variety of sauces. Everyone at the expo looks forward to roasted hogs coming out at the end of a long day. Not many vegans here at WPX!
Doing the carving honors are Randy Anderson and Felipe Navarro of Novus. I interviewed both of them earlier in the day about what Novus has to offer for pork producers around the world.
Randy is National Sales Manager for Novus’ pork business in North America. He says they have expanded their product line in the past several years. “What we really focus on is gut health of the animal, how can we help get more out of the nutrition we are feeding them and bring more efficiency,” he says. Among the products they offer are Activate, which are part of their organic acid line, and Mintrex, a cost effective source of organic trace minerals.
Listen to or download my interview with Randy here: Randy Anderson
Felipe talked about supporting pork marketing on a global scale. “We have been improving the way we position our programs based on ROI, trying to bring better value to producers, reducing the cost of production so they get better efficiency,” Felipe said. Novus services producers in more than 80 countries and have offices in six of them.
Everyday, people utilize countless accounts: email, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. to communicate with others, and the list of these social networking sites is constantly growing. However, there is much more to social networking than simply having an account. How can we have meaningful connections online? How can we better reach our target audience? Here is a paper by Exact Target that addresses these questions and concerns in an enjoyable read. Here is an excerpt…
In 2008, 13% of marketers leveraged social networks in their email marketing strategy. This number is set to explode in 2009 with 46% of marketers planning to use social sharing capabilities in the coming year—representing nearly a fourfold increase (ExactTarget 2009 Email Marketing List Growth Study).
Expanding the Reach of Email Through Social Media contains insights ExactTarget gathered from more than 350 marketers in our 2009 Email Marketing List Growth Study. This whitepaper is a must-read for anyone interested in using social sharing capabilities to extend the reach of your message, drive deeper engagement with customers and their online communities, and build your subscriber list.
The food is fine and the weather couldn’t be better at World Pork Expo this year.
As might be expected, there is lots and lots of pork available. The roasted whole hogs are coming out now, including Elvis Pigsly pictured here, and one right here in front of the Novus tent. There are four whole hogs coming out on the main drag of the expo where the grandstand is located and the bands are playing this beautiful sunny afternoon in Des Moines.
Even the food that isn’t pork here at the expo still has a piggish theme – like these cool cookies at the Boehringer Ingelheim tent. Gotta love it!
We have lots more pictures loaded in the photo album from Thursday at WPX and I have several interviews to edit, plus a view bonus videos of pig races and more. We are going to get it done soon, but the weather is just too sweet to not enjoy right now!
World Pork Expo 09 Photo Album
AgWired coverage of World Pork Expo made possible by Novus International and Boehringer Ingelheim
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, better knows as PRRS, costs the U.S. swine industry about $560 million a year, so eradicating that disease could have a significant impact for producers. Dr. Scott Dee with the Swine Disease Eradication Center at the University of Minnesota believes it is possible within 20 years.
“I’m going to be optimistic,” Dr. Dee said at a World Pork Expo press conference on Thursday organized by Boehringer Ingelheim.
He outlined several PRRS-control strategies that he believes show great promise for eradicating the disease. Among them, air filtration systems to control aerosol transmission of the virus, modified live vaccines used in an infected population to reduce spread of the virus within the herd, and oral fluid diagnostic sampling that he expects to completely replace blood sampling.
Other tools he says will help toward eradicating PRRS are geographical information systems and on-farm risk assessment programs, such as the PADRAP – Production Animal Disease Risk Assessment Program, which he called “a gift” from Boehringer Ingelheim to swine veterinarians.
I also have an interview of Scott being interviewed by Chad Moyer with KRVN and Mike Murphy with KSUM/KFMC, pictured above, that I will try to get edited and posted later.
* post updated with interview below *
It’s certainly no surprise that PETA is once again gaining media attention for their upcoming ad campaign that will soon release hundreds of billboards in L.A. regarding the murder of abortion Dr. George Tiller’s. Trying to appeal to both sides of the fence, PETA has created these billboards to reach both the pro-life and pro-choice groups. What do you think about this media campaign? What kind of statement does it say about PETA as an organization, willing to monopolize on a murder to earn donations from supporters? How should agriculturalists respond to this kind of behavior?
PETA plans to have billboards in the Wichita area that promote vegetarianism, prompted by abortion Dr. George Tiller’s murder. The group hopes that the billboards will help pro-life and pro-choice advocates find common ground in support for animal rights.
“People who are pro-choice shouldn’t choose cruelly produced foods, just as pro-life folks shouldn’t support deadly slaughterhouses,” says PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich in a press release. “It’s time for everyone to reject violence and live up to their ideals–if you’re truly acting out of a desire to end suffering, start with what you put on your plate.”
The Wichita Eagle reports that PETA’s campaign manager Lindsay Rajt said while the billboards are not yet up, PETA has no plans to cancel the campaign.
Lessing-Flynn Advertising was honored with two “Best of Category” awards at the American Marketing Association’s 4th Annual NOVA Awards. Recognition was for the 60th Anniversary Celebration of Vermeer Corporation and Crow’s Hybrids tradeshow work.
Deere & Company announced that its board of directors has elected Samuel R. Allen, 55, president, chief operating officer, and a member of the board of directors effective June 1, and chief executive officer effective August 1.
Social media is big and getting bigger, providing marketers with a combination of reach, relationships and relevance. The Interactive Advertising Bureau has released Best Practices that illustrate, inform, and facilitate greater adoption of the medium by defining creative components, data usage, consumer control, and privacy guidelines and by providing social advertising examples.
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
David conducted a presentation on delivering expert opinion via social media to an audience at the start of International Poultry Expo week. He's got some great information about who consumers trust and how you can use today's consumer behavior to help communicate your message.
The American Farm Bureau Federation is having its annual Council of Presidents meeting in Boston, MA and I’m on location to do a presentation about social media this afternoon. During the lunch break I spoke with AFBF President, Bob Stallman, to get his perspective on the use of social media for an organization like his.
Although we have many people subscribing to the AgWired rss feed (http://feeds.feedburner.com/Agwired) what happens if you don’t want all our news? Wouldn’t it be cool if you could just subscribe to the content you’re most interested in?
A media event at World Pork Expo sponsored by 
Dr. Greg Stevenson with the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory discussed swine influenza testing and USDA surveillance for swine flu. It was a pretty technical presentation that detailed the genetic difference between the H1N1 virus in humans and in swine. “When the USDA is going to be talking about surveillance, they’re going to be calling it H1N1 Flu Outbreak Virus (FOV), trying to distinguish it from the H1N1 that is in the swine population now in the U.S.,” said Dr. Stevenson. “We’ve got to talk about it intelligently and we’ve got to be careful to distinguish the two for the sake of the swine industry.” To talk intelligently about it, he says we’re all going to have to become virologists, and he proceeded to give a crash course in virology in 25 minutes. Learn more here. 
On the PCV2 control front, there is some good news for producers. Dr. Joe Connor, president of Carthage Veterinary Service, gave an update on PCV2 vaccines. Specifically, he talked about the efficacy of 
Attendance was down a bit at World Pork Expo this year due primarily to the impact of the H1N1 virus or “swine flu,” which kept away many international visitors who would normally attend. Washing and sanitizing of hands was stressed more than normal and the flu was a topic of press conferences, media interviews and general conversation.
As we all know, the “epidemic” started in Mexico, and I talked with Jorge Gonzalez, Novus International sales manager for northern Latin America, about the impact it has had on the pork industry in Mexico. “The name of the virus, swine flu, affected the consumption in Mexico,” Jorge said. “Consumption decreased 30 percent so the pork producers are in a very bad situation.” Like the U.S., Mexico has also been impacted by restrictions on pork imports from North America imposed by China and Russia.
Seriously, what would a pork expo be without racing pigs? While World Pork Expo is a serious event for producers who want to find out the latest information about their industry, it’s also a family event with fun stuff like pig races. 
Dr. Laura Greiner, who does research for Innovative Swine Solutions and 
On the production side, we heard from Kathy Chinn with Chinn Hog Farm in northeast Missouri. Kathy is a former Missouri state representative who is very active in the agriculture and pork industry on both the state and national level and a real positive voice and face for agriculture. It was very interesting to hear her talk about their family operation, which includes her two sons and her grandchildren, and how they faced the challenges of farming in their community and grown better because of it. She is a strong advocate of telling agriculture’s story and being involved on a community level – and she is really a neat, impressive and interesting lady.
A packed house gathered within the historic walls of the Kansas City Club, May 22, 2009, to celebrate four of the region’s most inspiring business leaders being honored by The Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City. The 2009 Award for Agricultural Leadership and Excellence, named in honor of the late Jay B. Dillingham, was awarded to R. Crosby Kemper, Jr., UMB Financial Corporation; Joerg Ohle, Bayer Animal Health and Morton Sosland, Sosland Publishing for outstanding contributions to agricultural and food related businesses. The Outstanding Volunteer of the Year went to Gina Bowman, CVR Energy.
Another simply gorgeous day for the World Pork Expo. Today is the last day for the event – a change from previous years. The expo used to start on Thursday and end Saturday afternoon, shortly before judging of the 
Participation in the 
The highlight of day two at World Pork Expo is the carving of the roasted hogs and there were four this year. We already saw Elvis Pigsly in the last post – here is the Novus International feast.
Everyday, people utilize countless accounts: email, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. to communicate with others, and the list of these social networking sites is constantly growing. However, there is much more to social networking than simply having an account. How can we have meaningful connections online? How can we better reach our target audience? Here is a paper by 
The food is fine and the weather couldn’t be better at World Pork Expo this year.
Even the food that isn’t pork here at the expo still has a piggish theme – like these cool cookies at the Boehringer Ingelheim tent. Gotta love it!
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, better knows as PRRS, costs the U.S. swine industry about $560 million a year, so eradicating that disease could have a significant impact for producers. Dr. Scott Dee with the Swine Disease Eradication Center at the University of Minnesota believes it is possible within 20 years.
He outlined several PRRS-control strategies that he believes show great promise for eradicating the disease. Among them, air filtration systems to control aerosol transmission of the virus, modified live vaccines used in an infected population to reduce spread of the virus within the herd, and oral fluid diagnostic sampling that he expects to completely replace blood sampling. 
PETA plans to have billboards in the Wichita area that promote vegetarianism, prompted by abortion Dr. George Tiller’s murder. The group hopes that the billboards will help pro-life and pro-choice advocates find common ground in support for animal rights.
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
