IFMA 17 was not kidding when it came up with its concept for the second Congress ever held in the U.S. Conference planners have woven the theme of “Food, Fiber and Energy” throughout the past few days of the Congress. However, it may surprise a few of the international delegates to learn their transportation is also joining the IFMA 17 Congress to implement the “energy” component of the theme.
Since Sunday, delegates have had the opportunity to ride shuttle buses to and from the Congress’ events. These Peoria Charter Coach buses are currently running on bio-fuels.
This practice is not uncommon for the company, who has been running its shuttles on bio-fuels since March 2004. And in its five year history of using bio-fuels, the company is pleased with their decision.
Bill Winkler, president of Peoria Charter Coach said,” To me, it is a three win situation…It burns cleaner. It’s cheaper, and it helps the farmers.”
As delegates look to the future of the agriculture industry, the issues of sustainability and a poor economy are sure to arise. However, Winkler was quick to mention this clean-burning fuel is mixed locally, reducing the cost. With these incentives, Winkler looks forward to continuing this practice in the future.
Peoria Charter Coach Company has served over 400,000 passengers since its start in 1941.
For a complete itinerary of IFMA17 events, visit: ifma17.org.
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Last week, Cindy and I attended the 2009 Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Denver, Colo. It was my first experience working as a photojournalist and blogger, on location, covering an entire event on behalf of America’s beef producers as the Beef Checkoff Program. Here are my top ten lessons learned while working on this event.
2009 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photos
10. When taking photos, use the 360 degree method to capture every angle of the room.
9. Don’t be afraid to look silly or be in the way when using the 360 method.
8. Take good notes; this makes writing a blog post more efficient and concise.
7. Wear comfortable shoes. Cindy is a seasoned pro who wore flats, while I attempted high heels everyday. Hello, blisters!
6. Take advantage of the free food in the media room. Thanks to NCBA and Igentity for taking care of me all week. (The cookies rocked!)
5. Always be sure the record button is on when conducting an interview. It’s not fun discovering that after the fact!
4. Use your resources to get acquainted with the people and the topics that need to be covered throughout the meeting.
3. In one place, write down all user names and passwords for the following accounts: YouTube, Flickr, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc.
2. Be prepared to feel like a pack mule. With camera, flash, audio recorders, video recorders, notepad, agenda, pens, laptop, USB cables, card readers, etc., you really do start to feel like a pack mule.
1. Have fun! I had a blast covering this event, and it was a great learning experience for a young aspiring agriculture writer. Thanks to the cattlemen for their hospitality. Check out the event coverage here.
4-H had a big role in shaping my life. I still remember my first purple ribbon, my first speech, my first batch of 4-H cookies, my first show steer and my first trophy. I can remember how much those “firsts” meant to me because I had spent years as a Clover Bud, waiting my turn to FINALLY be in 4-H. Without a doubt, 4-H helps fine tune kids’ talents and passions. It helps young people explore new possibilities, and it strengthens a child’s ties to agriculture. So, when I heard that 4-H was going to space in a monumental trip, I was excited to see this youth agriculture program still going strong. As reported by AgWeb Blogs, 4-H was destined for outer space.
The Space Shuttle Endeavour headed into space last week as part of the STS-127 mission. On board was the National 4-H flag. The Endeavour is delivering the final components of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory to the International Space Station. The 16-day mission included five spacewalks and the installation of two new space station components and equipment.
Azeem Ahmed, 17, who is an avid space enthusiast and 4-H member from Alabama and President of the Alabama 4-H Council, made the original request to NASA to have the flag flown with a future space shuttle mission.
“4-H is more than green and white – it is a collage,” Ahmed said in a news release. “It is agriculture and it’s also healthy living, leadership and citizenship and science, engineering and technology. Science, engineering and technology is one of the missions of 4-H, and by flying a 4-H flag into space, I hope we shine a new light on 4-H.”
You know that we have to love the name of this company – Zimmatic!
Lindsay Corporation, maker of Zimmatic® irrigation systems, has produced a new biofuels brochure called “Improving Biofuel ROI Through Efficient Irrigation Solutions.”
The eight-page full-color brochure includes information on key biofuel crops, the benefits of biofuels, market growth opportunities for biofuels, and irrigation management recommendations to help growers optimize the yield, size distribution and quality of biofuel crops.
“Several factors are influencing a growing worldwide interest in biofuels, including climate change, rising oil prices, future oil supplies, and exploration and drilling costs,” says Dirk Lenie, vice president of marketing and export sales at Lindsay. “Lindsay is committed to helping growers meet the increased demands of a fuel-hungry world and to providing growers with the tools needed to produce more biofuel per gallon of water used.”
The Lindsay brochure provides a step-by-step guide to properly plan and successfully complete a biofuels irrigation project.
For a copy of the biofuels brochure, go to the downloads section at www.zimmatic.com.
If you don’t have a good digital audio recorder yet or are looking for a new one then Sony has introduced the PCM-M10. It’s the nice small form factor that makes these great to add to your gear bag.
The PCM-M10 is conveniently small on size, but packs in many cool features: a five-second pre-record buffer, WAV and MP3 format record and play, USB port for easy upload/downloads, Digital Pitch Control and a MicroSD/Memory Stick Micro slot. Providing 96 kHz 24-bit recording, a 4 GB built-in flash memory and user friendly operation, the PCM-M10 is the ideal choice for making live musical, nature sound and field recordings.
I guess I missed it by a day but better late than never. July 21 is National Hot Dog Day and I hope you all had a chance to have yours.
I personally like them sliced and fried with eggs for breakfast as well as on a bun for lunch or dinner. If you want some tips on how to celebrate National Hot Dog Day then eHow has some great tips like:
Start your celebration with a hot dog breakfast. Try scrambling a few eggs with slices of hot dogs to enhance the taste. Top your eggs with grated cheese and a generous dab of ketchup.
The National Hot Dog & Sausage Council has all of the information you could possibly want including answers to your questions about hot dogs. Here’s what’s in them.
All hot dogs are cured and cooked sausages that consist of mainly pork, beef, chicken and turkey or a combination of meat and poultry. Meats used in hot dogs come from the muscle of the animal and looks much like what you buy in the grocer’s case. Other ingredients include water, curing agents and spices, such as garlic, salt, sugar, ground mustard, nutmeg, coriander and white pepper.
You might remember last week’s post about the Mt. Ranier Relay Race that AdFarm and their client AGROTAIN were participating in. I received a photo and update from Jason Streubel who was on the team. He’s a soil science PhD student at Washington State University. He says their team won their division! Jason is also a blogger and you’ll find him at Tales From a Poopsmith. Here’s an excerpt from his post about the race.
So equipped with some courage and apprehension I drove to Seattle to meet my team for the first time. One by one I was introduced to “Nine Hot Guys and Two Really Lucky Women” from AGROTAIN (a vital component to putting quality food on your table every day in an environmentally sound manner), AdFarm (the ad wizards who can make fertilizer and manure look attractive) and Dave (the DCLS rep who rallies for common sense on the hill).
Typically farmers don’t take a city bus or elevated train to the fields each day. But Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences isn’t your typical farm.
Every year as many as 1,500 prospective students apply for 150 spots at the far south side magnet school, and the lucky few who are chosen travel long distances to be a part of school that is producing some of the top, young Ag minds in the U.S.
“Our students have a unique opportunity, that no other students in the city of Chicago have,” said Lucille Shaw, head FFA advisor at the school.
Members of the IFMA17 congress also had a unique opportunity Tuesday afternoon to tour CHSAS, which sits on a 72-acre plot of land just down the street from another of the city’s public schools, Chicago Morgan Park.
For all intensive purposes CHSAS is a fully functioning farm, while teaching its students traditional subjects like math and history. Included on the campus is a barn for pigs, goats and horses, a fish farm and of course midwestern staple crops like corn and soybeans. There is also a machine shop for students to fix machinery and a large hive of bees, where the students harvest honey and sell it, along with other items produced by students in a small store in front of the school.
“I think this school gives kids an opportunity to be exposed to something they otherwise would not have,” Shaw said. “It was an untapped resource, especially by minorities, for so many years.”
Before spending a few hours at CHSAS, the IFMA17 members gathered for a tour of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, where agricultural products such as corn, wheat and pork bellies are traded on the open market.
The group arrived in time to see the CME open at 9:30 a.m., to watch buyers and sellers go to work in the “pits.”
“I don’t know what to think of it,” said Heiko Zeller, a German student from the University of Applied Sciences in Eberswalde. “There’s a lot of money being made out there, but it seems a little crazy.”
Stops were also made at Millennium Park, a large vegetative outdoor area that sits in the shadow of the newly named Willis (Sears) Tower, and a lunch at the University of Illinois’ Illini Room, just a few blocks form the park.
“It’s an amazing use of a public space,” said University of Queensland senior lecturer Don Cameron said of Millennium. “You could just come here and relax with nature in the middle of the city.”
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It is one thing to listen to a lecture about the functions of a fully developed wind farm, but it is quite another to learn about the 265 ft. tall turbines as they turn in front of you. As the International Farm Management Association Congress (IFMA) continued today, attendees got to see several agricultural practices first hand throughout Central Illinois. One group toured the Twin Groves Wind Farm, Pioneer research center, and the Klein/Stoller Farm Partnership. It was a once in a lifetime experience for not only those attending the IFMA tours but also for those the giving the tours to learn from others in the international agriculture fields.
The first stop on the tour showcased an up and coming technique in utilizing farm land. The Twin Groves Wind Farm located in McLean County five miles east of the Central Illinois Regional Airport. The wind farm produces 396 megawatts of clean energy per year enough to power around 120,000 homes in Illinois. With over 240 massive turbines the Twin Groves Wind Farm is one of the largest in the country. Most people on the tour were surprise by the ease that the wind farm integrated with the traditional farming practices around it. The turbines themselves only use approximately an acre of land each, therefore, the owners of the land were still able to farm corn and soybeans with little interruption.
Next, the tour headed north to Princeton, Ill. to visit the research center of Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. The center researches and develops hybrids of corn, soybeans, and other crops that are sold internationally. Each product is developed differently depending on the needs of each farmer and region that it is grown in. For example, one strain of corn has been engineered to require 50% less water than most corn grown in Illinois and is deemed “drought resistant.” This kind of corn is sold in very dry areas of Chile and South Africa. It was an eye-opening experience for several IMFA attendees to see the plant where the seed for their crops is produced.
The final stop on the tour showcased a working Central Illinois Farm. The Klein and Stoller families’ consolidated farm utilizes some of the latest technology in agriculture. The most intriguing aspect of the farm, however, was its operation system. It works as one large farm, yet each of the four managers are separate owners of the land. “I really enjoyed the uniqueness of the farm operations, with the families coming together and combining resources. There are huge advantages to the division of labor and specialization that occurs here,” said Doug Jose, an IMFA attendee from the University of Nebraska.
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The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) today presented the annual George Washington Carver Award for Innovation in Industrial Biotechnology to DuPont Chairman of the Board Charles (Chad) O. Holliday, Jr., recognizing his commitment to industrial biotechnology as a tool for sustainable business growth. The award was given during the 2009 World Congress underway in Montreal with more than 1,100 attendees.
Chad Holliday with the GWCarver award and Mark Wright of Iowa State, the recipient of the Carver scholarship
The George Washington Carver Award was created in honor of George Washington Carver, who attended Iowa State University, and honors individuals in the private industry, government or academia who have made a significant contribution to the economic and innovative growth of the biotech industry. In addition, the efforts of the individual must focus on environmentally sustainable processes – more critical now than ever.
“Many of the technologies here today will help us address climate change,” said Holliday. He noted that while this is not the only issue facing the world today, it was one of the most critical and is confident that biotech companies, through innovation, will help to alleviate the issue.
Brent Erickson, executive vice president of BIO’s Industrial & Environmental Section, said, “BIO is pleased to recognize the contributions to the field of industrial biotechnology and outstanding accomplishments of DuPont Chairman Chad Holliday.”
Erickson continued, “George Washington Carver is considered one of the founding fathers of modern industrial biotechnology. Following his legacy, industrial biotechnology companies today are developing new methods to use renewable agricultural resources to manufacture fuels, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and food ingredients. The field has developed in ways that Carver may never have imagined, but the work of industrial biotech companies remains true to the goal of a sustainable agricultural economy that includes production of useful everyday products.”
Holliday noted that he was “deeply honored” to recieve the award that recognizes and promotes the work toward the goal of developing new, sustainable products and technologies to help make peoples’ lives around the world more secure.
Accompanying the award is a George Washington Carver scholarship given in the name of Charles O. Holliday, Jr., to Iowa State University graduate student Mark Wright, currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and Biorenewable Resources and Technology. The award is sponsored by DSM, the Iowa Biotechnology Association and the Iowa Department of Economic Development.
The folks at The Meyocks Group are very happy to have Kelly Ferguson back on the team.
Kelly Ferguson has rejoined The Meyocks Group, directing the agency’s market analysis and strategy efforts. He also serves on the agency’s management team.
A native of Clarinda, Iowa, Ferguson interned at the agency while completing a bachelor’s degree in marketing and management at Northwest Missouri State University. He joined The Meyocks Group full-time in 1998 as an account manager and a database account manager.
In 2002 Ferguson joined AGDATA, LP, in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he used data-mining and statistical analysis skills to improve clients’ marketing programs. He also earned an MBA in corporate finance from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.
- Rabobank announced the establishment of a Renewable Energy and Infrastructure Finance (REIF) team in the Americas, and the arrival of Thomas Emmons, Managing Director, as its head.
- Darlington dairy producer, Jay Stauffacher, has been re-elected to a fifth term as chairman of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. Stauffacher’s term began July 1, 2009 and concludes June 30, 2010.
- AgriLabs is proud to announce the availability of America’s first conditionally licensed E. coli O157 vaccine for cattle, Salmonella Newport Bacterial Extract.
- FCStone announced that veteran dairy industry expert Ken Bailey has joined the firm as a full-time consultant and broker.
Instead of traveling to 26 different countries to hear about the deregulation of South African dairy farmers or the sustainable practices of farms set in the Blue Ridge Mountains, IFMA 17 delegates can simply travel across the street to breakout sessions on the Illinois State University campus.
With several broad categories to choose from, ranging from farm management to marketing and trade, delegates are guaranteed to find a topic that sparks their interest or match their specialization.
Different academic voices present their papers for 20 minutes. There were a total of 39 presentations on Monday afternoon.
If interested in hearing one of 33 more global agriculture discussions, attend the IFMA 17 Congress on Wednesday afternoon at Illinois State University.
Bloomington, Ill. is only the second U.S. city to host this event in the Congress’ 38 year history. For a review of the complete itinerary, visit: http://imfa17.org.
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Populations are growing, diets are becoming healthier, land and water rights are being cracked down upon and the consumption of food is doubling as the years progress forward becomes, “The need for and acceptance of biotechnology in feeding a hungry world.”
Kevin Eblen, of the Monsanto Company, set the stage for his presentation Monday with a video that talks about the commitment of sustainability. Sustainability is defined as development that meets the needs of the present with out compromising the ability of future generations.
People’s lives are changing daily, with 70 percent of water being used by people and farmers and trying to develop better seeds by 2030. Things are going to have to change in the present to be sustainable for the future. Monsanto Company is trying its best to keep up with these demands of better seeds through biotechnology.
Monsanto as a company is trying to increase cotton yields, with better seeds, almost doubling production by 2030. On average per year, the company invests $1 billion to breeding and harvesting techniques, agronomic practices and biotechnology. In funding these techniques, farmers can reap the benefits of having higher yield and more money to give back to the community. On a global level the “US is expanding corn yields at four times the rate of the European Union.” Everything is the same in the European Union, except for biotechnology. Biotechnology is the way to go for a better yield, but in the future, conserving more is going to be of great importance.
Conservation is a key issue with regard to new farming techniques. In 1995, Monsanto created the first weed and insect free corn. The next is a climate resistant corn. People question these new corn seeds that could change planting techniques. Within this new seed corn, water consumption will decline and land can be used for other purposes for the increasing population. If the farmer stays with biotechnology corn, the added net income will be increased by $ 33.8 billion.
Farmers and residents alike are going to have to partner up to think about the benefits of the future and understand that change is necessary for the survival of future generations.
Normal, Ill. is only the second U.S. city to host this event in the Congress’ 38-year history. IFMA runs from July19-24.
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Jim Wiesemeyer of Informa Economics told more than 300 attendees at the U.S. Grains Council‘s 49th Annual Board of Delegates Meeting in San Diego this week that there may be a few more tough years for the economy but there will eventually be a light at the end of the tunnel, and farmers will flourish.
“Once the US and world economy turns around, US agriculture will return in what I call perhaps the beginning years of the ‘Golden Era of Agriculture’ because of the rise of the rest,” Jim told me his main message was for the USGC delegates. “As Asian and Latin American countries increase their middle class, they’ll have the cash to buy good old protein products from the U.S.”
He urges producers and commodity groups to “think visionary” and consider all moves in terms of competitiveness. In addition, he strongly suggests that producers to put a pencil to the ACRE program – which he thinks will benefit many, especially Midwest corn growers – before the August 14 deadline.
See photos from the USGC Delegate Meeting here on Flickr.
Listen to or download my interview with Jim here:
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Leaders from the National Corn Growers Association were among those in attendance at the U.S. Grains Council delegates meeting this week in San Diego, including First Vice President Darrin Ihnen of South Dakota and Chairman Ron Litterer from Iowa.
I talked to Darrin about a number of topics, including how NCGA works with USGC. “We work very well together,” Darrin said. “The Grains Council is kind of the export arm of the corn industry and so from the National Corn Growers perspective, we need our sister organization to handle our exports. We do export roughly 15-20 percent of our corn crop, so that’s a very important market for us.”
He says the export outlook is not as good as it was a year ago because the world economy and the recession have taken their toll and growers are looking at producing another huge crop this year. “We gotta find a home for all this corn,” Darrin says.
See photos from the USGC Delegate Meeting here on Flickr.
Listen to or download my interview with Darrin here:
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The U.S. Grains Council’s 49th Annual Board of Delegates Meeting luncheon on Monday featured two college seniors who shared their experiences as participants of the recent International Collegiate Agricultural Leadership (I-CAL) annual mission to Vietnam and China.
Amy Berry, senior at the University of Wyoming, and Michelle Euken, senior at Iowa State University, told more than 300 attendees of their “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity as two of twelve top U.S. agricultural students from eight different states who were selected for this year’s I-CAL program, a cooperative effort of The Grains Foundation and the National FFA Organization intended to help educate future agricultural leaders about export market development.
“The I-CAL program is an awesome opportunity for students to get involved overseas and really learn international markets and opportunities abroad,” Michelle told me after their presentation.
“The work that the Grains Council does is real and it helps producers here by thinking globally and solving problems that producers couldn’t do alone,” Amy says. “It definitely changed my perspective.”
See photos from the USGC Delegate Meeting here on Flickr.
Listen to or download my interview with Amy and Michelle here:
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One Nebraska farmer’s wife got a greater appreciation of the impact U.S. agricultural producers have on the global economy when she was able to be a part of America’s Heartland “Journey of the Corn.”
During the spouses breakfast at the U.S. Grains Council delegates meeting on Monday, Lori Tiemann shared some of her journey to Taiwan and China with her husband Alan. “I did not know what happened to our grain after it left Nebraska,” Lori said. “It was amazing.”
See photos from the USGC Delegate Meeting here on Flickr.
Listen to or download my interview with Lori here:
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Genetically Modified Organisms or GMOs have become a topic of skepticism, especially in France, and the discussion was on tap Monday afternoon at the International Farm Management Congress.
Anti-GMO activists, who view the harvests as highly unnatural, have destroyed fields of these experimental crops. Mourad Hannachi, a PhD student the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, has studied the difficulties involved with “natural farmers” and GMO farmers coexisting.
“It is a scientific controversy,” Hannachi said. “It’s the consumers choice. And some consumers have a fear of the GMO.”
Hannachi conducted studies in the Alsace and southwest regions of France where experimental GMO maize crops are being grown right alongside natural crops. The problem that exists is France’s farmland is divided up much differently then here in the U.S. For example in Illinois, plots of land are broken up clearly into perfect-shaped plots.
But in France much of the land is scattered, and a GMO farmers crop could be in very close proximity to that of a natural farmer. The problem with GMO farmers and farmers that use pesticides is a cross-pollination takes place when the crops are in close proximity. The GMO takes over the natural plant, and there are many consumers that don’t want to buy a GMO product, and farmers that don’t want to grow it.
“It’s a big problem (between the farmers) because it’s cross- pollination,” Hannachi said. “The only way to stop it is to put the two different crops far away from each other.”
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John Alliston welcomed the agricultural world Monday to the Bone Student Center on the campus of Illinois State University for the 17th annual International Farm Management Congress.
Alliston, the President of the IFMA, stressed the importance of communication during this week-long seminar that includes a multitude of presentations dealing with world agriculture.
“By the end of this week, we want everyone in this room to know everyone else in the room,” said Alliston, who was preceded by IFMA17 host Fred Hepler, Illinois Ag director Tom Jennings and Illinois State President Dr. Al Bowman.
“One of the advantages of having a congress like this is that you get to share ideas with people from so many different countries,” Alliston said.
Dr. Robert Thompson, the Gardner Endowed Chair in Agricultural Policy, from the University of Illinois presented a world perspective of agriculture. Thompson’s overview of world agriculture ranged from the limited window of time farmers have to plant and harvest crops to the need for more investment in technology.
He expressed concern over the current economic climate and what effects that could have on agriculture in the long term.
“The rate of inflation as well as interest rates will have a profound impact on the well being of farming,” Thompson said. “I think there is a significant risk, at least in this country, of an outbreak of inflation in the future. The massive amounts of liquidity that are being pumped into the economy with the stimulus package, there’s a high risk for inflation, and this could come back to affect agriculture significantly.”
The world is also in need of more food production according to Thompson, who believes the global population will double by 2050. That places greater importance on finding the land necessary to grow crops, and an even greater importance on advancing farming technologies.
“Food demand is likely to double in the first half of this century,” Thompson said. “Half of that comes from about a 50 percent increase in population, the other half from successful economic growth.”
Thompson said that we are running out of space, and that only 12 percent of the land in the world is farmable unless forests are cut down to make room for crops. This is a last resort option of course. The destruction of forests would lead to displacement of animals and a virtual devastation of habitats.
Bloomington, Ill. is only the second U.S. city to host this event in the Congress’ 38 year history. IFMA 17 runs from July 19 to July 24.
For a review of the complete itinerary, visit: http://www.ifma17.org/
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In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
