Wherever we can find a positive story about our military in action we should let others know. You’re sure not going to find it on mainstream media. This one is from the Army’s own website. This has also been done in Iraq and other countries. I think it’s good to point out how important agriculture is to a country and why we should be doing everything we can in this country to protect and build our own ag base. The loonies are sure trying to hurt it all they can though which is why I think they’re so un-patriotic. So let’s celebrate our fighting men and women who are helping another country build their ag base!
At war in a country that has been devastated by centuries of fighting, the U.S. military is committed to helping Afghanistan attain a functional level of prosperity and self-sustainability through improved agricultural methods.
Teams of National Guardsmen from Missouri and 11 other farm-belt states are deploying to Afghanistan on year-long tours to assist in this effort. The Guardsmen bring with them more specialized skills than those of the usual advisory panels that typically helm projects such as these. This mission calls for military members with expertise in farming, raising livestock and cultivating natural resources.
The U.S. military recognized the necessity of such teams in late 2007 when reconstruction teams realized people in rural areas needed something more pressing than a new school or road. Across Afghanistan, these teams have been inundated with requests for help with farming and other agricultural endeavors.
The Nangarhar Province Agri-Business Development Team has focused on facilitating sustainable projects that aid the Afghan people in a manner that results in greater impact and more long-term benefits.
“We have a wide-range of programs geared at helping the Afghan people gain better farming practices and that often means providing basic systems such as wells and karizes to irrigate the crops,” said Maj. Denise Wilkinson, ADT executive officer who is deployed from the Missouri Joint Force Headquarters. “We have projects with large budgets, but we have found that it’s the small projects at little cost that have the biggest impact on the people who need our help the most.”
The latest Farm Foundation Forum will be held next Tuesday, July 14, 2009 from 9-11 am at the National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, in Washington D.C. The topic this time will be the competition for water resources:
Presenters include: Erik Peterson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Dan Keppen of the Family Farm Alliance; Karl Wirkus of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; and Noel Gollehon of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. The Environmental Working Group has also been invited to participate.
Just like the other great forums that Farm Foundation has sponsored, this one will bring together lots of folks from divergent points of view with plenty of discussion to come up with real solutions for the issues facing American agriculture. If you can participate in this free forum, you need to get your RSVP into Linda Singer (e-mail her at linda@farmfoundation.org) by close of business on Thursday, July 9. And even if you can’t be there in person, the folks at Farm Foundation will have audio from the event at this Web site.
Today the current class of the Illinois Agricultural Leadership Program will be having a Media Relations Seminar in Chicago. Yours truly was supposed to be presenting a session on “Social Media From The Ag Perspective” but pneumonia canceled that. However, good friend and social media man Andy Vance, ABN, is on the scene for me. So to help him out we’d love it if you would post your twitter thoughts and comments on this topic to the #IALP hashtag.
The Illinois Agricultural Leadership Program (IALP) is an extensive business education and training program for agricultural producers and employees of agri-businesses. Through a series of in-state and travel seminars, participants interact with a myriad number of business, organization, elected, and educational leaders.
Post Update: Thanks again to Andy Vance for conducting today’s social media session. He covered a lot more than just Twitter but there were still over 90 tweets posted to #IALP during his session. Thank you to all who participated.
This is The Casanova Burger. It’s just one of many cheeseburgers you’ll find at the Cheese and Burger Society.
The Casanova will have your taste buds at “Hello.” Fully stuffed with more flavor than it knows what to do with, this robust cheeseburger can satisfy the hungriest of bellies and the most discerning of palates. If you’re craving a little burger and cheese romance, it’s time you spent some quality time with The Casanova.
Bayer CropScience AG and Monsanto Company have agreed to cross license their respective herbicide tolerance traits in rapeseed/canola on a non-exclusive basis for commercialization within their respective branded canola seed businesses.
US Farms, Inc. is pleased to announce the appointment of Victor Brandstetter to the position of Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for all retail sales.
Novus International Inc., is pleased to announce the addition of Dr. Anant Bharadwaj, Manager of Aquaculture Nutrition.
It seems like the list of companies and organizations that are partnering and participating in the new AG CONNECT Expo continues to grow. This time AEM has announced an alliance with Farm Journal Media to promote the new show
Under this agreement, Farm Journal Media will represent AEM in exhibit booth sales outside of AEM and FEMA membership, publish the Official AG CONNECT Show Directory, hold seminars and co-locate events at AG CONNECT, and promote attendance to AG CONNECT with a full multimedia promotion schedule using Farm Journal Media’s definitive suite of media products.
The inaugural AG CONNECT Expo 2010 is slated for January 13-15, 2010 (Preview Day January 12 by special admission) at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. AEM initiated AG CONNECT Expo as a North American-based global showcase of the latest innovations, products, services and technology in all agricultural sectors, with extensive networking opportunities and access to leading worldwide industry experts.
As Official Sponsor of AG CONNECT Expo 2010, Farm Journal Media is promoting the trade show to the agricultural community with an extensive multimedia program. Farm Journal Media will also contribute its expertise in major education events and networking programs.
This includes Farm Journal Media’s “Leave a Legacy” project, forming the basis for a show Plan for Success Workshop to be held in conjunction with AG CONNECT Expo 2010. “Leave a Legacy” is a nationally recognized effort to provide family agriculture operations with expert succession planning – an essential process for continued production of abundant food, fuel and fiber at the necessary levels of high efficiency.
Remember this video? With 1.5 million views and counting, this popular video on YouTube has received comments both hilarious and depressing about the nation’s views on agriculture. Is it funny that people think that wool comes from cows, or is it just sad? How do we reach out to the folks in big cities who have never been exposed to agriculture issues? Let me take that back. They HAVE been exposed to farm animals in Disney movies, and that’s the problem, isn’t it?
Anyway, regardless of the very sad and disturbing truth that there are many people out there that have absolutely no clue where their food comes from, I hope this video gives you a laugh this afternoon!
The folks at Divine Chocolate are inviting Pres. Obama to visit and learn more about cocoa farmers in Ghana. Free samples will be available at stores in Washington, DC.
Kuapa Kokoo, co-owners of Divine Chocolate, the pioneering fair trade chocolate brand, proudly extends an invitation for President Obama to come visit them during his upcoming trip to Ghana. The invitation includes the opportunity to learn not only about cocoa from Ghana, but how this dynamic group of 45,000 cocoa farmers is using democratic cooperation and Fair Trade as a way to improve the livelihoods of cocoa farmers and to invest in their future.
“We wish to show Mr. Obama how cocoa farmers have joined together to build our communities, invest in education, clean water and health. We urge him to join our call for fair and dignified trade so that we farmers can be a greater part of the solution to problems facing Ghana and all of Africa,” says Mr. Paul CK. Buah, President of Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Cooperative.
Kuapa Kokoo has been internationally recognized for its pioneering efforts in Fair Trade. It is also an example of how African led social enterprises can be leading forces for achieving development goals on the continent.
Our Tuesday night AgChat host has earned a few extra letters to put after her name. Michele Payn-Knoper, a professional agricultural speaker and principal of Cause Matters Corp., has earned the coveted Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation, and has been singled out in the current issue of Speaker magazine as one of the “25 Hot Speakers” who are shaping the speaking industry.
Payn-Knoper, who for eight years has been building her speaking practice on connecting agriculture to “the 98.5% of Americans not involved with farming,” said she was “truly humbled” by the recognition. She hopes it will help her reach even more agriculturists with advocacy training and tools to educate the consumer public about farm and food issues.
According to the National Speakers Association (NSA), fewer than 10 percent of speakers who belong to the International Federation for Professional Speakers hold the CSP distinction. One of 30 professionals to earn the CSP in 2009, Payn-Knoper will be honored at the NSA Convention in Phoenix, Ariz., on July 19.
“It is an honor to receive this designation while doing what I love: helping agriculturists champion their cause,” Payn-Knoper said. “I am grateful to those clients who allowed me to continue serving them while completing the tenuous five-year CSP process.”
Payn-Knoper is known as a leader in agricultural advocacy, having worked with thousands of people through her motivational keynotes, workshops and social media tools. She is the founder of AgChat on Twitter, a weekly streaming conversation for people in agriculture that has captured national media attention. She also consults and conducts workshops training and keynote addresses across North America, as well as overseas. Her blog “Gate to Plate” can be found at http://causematters.wordpress.com.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture is going to be holding a series of workshops (pdf) on social media in August. It’s part of their Agritourism efforts which will “Take your marketing skills to a new level.”
If you think a . . .
“Twitter” is what the birdies do . . .
“Blog” is a swampy spot near the barn . . .
“Facebook Page” is that “Whated” picture at the Post Office . . .
Without a doubt, Twitter is all the rage these days, and even farmers and ranchers are tweeting their daily lives from their tractors. This is a great way to promote food production to consumers, as it gives a unique insight into the lives of the people that are dedicated to growing a safe, wholesome product for consumption. While there are countless farmers, ranchers and foodies on Twitter, it’s not everyday you run across a tweeting heifer. A heifer? Yes, that’s right…it’s time to start following @Cows_life.
Hi! I’m a heifer on the Wagner farm, located in southeast North Dakota. Follow my day-to-day activities as a cow!
As reported by the Cattle Business Weekly, Val Wagner of Monango, N.D. was up late one night with her newborn son when a crazy idea hit – to begin twittering about her family’s cowherd. Easy is a necessity in the Wagner household. With four boys under the age of six, and farming and maintaining a herd of commercial Red Angus, little time can be spent idle. Wagner is tweeting on a regular basis on the happenings at the Wagner farm and the life of their Red Angus heifers. Eventually, one heifer will be chosen and followed through this coming fall, winter and in to next spring’s calving season. The heifers can be followed online at www.twitter.com/Cows_Life where Wagner writes from the perspective of the 27 head of young cattle.
The beef checkoff funded a “2009 Hottest Little U.S. Cowboy Competition” that promoted U.S. beef and taught some young Taiwanese “cowboys” and “cowgirls” about the importance of beef in a balanced diet. The contest was a big hit with the little ones, who really threw themselves into their cowboy roles.
Twenty contest winners and more than 120 family members took part in the award ceremony at the Agora Garden Hotel in Taipei. Winners received great prizes, as well as the chance to be featured in USMEF’s 2010 table calendars.
Taiwan was the sixth-largest value market for U.S. beef last year, totaling nearly $128 million despite the exclusion of bone-in cuts and variety meat.
DuPont and Bayer CropScience have entered into a series of long-term business agreements related to key plant biotechnology traits and enabling technologies that will help increase agricultural productivity around the world.
Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc. announced that it has entered into an exclusive worldwide research and commercial license agreement for Chromatin’s proprietary gene stacking technology in sugar cane.
Tessenderlo Kerley, Inc. announced the purchase of the linuron herbicide assets from DuPont Crop Protection. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
You can now call her Leah Banister. That’s Leah on the right with Cindy in the middle and Tricia Braid-Terry. While you were all smoking and grilling some good meat on the grill and going to the local fireworks, @farmerspice got hitched to First Sergeant Tom Banister in Williamsville, IL.
Cindy and I were there to help take photos and shoot video of the ceremony. We enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with friends and want to wish Leah and Tom many blessings in their marriage.
In case you’re wondering, Leah used to be a farm broadcaster, Cindy is a farm podcaster and Tricia is soon to be a former farm broadcaster. Confused? Yeah. It’s easy to do in today’s new media world.
ZimmComm New Media would like to wish everyone a Happy 4th of July celebration. I thought it would be a good opportunity to borrow some prose from Rick Tolman, NCGA, about energy independence and the role ethanol is playing. Here are some excerpts from his most recent Our View:
Another Fourth of July is upon us and as we prepare to celebrate this nation’s independence it is also a good time to reflect on our dangerous reliance of imported petroleum and ask what more we should we be doing to assure our energy independence.
This Independence Day we should be resolute and re-commit ourselves to making the right choices for America. We can pursue a strategic national initiative that will lead us to energy independence — and put America back in control of its destiny. We can start by looking for ethanol fuel at the pump. It is readily available as a 10 percent blend and E85 is becoming more common – as are the flexible-fuel vehicles that can utilize this clean-burning fuel.
Don’t be fooled by sensational headlines and pseudo-science funded by anti-ethanol factions. Ethanol continues to be as good an idea today as it has always been because of its contributions to our environment, energy security and economy.
Productivity on America’s farms is at an all time high and through technology and innovation farmers are growing five times more corn than they did in the 1930s on 20 percent less land. And this is being accomplished in a more sustainable way, with soil erosion cut more than 44 percent in the last 20 years and fertilizer used to grow a bushel of corn down 36 percent since 1980.
So, at the family barbecue or fireworks this weekend, tell your friends and family to do their part by using ethanol. Ask them to encourage their elected officials to continue to support using increased blends of this proven American fuel.
According to AgNews on Twitter (yes I’m reporting Twitter news), Tricia Braid-Terry is the new Director of Communications for Illinois Corn Growers. She’s much better looking than Mark Lambert her predecessor who is now with NCGA. I’ll bet Mark would like to be in this picture though. This is from when Tricia was in Guatemala the U. S. Grains Council.
We’ll be seeing her this weekend at the @farmerspice wedding. That would be Leah Guffey. I’m pretty sure there will be tweets and pics starting this evening. Should be a fun 4th of July!
Steve Tucker had a busy day. Things can kind of get that way when you’ve been featured in a major news story by an outlet like CNN. This twittering farmer took the time to talk with me via Skype and his mobile phone this afternoon about what is actually a shared experience since yours truly was also quoted in the story. My hat is off to reporter John Sutter for doing a great job. He’s from Oklahoma so I guess he had a good background to draw on!
Steve’s Twitter followers have more than doubled today. He got a comment back from a non-farmer who said, “Keep us entertained for those of us for those of us who have to live our life in a cubicle.” As Steve puts it, “I walk out of my front yard and I’m in my office.” Here’s one of his tweets from today talking about the social aspect of what he’s doing, especially when he’s got time on the tractor:
Last year I would sit in my tractor and think, man I’m lonely. 2day I think, where is everyone going to fit in this cab?
I think that this is a great example of how social media/networking can help bridge the communication gap between farm and non farm.
The Twittering Farmer just did a great job letting people have a little bit of insight into who produces their food.
Steve told ‘em like it is. Up to 15 hours in a tractor can get a little lonely and boring but not with the communications tools of today. You can read all about it on CNN.com. How’s that for some social networking communications results? You can follow Steve on his blog.
Post Update: CNN has posted the full video of the interview with Steve Tucker:
CNN.com has a nice story by John D. Sutter that covers how farmers are communicating today with their smartphones and Twitter. He spoke with my main man Steve Tucker, Nebraska farmer and Any Kleinschmidt, Ohio State University Extension Agriculture Educator and Assistant Professor and yours truly and also mentions AgChat. Here’s an excerpt:
As he rolls across the wheat fields of his Nebraska farm, Steve Tucker often has his hands not on the wheel of his tractor, but on a smartphone. Steve Tucker, a Twittering farmer, pauses in front of his tractor in Nebraska.
He sometimes posts a dozen messages per day on Twitter, commenting on everything from the weather to the state of his crops to his son’s first tractor ride and even last night’s cheeseburger.
He wants to bring urban Internet users along for the ride. And in doing so, he’s become a sort of text-happy evangelist for rural America.
I love the term, “twittering farmer.” We need more of them and there are a lot already. What’s your take on farmers using new social networking tools to communicate with each other and the general public?
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.
Wherever we can find a positive story about our military in action we should let others know. You’re sure not going to find it on mainstream media. This one is from the Army’s own website. This has also been done in Iraq and other countries. I think it’s good to point out how important agriculture is to a country and why we should be doing everything we can in this country to protect and build our own ag base. The loonies are sure trying to hurt it all they can though which is why I think they’re so un-patriotic. So let’s celebrate our fighting men and women who are helping another country build their ag base!
The latest Farm Foundation Forum will be held next Tuesday, July 14, 2009 from 9-11 am at the National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, in Washington D.C. The topic this time will be the competition for water resources:
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You can now call her Leah Banister. That’s Leah on the right with Cindy in the middle and Tricia Braid-Terry. While you were all smoking and grilling some good meat on the grill and going to the local fireworks, 
ZimmComm New Media would like to wish everyone a Happy 4th of July celebration. I thought it would be a good opportunity to borrow some prose from Rick Tolman, NCGA, about energy independence and the role ethanol is playing. Here are some excerpts from his most recent 
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Steve Tucker had a busy day. Things can kind of get that way when you’ve been 
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In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
