The spirits among the World Pork Expo exhibitors and the producers are high this year and people are confident that things will continue to improve as the year continues. An estimated 15,000 people from around the globe are expected to attend this year’s event and experience the food, entertainment, educational sessions, and learn about the latest and greatest technologies and products to help them improve their operations.
As I walked through the trade show taking pictures and speaking with companies, I spoke with Rick Bryson with Georgia-Pacific about their biodegradable mats. The Compost-A-Mat is used when the pigs are giving birth and helps to keep the piglets healthy and lowers the chance of spreading disease. Their second sustainable product, the Heartwood Compostable Pen Mat, is used during the weaning process. Since the mats are compostable, they can be added to an operations compost piles.
There are more products, technologies and services here than I can name from nutrition products to automated feed systems to insemination options to products aimed at improving gut health. I’ll be spending more time in the exhibit hall tomorrow and will bring you some additional information about these products.
While you wait….check out our World Pork Expo Photo Album where you’ll be able to experience everything the Expo has to offer minus how amazing the food here is!
AgWired coverage of the World Pork Expo 2010 is sponsored by: and .
One of the issues folks in the pork industry know they have is that too many in the public don’t understand what they do. And if they don’t understand, they’re liable not to support hog farmers’ efforts. While an event like World Pork Expo here in Des Moines is important to educate producers and industry folks, there’s also great value in educating people who might never make it to an event like this. That’s why our friends at Boehringer Ingelheim sponsored a seminar this afternoon, entitled, “Creating a Positive Public Image of Today’s Pork Industry.”
Malcolm DeKryger, Vice President for DeMotte, IN-based, Belstra Milling, talked to the group gathered about his company’s efforts, showing and not just telling people how they operate.
“We have put one of our [hog] farms through a remodel process that put in windows so that people can go to almost any barn on the farm and look inside to see what’s going on.”
DeKryger says when groups come out to his Iroquois Valley Swine Breeders operation, they have what he calls the “Oh, WOW!” moment, when they see for themselves how well cared the pigs really are. In addition, they’ve installed two live webcams at www.RealPigFarm.com, where anyone can watch 24 hours a day what goes on. He says his folks are proud of how they handle the animals and want to share what they do day-to-day.
In addition, DeKryger meets with key lawmakers to make his point that animal feeding operations are necessary to feed the large populations, especially in cities such as Chicago. He says they’re winning hearts and minds, one at a time.
“Between a tour like that, where we make contact person-to-person and with the [donations to the local food banks], I really do believe there’s an affirmation as I visit with key decision makers.”
DeKryger says they take all the proper biosecurity measures and make sure that no one from outside the farm (besides the vet) makes contacts with the pigs. He believes that more companies could and should make efforts like this for the overall good of the pork industry.
“We need to have a unified voice to let people know that this is good stuff that happens out on these farms.”
John Deere is about to unveil its new line of Gator XUV utility vehicles for the media in Charlotte, NC. I’ll post a photo after the unveiling and a video clip later this evening.
In the meantime, just look at the veil and drool!
John Deere recently unleashed its most performance-driven Gator utility vehicles yet. Targeted toward the true outdoor adventurist, the 2011 lineup of Crossover Utility Vehicles (XUV) is packed with advanced features that deliver an unparalleled balance between work and recreation.
The Corn Utilization and Technology Conference concluded today with a final general session on water usage. Opening the session was Rick Tolman, CEO, National Corn Growers Association. I met with Rick before heading back to the agriblogging highway and we talked about his message of agvocating. That of course is advocating for agriculture.
Rick says we have such a great story to tell that he calls us “agriculture’s strategic national asset.” The agribusiness sector is so productive and has many success stories but unfortunately some of the discussion going on at the national level is very negative. So he says it’s up to us to change the conversation around. That’s why NCGA has worked at not only creating its own social media information channels but has scheduled workshops for growers to learn how to use today’s new communications technologies to make their voice heard in the online conversation. If you know me then you know how much I agree with the approach NCGA is taking! Rick says that it’s very important for farmers to make their voice heard because research shows that consumers are more trusting of information about food when it comes from the farmer than many other sources.
In an earlier post, John wrote about the National Pork Board’s (NPB) celebration of its Pork Quality Assurance Plus program and the milestone of having nearly 60 percent of all hogs in the U.S. and nearly 50,000 producers certified. This announcement was made during a morning press conference, as part of the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, IA.
This afternoon, NPB made a public presentation and kicked off the celebration with the Earlham High School marching band. The group marched down Grand Avenue and through dozens of exhibitor tents and ended their journey in front of NPC’s “We Care” trailer. During the brief presentation, a success ‘o meter was unveiled and after the conclusion of the presentation, the celebration was rounded out with free maple bacon ice cream.
One of the highlights from this year’s World Pork Expo at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines is the celebration of the Pork Quality Assurance Plus program and the milestone of having about 60 percent of all hogs in the U.S. and nearly 50,000 producers certified under the program’s guidelines.
Chris Novak, Chief Executive Officer of the National Pork Board says while consumers trust farmers, they don’t always understand what producers do. He says, even in areas, where hogs operations are more common, such as Iowa, too many people don’t know what they’re getting with a quality piece of pork and too many times overcook it, ruining its natural, juicy flavor and texture. And Novak says that message is even more important to audiences in Los Angeles and New York, who might be even more removed from the farm environment.
“We’re going to make certain the messages we put out are just as relevant to a housewife or husband [anywhere] who is preparing the family meals [that pork] is healthy, convenient and fun as well. And we know we can offer that with pork.” Novak adds that they hope their efforts will increase per capita spending on pork by 10 percent.
And from the other end of the line, the National Pork Board wants to emphasize to producers how easy it really is to become certified under the Pork Quality Assurance program.
“Most producers are already doing probably 90 percent of [the requirements under the program],” says Tim Bierman, National Pork Board president and a pork producer from Larrabee, Iowa. He adds that while there are a few things a farmer might have to do a little differently, they should jump right in and get rolling to get their operations certified.
“If there’s something [producers] need to change, there’s no penalties or anything like that. It’s just another set of eyes, and it could help them be more efficient.”
Listen to more of my conversations with Chris and Tim in the players below.
I’ve been hanging out in the Novus International tent this morning during World Pork Expo and the place is busy with activity. Two areas that have been highly discussed around the tables are American legislation to ban the use of certain antibiotics in livestock and poultry. This has already been done in Europe and with the global marketplace for food, other countries are looking at adopting similar European policies. A second topic of interest has been the importance of feed quality and the problems that pork producers have been having over the past 12-18 months dealing with micotoxins.
Since these issues are so important, I sat down with Helen Stebbens, Ph.D. in Pig Nutrition for Novus Europe to discuss organic acids, an alternative to antibiotics that have been used with much success overseas. In addition, I spoke with Scott Moore, Regional Sales Director for Novus about the importance of feed quality and some products that producers can use to combat issues such as micotoxins. Check back later today for both of these stories and audio interviews.
Sustainability has become a challenge to the agriculture industry because everyone seems to have a different definition of the word and ways to objectively measure sustainability are seriously lacking.
BASF announced an Eco-Efficiency Analysis tool during the 2010 Ag Media Summit in Chicago today that examines the entire lifecycle of a crop to measure and manage sustainability. “When we look at all the inputs that go into producing, storing, transporting, applying and then disposing of a crop protection product, we have a more detailed approach of measuring inputs, outputs and benefits,” says Paul Rea, BASF vice president for crop protection in the U.S.
The real bottom line to better sustainability is really simply increasing yields, and Paul says that can be achieved in a variety of ways. “Such as the use of new technologies, new innovations that can actually help farmers achieve more with less,” he said. That includes plant health products like BASF Headline that increase yields, as well as biotech advancements in areas such as drought tolerance.
Listen to an interview with Paul in the player below.
It’s a much more upbeat attitude at this year’s World Pork Expo in at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines.
National Pork Producers Council President Sam Carney, a pork producer from Adair, Iowa, welcomed members of the media this morning and says they are expecting much bigger crowds than they’ve seen in the last couple of years because of the economy and concerns over H1N1.
“We’re expecting about 15,000 people, we have over 400 exhibitors, 1700 pigs in the open show, and between 23-27 countries coming.”
Carney also had a couple of quick comments about the 2012 Farm Bill and the NPPC’s stand of just making sure nothing is in there that will hinder producers.
“We do not want our producers to be tied down. We want them to have the freedom to sell their pigs.”
Carney points out that over the last three years, the pork industry has gone through some of the worst times in its history, and NPPC wants to make sure the Farm Bill will help them recover.
The Corn Utilization and Technology Conference has international participants. We have quite a few from China. I had an opportunity to speak with Li Bin, CEO, Xin Jiang Tianda Biotechnology Co., Ltd., pictured here with Linyi Li, Novozymes China, my interpreter. Thank you Linyi!
I asked him what stimulated his interest in participating. He says that corn utilization in China is one of the largest in the world and he wanted this chance to see what kind of products and technology we have. He is impressed with the organization and diversity of information provided here. He was very interested in how ethanol and production by-products like DDGs have developed here in the United States since they have not progressed to that point in China yet.
According to the new Rabobank U.S. Farm & Ranch Survey, more than 70 percent of U.S. agricultural producers now report that they have taken a range of measures on sustainable ag practices – the highest level since the survey began in 2008.
The United Soybean Board/soybean checkoff will sponsor the National Tractor Pullers Association’s 2010 season and its newest competition division, the Light Pro Stock class. As part of this new program, all of the tractors competing in the Light Pro Stock class will run on biodiesel.
A newly-released International Food Information Council survey shows that an overwhelming percentage of consumers will choose foods that are produced through biotechnology based on environmental benefits and sustainable agricultural practices.
Biagro Western is now licensed to distribute Bluestim in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Bluestim is a natural, organically certified and environmentally safe product tested on a wide variety of open field vegetables and crops under commercial cultivation conditions.
Chuck is with corn growers in Atlanta, John and Joanna are covering the Pork Expo in Des Moines, while I am toughing it out with my dear friends from BASF and some of the nation’s finest agricultural journalists in the sumptuous Trump International Hotel and Tower Chicago. I am seriously thinking I got the best job this week!
Pictured are Eric Sfiligoj with CropLife, Pat Morrow with BASF, and Willie Vogt with Farm Progress at the opening reception for the 2010 BASF Agricultural Solutions Media Summit. The theme of the summit is “A Grounded Approach to Agricultural Sustainability” and our day on Wednesday will be spent hearing from representatives of BASF and various agricultural experts about the topic.
To kick off the event, we got to learn a little bit about the more colorful history of the Windy City from Chicago historian and author Rich Lindberg, who autographed copies of his book “Return to the Scene of the Crime – a Guide to Infamous Places in Chicago” which features notorious figures like John Dillinger and Al Capone.
Dale Minyo with Ohio Ag Net did a short interview about the more “grounded” history of Chicago’s agricultural background, which started with the stockyards at the end of the Civil War. Even that ties in with the criminal history of Chicago, according to Rich, who explained how scam artists ripped off Midwest farmers coming off the trains. Interestingly, he says the great-grand nephew of Mike McDonald, the crime boss who led that scam in the 1870s, now works at the Chicago Board of Trade. Listen to that interview in the player below.
It’s World Pork Expo eve (that’s a holiday, right?), and we’re here in Des Moines, Iowa to keep you up-to-date on all the news from event.
This evening as producers, industry leaders and media converge on Central Iowa in anticipation of the next three days of information, I caught up with Cindy Cunningham, Assistant Vice President of Communications with the National Pork Board (aka, Pork Checkoff spokesperson), and she reminds everyone to also get some great food and have some fun at this year’s World Pork Expo.
“The Pork Checkoff this year is sponsoring a hospitality tent, and we’d love to have all of our producers stop by and try some bacon ice cream and some maple-glazed bacon doughnuts.”
She adds they are also offering some important information and education in the form of the PORK Academy … Producers Opportunity for Revenue and Knowledge.
“PORK Academy is really a seminar session that covers everything from manure management to nutrition [to marketing and economics]. It’s really designed so pork producers can get this information, take it home and put it into practice in their own operations.”
Cunningham says they are also celebrating the success of the Pork Quality Assurance Program, with nearly 50,000 producers certified in their education levels and practices in animal care, food safety and providing consumers with a safe, wholesome food supply.
Finally, she wants people to have some fun.
Come out and have some fun with us at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. And if you can’t be here, follow coverage here on Agwired.com and our Twitter accounts @jdavisreporter, @jmschroeder, and later this week, @farmpodcaster … hashtag #WPX10. You can also check out the event in our World Pork Expo 2010 Photo Album.
Hear more of my conversation with Cindy in the player below.
AgWired coverage of the World Pork Expo 2010 is sponsored by:
World Pork Expo officially kicked off in Des Moines this evening with a media reception. More than 100 registered media will be on hand to cover the Expo which is expected to be attended by thousands of people from all over the world.
During the reception Tim Bierman, who lives in Larrabee, Iowa and is the President of National Pork Board, said a few words of thanks to the faithful media who get the word out about the pork industry. He also thanked the National Pork Producers Council for letting them join in their yearly event.
Sam Carney, a producer from Adair, Iowa and the President of the National Pork Producers Council also thanked the media for attending and promised that the week would be full of great fun, cool events and lots of education.
You can see their opening remarks in the video below. You can follow the event on www.workpork.org and you can follow me and John Davis on Twitter @jmschroeder and @jdavisreporter, hashtag #WPX10. You can also follow the events @NPPCWPX. Cindy will be joining us on site later this week and you can follow her @farmpodcaster.
Amid all the research and new uses information being presented at the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference a very important announcement was made.
Colin Crankshaw, GEA Barr-Rosin, was the winner of the iPad drawing. As I understand it he was also the first person to register for CUTC. This drawing was for “early registrants” and I don’t think you can get any earlier than that!
So congratulations Coin and I hope you enjoy that bad boy.
This won’t be the only iPad that CUTC is giving away. The first place winner of the Poster Contest will also win an iPad.
It looks like we have nearly 300 people attending the 2010 Corn Utilization and Technology Conference. I sat down with NCGA President and South Dakota corn farmer, Darrin Ihnen, this morning and we talked about the need for this kind of conference.
Darrin says CUTC brings out ideas that are still in the development stage while helping the industry come up with new uses of corn. He says that as we grow more corn there is a continuing need to develop new products and markets. He is excited about things like ethanol and ethanol by-products since he’s from a state that doesn’t have a livestock industry to take advantage of these products that are being made from his crop. He says there are a lot of the participants at CUTC who represent companies that already have corn products but may be looking for new and cost effective ways to help their bottom line.
Fluidigm Corporation held a joint press conference this morning with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service to announce their new reusable bio-chip architecture which is a first for the commercial market.
These reusable integrated fluidic circuits (IFCs) will dramatically lower SNP genotyping costs and are designed to support accelerated sample throughput, while maintaining data quality of 99.75 percent or greater accuracy and 99 percent or greater call rates.
Fluidigm initially invented this architecture to support a progressive new program driven by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the chief scientific research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The program’s goal is to drive high sample throughput genotyping down to a penny-per-data-point, which would enable widespread adoption of genetic analysis in vegetable and fruit seeds, livestock (cattle, pigs, sheep, poultry, etc.) and fishery management. This will significantly improve the quality and quantity of the food supply, while lowering production costs.
I spoke to Fluidigm President/CEO Gajus Worthington to learn more about the announcement and what it means to consumers today.
You can find the full release here (Word Doc) and listen to my interview with Gajus below.
I previewed the keynote address to open the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference earlier today. Now here’s the full comments from Dr. Gale Buchanan, former USDA Chief Scientist and Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics. Dr. Buchanan was introduced by NCGA President, Darrin Ihnen, and I’m also posting his welcome message. During the next couple days I’ll be doing a lot of interviews which will be used on Corn Commentary in coming weeks. I’ll also have more for you here so keep your eyes and ears open.
Dr. Buchanan devoted the theme of his speech to the need for a “new green revolution” and pointed to the work of Dr. Normal Borlaug and many of the things he said about the importance of good scientific agricultural research. He says all branches of science will be needed to create the new green revolution to feed the world in the future. Some of the concerns he has include the availability of fertilizer resources and global climate change.
One of my favorite remarks he made was, “At the time you need the results of research, it’s too late.” He used the problem BP is having with the Gulf oil spill as an example, saying they waited too long to do research on what to do if such a problem occurred.
Steve Jobs announced the latest version of the iPhone today. Sorry all you Android and BB fans. The only thing you’ve got going for you is that you have options to AT&T. Hopefully that will change soon. For now though just look at the next major jump in mobile communications and drool. You know you want one. I do.
When creating iPhone 4, Apple designers and engineers didn’t start with a clean sheet of paper. They started with three years of experience designing and building the phones that redefined what a phone can do. iPhone 4 is the result of everything they’ve learned so far. And it’s all contained in a beautiful enclosure a mere 9.3 millimeters thin, making iPhone 4 the world’s thinnest smartphone.
This is the welcoming committee here at the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference. Actually, our keynote speaker at this afternoon’s opening general session, Gale Buchanan, former USDA Chief Scientist and Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics, just happened to be registering at the same time I was.
Gale is always happy to help anyone so I got a pre-CUTC interview with him. He will be presenting a research paper that he and two colleagues put together for the Council For Agricultural Science and Technology on the subject of agricultural productivity. He points out that productivity is extremely important and that corn is one of the most important crops we have since it can be used for so many things including both food and fuel. He also points out how important corn is for fuel production since energy is just as important to our civilization as food is. He thinks the corn industry should be proud of the work it has done in recent years and says, “It has shown us that we can have energy sourced from corn and still maintain all of the other commitments we have both in food as well as our carryover stocks as well as our export commitments.”
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 spirits among the World Pork Expo exhibitors and the producers are high this year and people are confident that things will continue to improve as the year continues. An estimated 15,000 people from around the globe are expected to attend this year’s event and experience the food, entertainment, educational sessions, and learn about the latest and greatest technologies and products to help them improve their operations.
There are more products, technologies and services here than I can name from nutrition products to automated feed systems to insemination options to products aimed at improving gut health. I’ll be spending more time in the exhibit hall tomorrow and will bring you some additional information about these products.
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Sustainability has become a challenge to the agriculture industry because everyone seems to have a different definition of the word and ways to objectively measure sustainability are seriously lacking.
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Chuck is with corn growers in Atlanta, John and Joanna are covering the Pork Expo in Des Moines, while I am toughing it out with my dear friends from 
To kick off the event, we got to learn a little bit about the more colorful history of the Windy City from 
Amid all the research and new uses information being presented at the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference a very important announcement was made. 
It looks like we have nearly 300 people attending the 2010 
I previewed the keynote address to open the 
This is the welcoming committee here at the 
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
