I’m betting that by the end of today’s USDA/DOJ public workshop (it is today) we’re going to know a lot more about the proposed GIPSA rule and what it means for everyone in the livestock industry. I’ve got quite a bit of information from the evening’s forums that I’ll post when time allows in coming days and weeks. To get …
Live Audio From R-Calf GIPSA Forum
Now I’m attending the R-Calf GIPSA forum. Got here a little late. They’ve got an overflow crowd. There are several speakers to go. The language being used in the presentations is very different. Lots of references to factory farms and corporate control. No definition given though. I tried to live stream the audio but I couldn’t get on the hotel …
Live Audio GIPSA Forum With NCBA/NPPC
I’ve been live streaming the audio from this evening’s forum and press conference on the proposed GIPSA rule. I’ll be posting selected audio and interviews at some later time since I have another forum to try to attend this evening and then an all day workshop tomorrow. I hope all you who listened got something out of it. It’s always …
Learning More About GIPSA
It’s time for some livestock industry forums in Ft. Collins, CO. I’m attending the first one which is the NCBA/NPPC GIPSA Rule Press Briefing. We’re in the Hilton for this session. I’ll be attending another one later this evening too. It looks like we’ve got people rolling in and the room is set up for a big crowd. Media are …
Pepper Protection for Plants
If pepper spray can protect a person from an assault, maybe it can protect plants, too. That’s why researchers at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) have licensed a unique plant protection product to keep deer and rodents from eating up the ornamentals. UMD scientist Tom Levar (pictured) adapted a chemical used to deliver medicines through the skin to a …
Greasing the Rails with Soybeans
New research is investigating the use of soybean-based lubricants in the rail industry. The University of Northern Iowa’s National Ag-Based Lubricants Center (UNI-NABL) is the recipient of a $370,000 competitive grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to test biobased lubricants and greases. UNI-NABL, the country’s leading bio-lubricant research center, will perform a side-by-side study of the biobased rail …
New BASF Top Plots Video
My good buddy Kip Cullers of Purdy, MO is the latest star of the BASF Top Plots video series. Known in farming circles as a “soybean celebrity,” Cullers has established world records for soybean production at 139 bushels per acre in 2006 and 154 bushels per acre in 2007. He’s also placed numerous times in the National Corn Growers Association …
NAFB Announces 2010 Hall of Famers
The National Association of Farm Broadcasting will honor two of its finest at the Thursday night Honors Celebration Banquet during the 66th Annual NAFB Convention, November 10-12 in Kansas City. Taylor Brown and Gene Millard have been selected for induction into the NAFB Hall of Fame this year. Taylor Brown, owner and president of Northern Broadcasting System, Inc. in Billings, …
Novus Presents Awards at JAM 2010
Novus International had the opportunity to award excellence in animal science education at the recent Joint Animal Meeting 2010 (JAM 2010) held in Denver. Publicized as one of the largest animal science meetings ever, JAM 2010 included the membership of the Poultry Science Association (PSA), American Society of Animal Science (ASAS), the American Dairy Science Association® (ADSA®), the Canadian Society …
Legislators Question USDA Objectivity On GIPSA/Workshops
The forums and USDA/DOJ public workshop I’ll be attending in Ft. Collins, CO get more interesting by the minute it seems like. Today a letter was sent to Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack from Senators Pat Roberts (R-KS), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Sam Brownback (R-KS), and Tom Coburn (R-OK) expressing some concerns about a USDA official helping to …