A champion of farmers and ranchers and other hard-working Americans, Rowe has spent years traveling the country, working as an apprentice on more than 250 jobs that most people would go out of their way to avoid. Rowe knows how to get his hands dirty and has worked in just about every industry, including many agriculture jobs such as big animal veterinarian, cow feed lot worker, dairy cow midwife, rice plantation worker, egg producer, and a farmer for goats, pigs, turkeys, potatoes, and sugar cane.
“We are excited to have Mike Rowe as our keynote speaker,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman. “Like farmers and ranchers, he’s not afraid to roll-up his shirt sleeves and get his hands dirty. Mike understands that most things that contribute to our standard of living—such as abundant food—are the result of someone else’s hard work, dedication and skill, not magic. I think Farm Bureau members will get a lot out of his message.”
Rowe’s support of farming includes highlighting the issues facing America’s farming community through his website and specifically on his blog “The Future of Farming”.
Farm Bureau members can register for the 92nd AFBF annual meeting through their state Farm Bureaus.
It was a new deal for NAFB that served several purposes at once. It was held in conjunction with one of the organization’s regular board meetings, so that whole gang was already in town. It also served as a recruiting event, as non-members in the area were invited to get to know NAFB and network with both broadcast council and allied industry members. About 70 NAFB members got to just visit with each other and enjoy a nice meal with no pressure to do any interviews or conduct any other business, which was very nice.
To top it all off, we got to hear a fantastic speaker – Voice of the Kansas City Chiefs, Mitch Holthus. Mitch was a first class act who was able to relate to the NAFB members on several levels, since he is both a Kansas farm boy and a broadcaster. His inspiring, funny and endearing talk was based on the letters in the word FARM – Finish what you begin, have Accountability, be Resilient and Make a footprint.
Mitch also talked about the success of the KC Chiefs “viral videos” and he played a few of them for us, like Mitch “the Fun Inspector” at the Chief’s training camp Family Fun Day.
All in all, it was a really enjoyable luncheon and I hope they make it an annual event.
Strong words from the organization, but that is how many producers feel about the rule that they believe will limit their ability to negotiate contracts, according to Indiana producer Mark Legan, chairman of NPPC’s Competitive Markets Committee. “We would like to see GIPSA withdraw the rule and would like to see them rewrite it and basically stick to the points that they were charged with in the last Farm Bill,” said Mark during an interview today. “We feel this ruling goes way beyond what Congress asked GIPSA to do and, in fact, GIPSA’s included pieces in the ruling that Congress voted down during debate on the last Farm Bill.”
Mark’s personal opinion is that markets work when given the chance and that government interference in the market will hurt the U.S. livestock industry, especially when it comes to competing on a global scale. “Today we’re exporting one out of every four or five pigs that’s produced, so we really are in a global marketplace,” he said.
“My concern about the government requiring everyone to get the same price is that everyone’s in a different situation and if I make a change in my genetics to produce a product that a certain packer wants, I should be rewarded for that,” Mark says. “My problem is if everyone’s paid the same, then usually the price goes to the lowest common denominator.”
NPPC and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association are working to inform producers about the potential consequences of the proposed rule and encouraging them to make comments. The two groups will be holding a joint event for members the day before the USDA/DOJ public workshop on competition in the livestock industry in Ft. Collins, Colorado on August 27.
The National Agri-Marketing Association will be holding it’s fall Trends In Agriculture conference in Minneapolis, MN this year. Perhaps you’re wondering why it’s not in Kansas City adjacent to the NAFB convention. I was. So I spoke with Jenny Pickett, NAMA CEO, and found out the answer.
Jenny, pictured right at last week’s Boot Camp, says the reason NAMA had to move the Trends In Ag Conf. was due to being unable to book rooms at the Hyatt Crown Center. Apparently another conference was booked there from five years ago. So the NAMA board chose to move to dates that wouldn’t interfere with the NAFB Convention and to a location with a strong local NAMA chapter. So that’s the story. ZimmCast 271
The American Phytopathological Society’s website has been completely re-imagined and rebuilt, and will now include a daily news feed, an online bookstore, a webcast section, thousands of searchable abstracts, historical archives, and more.
The American Angus Association will host its 127th Annual Convention of Delegates and related Angus activities in conjunction with the North American International Livestock Exposition, Nov. 13-16, in Louisville, Ky.
Case IH announced the winners of the “Take the Field 2010 Parts & Service Sales Event,” which concluded earlier this month. The winners are: Dave Homan of Homan Jersey Farm in Remsen, IA; Jeremy Clenney of Clenney Farms in Holcomb, MO; Joshua McMasters of Klein Farms in Duncan, OK, and Russell Carlson of Jamestown, ND.
Valent U.S.A. Corporation announced Matt Plitt has joined the company as senior director of sales for its growing agricultural business unit.
Then: My grandparents started out every morning by pulling their one-legged milking stool from the wall of the barn, then managed a balancing act with the stool and a bucket between their knees to catch the cow’s milk. One at a time, the cows would file into the barn, all three to five of them in the herd, to be milked by hand twice a day. It took about 10 to 15 minutes to milk each cow. They used the milk at home for their family, and leftovers to feed the hogs; they also used a crank-handle separator and sold the cream. That was then.
Now: Dairy producers utilize modern technology such as rotary milking parlors that offer a constant flow of cows and ease of operation. With some set-ups, producers can milk approximately 40 cows in the 17 minutes it takes for the carousel to make a complete rotation. Slow milking cows can be held in their stall and go around again. The carousel has variable speed control and can be reversed if needed. Then milk goes into a cooled bulk tank.
Rotary parlors are designed for herds larger than 1,000 cows, which goes to show that milking cows has come a long way since the milk bucket balancing act.
But there were some every day “advantages” back in the good ol’ days. For instance, once they learned the proper mouth-wide-open stance, farm cats used to enjoy the occasional drink of milk. I doubt they dare to get in the way of cows entering and exiting a rotary parlor.
I have to believe that Pioneer Hi-Bred was very happy with farmer attendance at their Crop Technology Field day held in Carrollton, MO. Each of the tour stops were packed with an attentive audience.
I spoke with two of the farmers in attendance. One was Paul Tracy from Denver, MO. Paul was there to see and learn more about new Pioneer corn and soybean varieties. He likes to try them on his farm to see if they hold up to his farming practices. His corn was planted early as well as his soybeans and he says it’s all looking good right now except some spots that had too much water. You can listen to my interview with Paul here: Paul Tracy Interview
I also spoke with Curtis Swearingin, Carrollton, MO. He wanted to learn more about new technologies and chemical programs due to weed pressure. He says his corn is not doing good do to a cold and wet May. He has started shelling corn and moisture is drier than he expected. You can listen to my interview with Curtis here: Curtis Swearingin Interview
“Every producer should be concerned because the trickle down effect from everything that’s going to result from this rule is going to impact the way we market cattle,” says NCBA vice president of government affairs Colin Woodall. “The only way that we can stop it, or try to change it, is if there is truly an outcry from producers across this country.”
Colin says it is important for producers to not only read the rule, but to understand the implications and interpretation of it. “We’ve got a lot of great summaries and talking points on our website (beefusa.org), we’ve got a big red box that has all the background information and tool kit that we’re using to inform our producers.”
NCBA also provides information on the website on how easy it is for producers to provide comments on the proposed rule, which can be done until November 22. In addition, there’s a video producers can watch where Colin explains the concerns that NCBA has and why they believe this rule will have a negative impact on the industry as a whole. “That’s why it’s so important to educate yourself, understand what the interpretation is, and then get engaged and deliver the message to this administration that real producers, boots on the ground ranchers, don’t want the government dictating what price they can get paid for their cattle,” Colin says.
NCBA will also be actively engaged in the upcoming USDA/DOJ public workshop on competition in the livestock industry in Ft. Collins, Colorado on August 27 and encourages producers to attend that if they are able. The agenda for the workshop includes several panels as well as three hours dedicated to public testimony which will be split into two sessions, one at mid-day and the other after the final panel.
But your favorite market needs to be signed up for the contest in order for you to vote for them. I found that out today when I went to vote for our local Cole County (MO) Farmers Market, which sets up three times a week in the Kmart parking lot on Missouri Boulevard. I was pretty bummed to find out they were not in the running at all, since it is nice to visit them each week and get fresh, homegrown produce. I guess they would be in the “boutique” category, since they normally have less than 15 vendors.
According to the online leader board, the defending champion for the large market category – Davis (CA) Farmers Market – is in second place to the City of Rochester (NY) Public Market. Last year’s medium market winner, Williamsburg (VA) is only in fifth place right now, with Falls Church (VA) in first. And in the small market category, first place is currently Easton (PA), with last year’s winner Collingswood (NJ) in third. King George (VA) is in first place in the boutique category, which is new this year.
There are more than 1,200 farmers markets that enrolled in the contest, representing 49 states and the District of Columbia.
Becoming nitrogen use efficient in corn is a big goal but one that Pioneer Hi-Bred is helping farmers figure out how to accomplish. At the Pioneer Hi-Bred Crop Technology Field day held in Carrollton, MO, Greg Luce, Technical Product Manager, presented ideas for accomplishing this and took some questions during his presentation.
Not all corn comes out of the ear looking like you want it to. Sometimes there are factors affecting the kernel production that might yield some surprises. At the Pioneer Hi-Bred Crop Technology Field day held in Carrollton, MO, Scott Dickey, Area Agronomist, did a little show and tell. He had some ears of corn that looked good and were what you expected from a test plot and then in the buckets he had some that didn’t turn our quite as well.
He asked farmers what they thought would cause this type of problem and had one farmer suggest the correct one, at least according to his findings. It happened to be surfactant application. Listen to Scott explain this during his presentation here: Scott Dickey Presentation
The media were very much in attendance at the Pioneer Hi-Bred Crop Technology Field day held in Carrollton, MO. Here’s Janet Adkinson, KMZU, doing a live interview with Bill Belzer, Senior Marketing Manager, Corn, Pioneer Hi-Bred. I had my turn after his presentation at our first field day tour stop. Our subject was “refuge” and in case you don’t know what that means in row crop farming don’t worry. Bill explains it.
Bill had some great charts at his field classroom stop to show current refuge planting strategies compared to using the new Optimum AcreMax 1 insect protection which received EPA approval earlier this year. It is an in-the-bag solution that reduces the traditional 20 percent corn rootworm refuge in half. It’s makes it easier and increases flexibility for the planting of corn borer refuge.
Creating community environments in which zoonoses have difficulty surviving is a critical yet often overlooked factor in controlling these transmissible diseases shared between animals and humans. “Resources are often focused on studying specific disease threats. Yet there are social conditions, which, if left unaddressed, can greatly impact animal and human health,” explains Dr. Bonnie Buntain, a professor of public health at the University of Calgary.
Buntain is among the international experts from multiple disciplines who will examine the interrelationships of zoonoses, animal agriculture and human health…
While it is important to address specific disease threats, Buntain places equal importance on the need to prevent opportunities for zoonotic diseases to thrive. “We must work together to understand the social roots of ill health in certain populations and their animals. There are social conditions that result in the inability of certain populations to have access to adequate animal or human health care. These conditions exist even locally, in our own backyards, with needy or disadvantaged people,” Buntain explains. “If the health needs of these populations are not addressed, the impacts on animal and human health are often higher rates of disease and death. We have a social responsibility to address these issues.”
You can register for the conference … $300 if paid by Sept. 1, 2010, after that the fee will be $350 and a special student registration rate of $175 is also available if paid by Sept.1, after which it will be $200 … by going to the Farm Foundation website.
They’ve also reserved a block of rooms at a special symposium rate of $209 a night (good through August 25) at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, 1000 H Street NW, Washington, D.C. Contact the hotel at (202) 582-1234 for reservations and more information.
When Iowa hog farmer Sam Carney got his first look at the proposed Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) rule released on June 22, he was shocked. “I thought it would be something to get rid of vertical integration,” Sam says. “And to me, this is just something that looks like they’re encouraging vertical integration.”
Sam is president of the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and a wean-to-finish operator in Adair, Iowa. He is also a small cow-calf operator, so he can look at the proposed rule from the viewpoint of both the pork and the beef industries. “Overall, I think that cattle and pork will be affected a lot more similar than poultry, but they’re trying to throw all three groups together, and I think that’s very risky because all species are different in the way their operations go,” he said.
Sam’s biggest concern with the rule is the potential loss of risk management and how that might impact a producer’s borrowing power. “If you’re not able to have some kind of marketing agreement, how’s your banker going to give you money?” He says that NPPC is “very much against” the proposed rule because they believe it goes way beyond the scope of what the Farm Bill intended.
NPPC is working together with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association to make sure that producers are informed about the proposed rule and encouraged to make comments. The two groups will be holding a joint event for members the day before the USDA/DOJ public workshop on competition in the livestock industry in Ft. Collins, Colorado on August 27.
USDA has just released the agenda for the workshop, which includes several panels as well as three hours dedicated to public testimony. This will be split into two sessions, one at mid-day and the other after the final panel.
Who is your butcher? That’s the question and you can vote on the entries in the contest here. This contest is being conducted by Protein University and was brought to my attention via email today by Kari Underly, Range, Inc. So watch her video entry and go vote!
During the 2010 Pioneer Hi-Bred Crop Technology Field day held in Carrollton, MO, farmers could choose between nine different field work stations or presentations. Topics ranged from refuge strategies to soil types. Also on the agenda was “Meet Pioneer Senior Leadership.” That’s what this post is about. The “seniors” included (left) Alexandro Munoz, VP/Regional Director, North America and John Soper, VP, Crop Genetics Research & Development.
I recorded their presentation to a group of ag media representatives which also included some farmers who wandered in. The pair gave an overview of Pioneer’s strategy and what it means to farmers. Alejandro says you can summarize it all up in “Right Product, Right Acre.” This means they want to bring the company to the farm along with all their services and resources so the best products are used since no two farms are identical.
Pioneer Hi-Bred held a crop technology field day in Carrollton, MO yesterday. It was a picture perfect day so I took a lot of them. They were expecting up to a thousand attendees and I think that was a very possible number. I’ve got several things to post for you including some presentations and interviews.
Bill Rishel of North Platte, Nebraska is president of the Nebraska Cattlemen’s Association and owner of Rishel Angus. He’s among the nation’s top Angus breeders and was one of the first to emphasize carcass merit through genetic selection. “Through most of the decade of the ’80s, we were losing substantial market share in the industry,” Bill says. “We needed to compete at a level in terms of quality and palatability.”
He says it was the producers who took the initiative to come up with value-added products for consumers. “We as producers felt like we had the ability to create a product through genetic improvement to create a product that was better than the average,” Bill said. The very first of those value-added programs was Certified Angus Beef, which is a proven alternative marketing success story. “It has increased sales exponentially, not just domestically but around the world, and continues to grow to this very day.”
Bill is concerned that the GIPSA rule could jeopardize the alternative marketing programs that have benefited both producers and consumers if it pressures the processors to validate every price difference they would give for any greater quality of cattle. “Somewhere along the way they’re going to say “I’m not going to take all this risk, it’s just as easy for me to offer one price fits all” and it will become a commodity type business again and it will revert back 25 years to what we’ve worked so hard to get away from,” Bill said.
Bill encourages every person in the cattle industry to read the proposed rule and formulate their own opinion about it. “Instead of taking what they hear in the press or in the news from some other source or individual as to what their feeling is,” he said. He will be at the USDA/DOJ public workshop on competition in the livestock industry in Ft. Collins, Colorado on August 27 to make comments about how he thinks the rule will impact his operation and the industry. Producers who are unable to attend can provide comments via e-mail to comments.gipsa@usda.gov until November 22.
Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. announced that Ed Schafer, former Governor of North Dakota and former Secretary of the USDA, has agreed to join Bion’s management team through the end of 2013.
Bayer CropScience is cooperating with the EPA following an announcement to cancel uses of aldicarb, sold as Temik brand insecticide/nematicide, on potatoes and citrus. Uses on all other crops will remain, but will be phased out over the next few years.
S&W Seed Company announced that veteran agriculture sales executive Gary Leach has joined S&W as Regional Sales Manager.
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.
Mike Rowe, the creator and executive producer of Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe,” will deliver the keynote address to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) 92nd annual meeting on January 10, 2011, in Atlanta, GA. 
“We are excited to have Mike Rowe as our keynote speaker,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman. “Like farmers and ranchers, he’s not afraid to roll-up his shirt sleeves and get his hands dirty. Mike understands that most things that contribute to our standard of living—such as abundant food—are the result of someone else’s hard work, dedication and skill, not magic. I think Farm Bureau members will get a lot out of his message.”
A luncheon in Kansas City Monday with the 
To top it all off, we got to hear a fantastic speaker – Voice of the Kansas City Chiefs, Mitch Holthus. Mitch was a first class act who was able to relate to the NAFB members on several levels, since he is both a Kansas farm boy and a broadcaster. His inspiring, funny and endearing talk was based on the letters in the word FARM – Finish what you begin, have Accountability, be Resilient and Make a footprint.
Go to the 
Mark’s personal opinion is that markets work when given the chance and that government interference in the market will hurt the U.S. livestock industry, especially when it comes to competing on a global scale. “Today we’re exporting one out of every four or five pigs that’s produced, so we really are in a global marketplace,” he said.
The National Agri-Marketing Association will be holding it’s fall 
I have to believe that 
The 
Colin says it is important for producers to not only read the rule, but to understand the implications and interpretation of it. “We’ve got a lot of 
Have you cast your vote for your 
But your favorite market needs to be signed up for the contest in order for you to vote for them. I found that out today when I went to vote for our local Cole County (MO) Farmers Market, which sets up three times a week in the Kmart parking lot on Missouri Boulevard. I was pretty bummed to find out they were not in the running at all, since it is nice to visit them each week and get fresh, homegrown produce. I guess they would be in the “boutique” category, since they normally have less than 15 vendors. 
Not all corn comes out of the ear looking like you want it to. Sometimes there are factors affecting the kernel production that might yield some surprises. At the 
The media were very much in attendance at the 
Sam is president of the 
Bill Rishel of North Platte, Nebraska is president of the Nebraska Cattlemen’s Association and owner of 
Bill is concerned that the GIPSA rule could jeopardize the alternative marketing programs that have benefited both producers and consumers if it pressures the processors to validate every price difference they would give for any greater quality of cattle. “Somewhere along the way they’re going to say “I’m not going to take all this risk, it’s just as easy for me to offer one price fits all” and it will become a commodity type business again and it will revert back 25 years to what we’ve worked so hard to get away from,” Bill said.
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
