2010 was a big year for Alltech, what with hosting the FEI World Equestrian Games and all, but in 2050 the company is talking about having 9.3 billion people for dinner.
“Feeding the World – 9.3 billion people for dinner in 2050″ is the theme of Alltech’s lecture tour this year that kicked off during AG CONNECT Expo on Saturday. Dr. Mark Lyons, International Project Director for Alltech, says AG CONNECT was a great place for them to start. “We have operations in 90 countries, we’re selling into almost 120 countries,” Mark said. “So for us, it’s an excellent venue. Having a stop in Georgia is one thing, having a stop here at this event is much different.”
Now the lecture tour moves on to stops along the eastern part of the U.S. and then the western part. “We’ll have 23 stops in North America and over 100 stops globally,” Mark said. “It culminates in our symposium in May in Kentucky. It’s a very important part of what we do. We estimate that we get in front of about 20,000 people a year.” There were several hundred at the event in Atlanta.
Appearing at the American Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting in Atlanta this week almost cost USDA Outlook Board Chairman Gerald Bange a 28 year perfect record.
Gerald Bange has not missed a lockup prior to the release of a crop report since 1983, but it was a close call getting out of the snow-bound south in time after his crop outlook presentation at AFBF on Monday. “It’s amazing to see what five inches of snow and some ice will do in Atlanta,” he told USDA Radio. “It shuts that city down and when they shut that airport down, things get a little bit difficult.”
In his presentation at AFBF, Bange said that high commodity prices for corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton indicate higher crop acreage in 2011, as much as 10 more million more acres. “We won’t know until we get the planting intentions report. It won’t be until June until we know for sure,” Bange said.
High prices and very low stocks for corn should mean more corn acreage in 2011, but Bange said indicators right now are actually pointing to more soybean acres. “As farmers look to the future, they may be looking to soybeans,” Bange said. “That intrigues us a little bit because I think everybody is of the opinion that corn would be the favored crop as we move into 2011.”
One factor driving greater prospects for soybeans may be high fertilizer costs associated with corn production as well as greater weather risks for corn production, according to Bange.
UC Davis has won $40 million in federal grants to develop climate-change-tolerant plants and plants better suited to produce fuel. UC Davis scientists, who will led the various projects, will work with researchers at more than 50 universities spanning 20 states. UC Davis wheat geneticist Jorge Dubcovsky will receive $25 million to head a team that will work to develop new varieties of wheat and barley, and UC Davis forest tree geneticist David Neale will receive $14.6 million to head a team that will work to sequence the genomes of loblolly pine and two other conifers.
“Each of these projects features transdisciplinary, regional, integrated teams, including scientists from institutions that represent underserved populations.” said Roger Beachy, director of USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture that awarded the grants. “This approach represents a new paradigm in how USDA science can best solve critical issues facing agriculture today.”
Linda P.B. Katehi, UC Davis Chancellor, added, “We are honored and pleased that the grant awards recognize the expertise and leadership of UC Davis in the field of plant genomics. We look forward to the practical solutions for agriculture and for the environment that will arise from these collaborative projects.”
At the American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Meeting I got an update on how things are going with the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance from General Manager Hugh Whaley. He’s seen here in their booth out on the trade show floor.
Hugh says they now have 23 national and regional organizations that have joined in the alliance with an eleven member board. They just added a board member from the National Milk Producers Federation. Of course, the Chairman is Bob Stallman, President of AFBF! Now that the organizational structure is in place Hugh says the next step is to select or identify a company with a proven track record of creating opinion changes with the general public. He says they are also talking with and open to more organizations joining in and the board just approved a strategy to involve agribusinesses as well. They’ve received proposals from 4 firms to become their legal counsel and hope to have a selection made soon.
I thought that when Cindy and I got to Atlanta last week we were not in the balmy south, but maybe we were. We got home last night and here’s what this morning’s temperature was. It actually said minus one before I stopped at a light to take the photo.
We’re in post AG CONNECT Expo and AFBF Annual Meeting recovery mode with some more stories to post and to get ready for the next agventure. We’ve got some pretty exciting announcements coming up and now I need to get to work on them.
One of those things is our move to a brand new web server with our hosting company, Joyent. We’ve been on some great hardware but now we’re moving to the latest and greatest. The move should be complete my this weekend. We’ve already moved about 13 websites for various clients and this weekend AgWired gets moved. It will mean no posting from about mid day Friday until Sunday. But I can take a day off. Really.
Organic yogurt leader Stonyfield Farm has launched the Stonyfield Organic Farmers Grant-a-Wish Program to help fund innovative organic farming projects that can make a strong environmental impact or improve the long-term viability of organic farming.
Valley Irrigation recently announced a formal agreement with CropMetrics.
With five completely new models, the Fendt 800 Series high horsepower tractors continue the tradition of combining technology and precise engineering in machines equipped to help innovative farmers get any job done faster, better and more efficiently.
The Iowa Soybean Association’s Production Research online library has been expanded with new information to help Iowa’s soybean farmers increase yield, now including a list of commercial soybean varieties with resistance to sudden death syndrome.
It should be an interesting year in the biofuels debate. The response to our latest poll shows some pretty divided results with most thinking we’ll see just another one year extension of incentives. It will be interesting to see how Congress handles things after hearing from their constituents. In answer to the question “What do you think will happen with biofuels policy this year?” Our results are that 38% say there will be another one year extension of the tax incentive, 22% say there will be new incentives for infrastructure, 20% say there will be no federal biofuels incentives, 14% say there will be a multiple year extension and 6% chose other. If you chose other then feel free to comment with what you think will happen.
Our next ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “What do you think about the number of farm groups? Let us know what you think and thank you for participating.
ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.
The votes are in, the delegates have spoken and the American Farm Bureau Annual Meeting has concluded with a new set of policies. AFBF President, Bob Stallman, held a closing press conference to point out a few highlights from today’s decision making. He said that even with the adverse weather conditions that happened here in Atlanta the program ran smoothly and attendees all accepted some small changes that had to be made. He pointed out that they’re farmers and deal with the weather every day! I’m going to pull a few comments from the news release that just came out in the interest of time and because I know some AgWired fans are waiting on this.
Stallman told us that delegates voted to “maintain a strong farm income safety net, address dairy price volatility and urge greater oversight of regulatory actions by the Environmental Protection Agency.”
As Congress prepares to draft a new farm bill later this year and in 2012, the delegates reiterated their support for extending the concepts of the 2008 farm bill.
“The 2008 farm bill has worked as farmers and ranchers have weathered market ups and downs over the last four years,” said American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman. “It’s important to maintain a program that protects our nation’s food, fiber and fuel supply and the consumers who rely on agriculture’s productivity.” (more…)
A popular session at the American Farm Bureau annual meeting yesterday was “Grassroots Engagement with Social Media,” featuring some of the trailblazers in the SM world for agriculture.
Florida Farm Bureau president John Hoblick introduced the session, which was moderated by AFBF’s Mace Thornton (@AFBFMace on Twitter). “I think of social media as being the equivalent of the green revolution of agricultural communications,” said Mace. “It really has been a game-changer.” When Mace asked how many at the session were on Facebook, about three quarters of the several hundred people in the room raised their hands.
On the panel were Dan Toland (@d_toland) with Ohio Farm Bureau, California rancher Jeff Fowle (@jefffowle) who serves as president of the AgChat Foundation, and Minnesota farmer Emily Zweber (@zweberfarms).
Dan started off the conversation with statistics from the latest PEW internet survey. “65 percent of those under 30 years of age have the internet as their number one source for news and information, that’s 52 percent of the world’s population,” he said. Almost half of those aged 30-59 use the internet for their number information source. Dan stressed the need to have conversations rather than lecture the general public about agriculture, and he noted that using the term “non-farmer” is better than the word consumer, since we’re all consumers.
Jeff got specific about different social media vehicles, like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogs. “Facebook is social media on training wheels – it’s a good place to get started,” Jeff said. He encouraged people to get involved with the AgChat Foundation “to help you take those training wheels off.” He says Twitter is the next step after Facebook, but he warned people to make sure they think before they tweet. “Read what you tweet twice before you send,” he advised.
I had to leave the session early to get to the Mike Rowe press conference, so I wasn’t able to record Emily, but you can hear Dan and most of Jeff’s comments here: AFBF Social Media session
My American Farm is a great and personal sounding name. It’s the url for a Pioneer sponsored project that’s conducted by the American Farm Bureau Federation. I spoke with Angela Mayfield (right) about what’s new with the project.
Angela says that MyAmericanFarm.org is a free online resource that now has 12 games covering different topics on agriculture. They all meet core content standards for elementary teachers grades 3-5. Of course the games are fun for students of all ages. Besides adding games there is also updated ag information content. The resource is available to any school anywhere.
AG CONNECT Expo is modeling itself after the highly successful AgriTechnica which is held biennially in Germany. That show is run by DLG, the German Agriculture Society with 22,000 members. The managing director is Dr. Jochen Kockler, seen here being interviewed after a press conference. I joined Southeast AgNet’s Randall Weisman in an interview about DLG. Randall asked good questions so I saw no need to jump in.
Dr. Kockler says 66% of their members are farmers and they are completely independent of subsidies, depending on revenue from projects they work on. Their mission is “progress for farming.” He says the AgriTechnica has 2,500 exhibitors. That’s big! In comparison he says AgriTechnica is about 10 times bigger than AG CONNECT in terms of physical size but about the same in terms of educational sessions and content.
One of the most important parts of the Annual Meeting of the American Farm Bureau Federation is the annual meeting of the voting delegates. These folks got down to business early this morning and will hopefully conclude this afternoon with a new policy book. This is grassroots policy making in action!
The leadership is at the head table with all the voting delegates in front of them. There are multiple screens showing the policies being debated and corrections or changes are made live. After votes are cast the final version goes to the staff who will prepare a final book of the new policies.
We’re supposed to get a summary of what got passed and a look to the future for AFBF policy in the coming year at a press conference following today’s meetings. We’ll have that for you later in the day.
Here is a video clip of Mike “Dirty Jobs” Rowe at the American Farm Bureau Federation press conference prior to his appearance at the closing general session. Roger Ward with WLDS in Jacksonville, Illinois asked him the question about whether he would be willing to be a spokesperson for agriculture.
By the way, recording audio or video during Mike’s appearance on stage was not allowed, so it was very nice that he gave the press some face time. We sincerely appreciate AFBF for setting that up!
A tradition at the American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Meeting is to have the NAFB President give a pre-general session news and market report. This year NAFB President Lindsay Hill did her duties. You can find Lindsay at Cows & Coffee.
I found out that I can hold an iPhone shooting video with my arms raised up for about 4 minutes before the shakes start!
When you’re in Georgia at a farm show you know you’re going to be talking peanuts. That’s what I did with Don Koehler, Georgia Peanut Commission, pictured with Donna Rocker. We not only talked peanuts we sampled some. Don says that during the trade show in the AFBF Pavilion at the AG CONNECT Expo they made and served 350 waffles that were served with a peanut/maple sauce and chopped nuts, 150 pounds of fried peanuts served with different seasonings and 700 peanut butter/chocolate covered cherries.
Don says he wanted the farmers attending the show that were here from all over the world to know how good and healthy peanuts are for them. He says peanut butter is more than just a “bread spread.” He also told me that the 2010 season had about every kind of weather condition possible but wound up with a pretty good crop and they expect better weather in 2011.
An exhibitor at AG CONNECT Expo that you may not expect to see is Cabela’s. Handling the duties was Gene Catrambone, National Sales Manager. Gene says that a major portion of Cabela’s business comes from business to business sales, especially in the ag sector. They supply products directly to farmers but also to major agribusinesses. They offer tools for incentive programs and gifts to promote brands. As he puts it, they can put a logo on just about any product. They have over 200,000 of them! Approximately 80 percent of their ag customers are represented at the show. Now we know why they are there.
When asked if he would consider being a “spokesperson” for agriculture, Mike “Dirty Jobs” Rowe said, “I don’t think American agriculture needs a spokesman, I think they need an advocate. And the advocates I believe they need are people like me who have shown a long term addiction to chewing and swallowing.”
Mike was kind enough to meet with the farm media in a press conference prior to his appearance before thousands of farmers and ranchers at the American Farm Bureau Federation 92nd annual meeting closing session. His admiration for agriculture was evident as he talked about the many farm families he has met in the course of filming the Discovery Channel program “Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe.”
“I want the show to be a series of examples that show farmers as they are and that just quietly celebrates the business of getting the job done,” he said. “The more opportunities I have just to show farmers being farmers, that’s the best way that I can think of to help move the needle.” Mike has been doing the show for seven years and says he’s worked on most types of farms.
During his address, Mike talked about some of his favorite farming episodes, like the Colorado sheep farm where he learned to castrate lambs with his teeth, and found out why it is better for the animal than the HSUS-recommended method of using a rubber band. He struck chords with the nation’s farm and ranch families when he talked about letters he has received from groups like PETA and federal agencies like EPA over programs that featured agriculture jobs.
The organization’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award, was presented to University of Illinois agriculture professor Robert Thompson. “An economist by trade, Robert Thompson’s heart and soul is agriculture,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman. “There is no doubt that American agriculture has benefited from the many roles Dr. Thompson has played over the past four decades.”
Currently serving as the Gardner Endowed Chair in Agriculture Policy at the University of Illinois, Dr. Thompson leads classes on agricultural development and food and agriculture policy, and is involved in Extension education, as well as research on U.S. competitiveness and trade.
The Young Farmer and Rancher (YF&R) awards are always highly anticipated since the final competition takes place during the annual meeting and there are so many great younger people involved in the organization. All of the top winners receive a 2011 Dodge Ram pickup, courtesy of Dodge, plus free registration to the 2011 AFBF YF&R Leadership Conference in February.
Paul and Monica Minzenmayer of Texas won the Achievement Award, which recognizes young farmers and ranchers who have excelled in their farming or ranching operations and exhibited superior leadership abilities. Runners-up were Matt DeBlock of Illinois, Steven and Richelle Bach of Kentucky, Brent and Susan Leggett of North Carolina and Brian Flowers of Tennessee who each received a Case IH Farmall tractor, courtesy of Case IH.
Colin Johnson of Iowa was the top winner in this year’s Discussion Meet. The three runners-up are Daniel Martin of Mississippi, Charlee Doom of New York and Loni H. Rikard of South Carolina. Each runner-up received a $6,000 Savings Bond and a STIHL Farm Boss chainsaw, both courtesy of STIHL.
Chris and Jennie Simms of Virginia won the Excellence in Agriculture Award, which recognizes young farmers and ranchers who do not derive the majority of their income from an agricultural operation, but who actively contribute and grow through their involvement in agriculture, their leadership ability and participation in Farm Bureau and other organizations. The three runners-up in the competition are Brian and Dacia Brown of Illinois, Ken and Malissa Schentzel of Minnesota and Shawn and Vanessa Duren of Tennessee, who also received a savings bond and chainsaw from STIHL. 2011 AFBF Annual Meeting Photo Album
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack addressed the 2011 American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Meeting this afternoon. He made a couple of comments that drew applause from the audience. One of those dealt with concerns over USDA’s pending decision on regulating GM alfalfa. He said, “We’re trying to figure out, as difficult as it might be, is there a way in which we can assure that we have less interference with the capacity for folks to do what they want to do on their land? If you want to grow GMO crops you ought to be able to do that. If you want to grow identity preserved conventional you ought to be able to do that. If you want to be an organic farmer you ought to be able to do that.”
Another dealt with estate tax reform when he said in regards to the tax legislation that recently passed, “That’s why it was important to have estate tax relief in this bill that assured all the members of this audience and your family members that you’re not going to have to worry about whether or not the farm is going to have to be sold or split up.”
The Pennsylvania Farm Show kicked off a little greener this year. The Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center has some new “eco” features including a 124 kW rooftop photovoltaic solar array that were part of an energy savings project complements of the Pennsylvania Guaranteed Energy Savings Act. The new energy efficient, eco-features were celebrated during an opening day celebration coined “Switch to Solar”. The construction was actually completed in October of last year.
The ceremony highlighted recent efforts by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and the Farm Show Complex to make the facility more eco-friendly, energy efficient and energy wise through an energy savings performance contract implemented by Pepco Energy.
Some of the “eco” improvements included a comprehensive recycling program and the Susquehanna River Basin Commission’s installation of a demonstration storm water garden and a 20,000-gallon water storage tank, which will reduce run-off into Paxton Creek and reduce the Farm Show Complex’s water costs.
The $3.6 million project also included a 124 kW rooftop photovoltaic solar array and a variety of energy efficiency and solar hot water implementation measures. The project is estimated to save the complex more than $300,000 annually in operating utility costs and should decrease carbon dioxide emissions by 1,650 metric tons each year.
“The completion of the GESA project represents the Farm Show Complex’s dedicated investment to environmental stewardship,” said David Weiss, Chief Operating Officer of Pepco Energy. “Pepco Energy is pleased to offer its expertise and ongoing commitment to providing the energy solutions for this project to reduce costs, consumption and emissions.”
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.
“Feeding the World – 9.3 billion people for dinner in 2050″ is the theme of Alltech’s lecture tour this year that kicked off during AG CONNECT Expo on Saturday. Dr. Mark Lyons, International Project Director for Alltech, says AG CONNECT was a great place for them to start. “We have operations in 90 countries, we’re selling into almost 120 countries,” Mark said. “So for us, it’s an excellent venue. Having a stop in Georgia is one thing, having a stop here at this event is much different.”
Appearing at the 
At the American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Meeting I got an update on how things are going with the 
The votes are in, the delegates have spoken and the American Farm Bureau Annual Meeting has concluded with a new set of policies. AFBF President, Bob Stallman, held a closing press conference to point out a few highlights from today’s decision making. He said that even with the adverse weather conditions that happened here in Atlanta the program ran smoothly and attendees all accepted some small changes that had to be made. He pointed out that they’re farmers and deal with the weather every day! I’m going to pull a few comments from the news release that just came out in the interest of time and because I know some AgWired fans are waiting on this. 
A popular session at the American Farm Bureau annual meeting yesterday was “Grassroots Engagement with Social Media,” featuring some of the trailblazers in the SM world for agriculture.
My American Farm is a great and personal sounding name. It’s the url for a Pioneer sponsored project that’s conducted by the American Farm Bureau Federation. I spoke with Angela Mayfield (right) about what’s new with the project.
AG CONNECT Expo is modeling itself after the highly successful 
One of the most important parts of the Annual Meeting of the American Farm Bureau Federation is the annual meeting of the voting delegates. These folks got down to business early this morning and will hopefully conclude this afternoon with a new policy book. This is grassroots policy making in action!
When you’re in Georgia at a farm show you know you’re going to be talking peanuts. That’s what I did with Don Koehler, 
An exhibitor at AG CONNECT Expo that you may not expect to see is 
When asked if he would consider being a “spokesperson” for agriculture, Mike “Dirty Jobs” Rowe said, “I don’t think American agriculture needs a spokesman, I think they need an advocate. And the advocates I believe they need are people like me who have shown a long term addiction to chewing and swallowing.”
The organization’s highest honor, the 
The 
Colin Johnson of Iowa was the top winner in this year’s Discussion Meet. The three runners-up are Daniel Martin of Mississippi, Charlee Doom of New York and Loni H. Rikard of South Carolina. Each runner-up received a $6,000 Savings Bond and a STIHL Farm Boss chainsaw, both courtesy of STIHL.
Chris and Jennie Simms of Virginia won the Excellence in Agriculture Award, which recognizes young farmers and ranchers who do not derive the majority of their income from an agricultural operation, but who actively contribute and grow through their involvement in agriculture, their leadership ability and participation in Farm Bureau and other organizations. The three runners-up in the competition are Brian and Dacia Brown of Illinois, Ken and Malissa Schentzel of Minnesota and Shawn and Vanessa Duren of Tennessee, who also received a savings bond and chainsaw from STIHL.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack addressed the 2011 American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Meeting this afternoon. He made a couple of comments that drew applause from the audience. One of those dealt with concerns over USDA’s pending decision on regulating GM alfalfa. He said, “We’re trying to figure out, as difficult as it might be, is there a way in which we can assure that we have less interference with the capacity for folks to do what they want to do on their land? If you want to grow GMO crops you ought to be able to do that. If you want to grow identity preserved conventional you ought to be able to do that. If you want to be an organic farmer you ought to be able to do that.”
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
