Gift certificates, gift baskets, sports tickets, electronics, art work … got any you would like to donate to support the future of farm broadcasting?
The NAFB Foundation is seeking items for its annual fundraising auction at the convention in November.
Generous donations in past years have helped provide financial support and educational opportunities for young people in pursuit of careers in agricultural communications – like this year’s three scholarship recipients and five station and network interns.
Also, new to the auction this year, they are looking for advertising package donations, which any station or network can contribute.
Other ideas:
Hotel stays/Getaway package
Experiences (hunting package, backstage tickets, cattle drive, winery package, etc.)
Jewelry
Handmade quilts
Collectibles and memorabilia
An auction donation form can be found on-line. Contact the NAFB office or email jennifer@nafb.com if you have questions.
While attending the 2011 IFAJ Congress one of our panel discussions was titled, “Canadian Agriculture 101.” First up was Jack Wilkinson, farm community leader and member of the Canadian Agriculture Hall of Fame, pictured at the podium along with Richard Doyle, Executive Director, Dairy Farmers of Canada and President, International Dairy Federation and Jay Bradshaw, Syngenta Canada. I thought I’d share the remarks made by Richard since I find the dairy industry system in Canada very interesting. It also represents the types of presentations we enjoy at an IFAJ Congress.
A big part of Richard’s presentation deals with the supply management system in Canada that is “based on planned domestic production, administered pricing and dairy product import controls.” There are licensed quotas and various other components to the system which you can read about in this pdf. A good source of information is the Canadian Dairy Information Centre. They national system was introduced in 1970. Listen to his presentation here: Richard Doyle Presentation
Well, I guess our latest ZimmPoll didn’t excite anyone judging by the low response. With jobs all the rage in the political scene maybe you’re burned out on the word? Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “What is best for ag to add jobs to the economy?” 46% said All of the above to our choices. We also had 24% choose Support development of next generation biofuels; 18% choose Invest in rural economic development; 8% choose Pass FTAs with Colombia, Panama and Korea and 4% choose None of the above. I guess we’ll see what happens as the budget and farm bill debates continue to unfold.
Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “Can farmers effectively reach out to consumers with social media?” Seems like a timely questions with tomorrow’s The Food Dialogues about to take place. A USFRA program that will be driven by social media. You probably know where I come down on this. But with all our efforts, are we “reaching” consumers? What do you think? Feel free to comment and take our poll.
ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.
We were shocked to hear that our friend Shannon Schaffer passed away suddenly over the weekend while on a bicycle ride.
We got to know Shannon when he was with the U.S. Grains Council. In fact, I traveled with him on a trip to Morocco, Egypt and Jordan. You really get to know people when you travel like that. I didn’t have a room for a night at our hotel in Egypt and Shannon immediately offered to let me share his which I did. He was our main guide throughout that trip and kept us all together and on time. He is already missed.
Shannon left USGC to serve as Director of Membership for the National Farmers Union for the past year or so.
Here is the official obituary and details:
Shannon R. Schaffer, age 41, died on Saturday, September 17, 2011. He was the beloved husband of Sheri Schaffer; father of Ashton Schaffer; son of Ronald and Fae Schaffer and brother of Meredith Gulseth (Mark) and Emily Fisher (Alex). In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to an education fund being established for his son, Ashton at T. D. Bank, 308 Maple Avenue, East, Vienna, Virginia 22180.
Funeral services will be held Friday September 23 at 3:00 pm at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Vienna, VA. You can share memories of Shannon on the Tributes.com website.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the national soybean checkoff program including formation of the United Soybean Board and Qualified State Soybean Boards.
Twitter announced that it’s launching a new analytics tool that will initially be available to a select group of partners as a pilot program, but will be made available to everyone in the next few weeks.
FFA’s CONNECT! campaign has begun. CONNECT! invites you to share stories with us about your favorite FFA experiences, what you’re doing now, and how FFA has impacted your life.
The national beef checkoff is entering its second quarter century with a new CEO.
The Cattlemen’s Beef Board has announced the hiring of Polly Ruhland as Chief Executive Officer for the organization that administers the national checkoff program established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill.
“Polly was the right choice for this checkoff, and for this industry,” said Weldon Wynn, Executive Committee chairman and Beef Board vice chairman. “She has a powerful passion for the checkoff and for the beef industry, and she has absolutely proven in the last three months that she can run this operation astutely. She has an excellent rapport with staff and our contractors, and I don’t think we could have found anyone at this time who could have done the job as well as she is doing it.
Polly joined the Beef Board team as director of evaluation in early 2010. Her previous 20-plus years in the beef industry most recently included six years with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), working in the areas of issues management, membership and communications. Prior to NCBA, she served as communication director for the North American Limousin Foundation (NALF), was compliance coordinator for the institutional animal care and use committee at Colorado State University, and was director of communications for the American Gelbvieh Association.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from University of Colorado and a master’s degree in agriculture, with an emphasis in beef industry leadership, from Colorado State University. Polly has one son, Ryan, and lives in Denver with her husband, Randy.
“The opportunity to serve farmers and ranchers in this way is an unparalleled honor,” Ruhland said. “I am committed to working every hour of every day to promote beef through the unique cooperation and coordination offered by the Beef Checkoff Program.”
The one four-letter word we hear more than any other these days is “JOBS” and that is what the re-opening of a southern Minnesota biodiesel plant this week is all about.
At the opening celebration of the Renewable Energy Group (REG) REG Albert Lea facility on Monday, Minnesota state representative Rich Murray (left) and local Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Randy Kehr (right) both congratulated REG president Dan Oh (center) on fueling the economy by creating new jobs.
“They’re great green collar jobs,” said Kehr, who noted the importance of the agriculture industry to the region. “If you take the value-added in soybeans here in Freeborn county on the seven million bushels that were harvested last year, that represents nearly $1,750,000 into our community.”
Rep. Murray said that job creation is the number one priority for lawmakers. “I’m excited about the jobs, that’s why I’m here today,” he told me. “It’s a great value add for agriculture and agriculture is the back bone of southern Minnesota and of the whole state.”
Minnesota has had an increasing biodiesel blend requirement since 2002, which is slated to go to 20 percent by 2015. “And this plant’s going to help us get there,” said Murray.
At the beginning of the 2011 IFAJ Congress we heard a preview from Owen Roberts, Co-Chair of the event. Now we’re going to get a look back from Lilian Schaer, the other Co-Chair.
In the photo both Lilian and Owen were thanked during our closing ceremonies and received gifts for all their hard work. Of course, they point to all the other people who volunteered to make this a great event. But it does take good leadership to help bring it all together.
Lilian says the Congress was fantastic on a number of levels, including the fact that there were 260 people from more than 30 countries. She also wanted to thank all the sponsors who made it possible. There were a lot of stand out moments for her. One of them was when the native dancers performed during the opening reception. Another was during the closing session when all the country flags from IFAJ member countries were displayed. Lilian also pointed out that this was the IFAJ Congress with the most amount of social media participation. You can still see tweets happening with the Congress hashtag.
As America gets ready for The Food Dialogues this week let’s hope that some of the excellent points made by BASF in this video come up in the discussion.
Have you ever thought about how your food is produced? How connected do you feel?
In the early days of human history everyone had to help find and prepare food for the community. People were intimately connected to the origins of their food.
Today on the one hand consumers have grown apart from the origins of food production and they do not have the time to keep up on this topic. On the other hand the farmers who produce the food face many challenges.
When we stay connected to our surroundings and our community – we have the chance to grow back together instead of further growing apart.
The range and choice of tools available to today’s farm podcaster is getting bigger. Here’s the latest from TASCAM. The DR-40 looks like a good choice if you’re looking for affordability and features.
The adjustable mics, four-track recording and extended battery life of the TASCAM DR-40 give you the flexibility you need to record tracks anywhere.
The DR-40 captures up to four tracks from built-in, high-quality condenser microphones, XLR mic or line inputs. The internal mics are adjustable from XY to AB position, helping you to tailor your recording to the sound of the room. A pair of great-sounding TASCAM microphone preamps welcome condenser microphones with phantom power, recording at up to 96kHz/24-bit resolution. It accommodates balanced XLR or 1/4″ line inputs using locking Neutrik Combo jacks. The DR-40 accepts SD or SDHC cards up to 32GB, and a 2GB card is included.
Once recorded, play back your takes with EQ and the optional Level Align feature to avoid volume jumps. A stereo reverb effect is also built-in, as well as a speaker and chromatic tuner. Transfer recordings to computer using the USB 2.0 jack. Other features include overdub mode, variable speed playback, limiting and low cut filter, and much more – all with TASCAM’s simple-to-use interface. No other recorder makes home or live recording as simple as the TASCAM DR-40.
Hensall District Co-operative welcomed IFAJ members last week. Here’s CEO, Earl Wagner, who gave us an overview of the various business units of the co-operative. Before we settled in for his presentation and a tour of the facilities in Hensall, ON, we were treated to a variety of foods made with their products. They are known for their dry beans and edible soybeans and almost all of the products they grow are GMO free which has been important to their customers in Japan. One of the products we sampled was carrot cake made with bean and corn flour. I ate way more than I should but it was incredibly good!
HDC is a diversified farmer-owned Ontario Agricultural Co-operative. Established in 1937, HDC is the largest independent agricultural co-operative in Ontario with 4000 members who elect 10 Board of Directors. HDC employs 300 staff members with annual sales of 328 million.
I interviewed Earl after his presentation. He told me they have a very diversified business. Besides dry beans and edible soybeans they also produce a lot of corn and wheat. Last year they had a record crop but this year is down significantly. However, this year’s lower yields were a lot higher than just a few years ago.
Here’s a short video clip showing the gravity separator that “cleans the edible beans” as part of the preparation for shipping. We toured through the whole facility and around a growing collection of storage bins. There are a number of pictures in the photo album.
IFAJ members learned about the dairy business in Canada this week right on the farm. In this case we were at Claynook Farms visiting with Wayne and Dennis Wagler.
The conversation with the dairy operators covered just about every topic you could imagine from genetics to marketing. I recorded part of a conversation with reporters in which I asked about their thoughts on the Canadian supply management system (more on that later). You can listen in on that Q&A here: Claynook Farms
I also recorded a video clip with part of the discussion too.
The Renewable Energy Group (REG) celebrated the official grand opening of REG Albert Lea biodiesel plant in Minnesota on Monday, with representatives of the state and local community and agriculture industry.
REG President and COO Dan Oh (right) says the plant was shut down in 2008 when economic woes hit the biodiesel industry, but REG felt it was a significant plant that needed to get back in operation. “Think of a gallon of biodiesel in roughly every bushel of soybeans, this is a 30 million gallon biodiesel facility, so that really adds value back to a bean bushel,” Dan told me.
Pictured here with Dan is Jim Willers, a Minnesota farmer who is a director on the United Soybean Board and a member of the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council. Jim says he’s proud of Minnesota’s support of biodiesel and how it in turn supports the local economy. “This plant’s put almost 25-30 people back to work, there’s usually 50 trucks that go through here and the spin off effect from this plant creates almost 2,000 jobs,” he said.
I like lists. Grocery lists, to-do lists, task lists. There’s something about checking things off my list that gives me a sense of satisfaction. So here’s my list of things I’m afraid of:
Spiders (literally, 7-year old girl screaming scared)
Bees (or any version of something that buzzes)
That’s a pretty short list, but the one on the top is as big as most people’s top 10 list. Much to my displeasure, as we were moving the horse fence in preparation to build our shed, this not-so-little visitor parked himself on one of the corner posts. I wasn’t about to go over and remove the fence wire from that post!
My first reaction was to put a boot in him. My husband stopped me from doing that and I guess he does have a point. They eat bugs. Okay, so what are a few more bugs around here and a few less spiders? I can live with that!
He has since moved his web between two of the wall posts on our shed and I try to keep our son from driving his tractor right through it. I don’t think the spider would do any damage to our son, but since he’s the size of my palm (the spider, not my son), I’m not taking any chances.
Vets Plus Inc., announces the addition of National Account Managers Bryan Kann and Don McKillip to the company’s sales team.
The USDA will conduct a referendum on proposed federal marketing order amendments regulating the handling of California, Arizona and New Mexico produced pistachios.
The Chilean Avocado Importers Association invites culinary students across the country to sharpen their knives, show off their skills and come up with their most creative avocado dish for a chance to win up to $1,000.
Minnesota is a leader in the biodiesel industry, being the first state to require that all diesel fuel contain a two percent blend in 2005, and has since increased to a five percent blend. “Increasing the amount of biodiesel in our fuel allows us to take advantage of a renewable fuel made right here in Minnesota,” said Ed Hegland, former National Biodiesel Board Chairman and Minnesota farmer. “I’m proud to live in a state that is leading energy innovations and taking part in valuable solutions like biodiesel.”
“With nationwide demand for biodiesel growing steadily through implementation of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) and Minnesota’s continued biodiesel consumption leadership, we expect to quickly ramp up production at REG Albert Lea, LLC,” said REG’s CEO Jeff Stroburg when the purchase of the plant was finalized. “With a foundation in agriculture and expertise in domestically-produced, renewable energy, REG is proud to bring green-collar jobs to this rural economy while supporting ag producers in Minnesota and across the Midwest.”
REG was already the largest biodiesel producer in the United States and the acquisition of REG Albert Lea brings the REG owned/operated total to more than 210 million gallons per year. REG was the general contractor and manager for the 30 mmgy refined vegetable oil feedstock biodiesel plant which originally began production in April 2005. Distribution of biodiesel at the facility started late last month. REG filed for filed an initial public offering in July.
The 2011 IFAJ Congress has concluded but I will have a lot more to share over the coming days. It’s late in Niagra Falls, ON, Canada.
The GMO’s took to the stage tonight for our final entertainment after a concluding banquet with lots of awards. Photos are in the process of uploading which will finish my photo album from this year’s Congress. Feel free to view, share and use.
The AgChat Foundation (ACF) and the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) have partnered up to help farmers and ranchers share their stories with the general public.
“The core vision of the AgChat Foundation is to empower farmers and ranchers to share their stories,” said Darin Grimm, Kansas farmer and AgChat Foundation president. “We are excited to partner with USFRA to build and expand those conversations”
The partnership is multi-faceted. USFRA recently sponsored the AgChat Foundation’s Agvocacy 2.0 Conference, which sought to teach farmers and ranchers about using social media platforms and other technology to share their stories with food consumers. USFRA has also committed to an additional sponsorship, which will further the ACF’s ability to have an impact on more farmers and ranchers from across the country.
Playing to their strengths, the AgChat Foundation will be a key partner in USFRA’s Food Dialogues event on September 22. The event, a simultaneous grouping of four live meetings around the country as well as online participation, will feature a series of different panels discussing different topics in key locations. The goal of Food Dialogues is to answer the questions that Americans are asking about their food. The AgChat Foundation will help engage the online agricultural community through a strategic social media campaign in order to build excitement in the weeks leading up to and during the event. To learn more about Food Dialogues, visit www.fooddialogues.com.
One of the many farmer leaders who stopped by the media tent at Farm Progress show was Steve Wellman, a soybean producer from Syracuse, Nebraska who is First Vice President of the American Soybean Association (ASA). I chatted with Steve about some of the issues on his mind these days.
At the top of the list is approval of biotech traits to help increase production to meet growing world demand. “When biotech traits were first introduced about 20 years ago, it took 18 months to get through the approval system here in the U.S. Now it takes four years,” Steve says. ASA and the National Corn Growers Association held a joint conference with other stakeholders the week after FPS to discuss actions the industry could take toward getting timely regulatory clearances for biotech traits and avoid trade disruptions.
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 NAFB Foundation is seeking items for its annual fundraising auction at the convention in November. 
We were shocked to hear that our friend Shannon Schaffer passed away suddenly over the weekend while on a bicycle ride. 
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At the opening celebration of the 
At the beginning of the 
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Minnesota soybean growers will be in attendance Monday at the grand re-opening of a soy biodiesel plant in Albert Lea that was shut down in 2008. 
One of the many farmer leaders who stopped by the media tent at Farm Progress show was Steve Wellman, a soybean producer from Syracuse, Nebraska who is First Vice President of the 
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
