Dairy farmer LuAnn Troxel is one of the attendees here at the Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit. She’s also President of the Indiana Professional Dairy Producers. This is LuAnn chatting with speaker, Frank Luntz, just before his presentation this morning. LuAnn is one of my Twitter (@DairyLu) friends that I have had the pleasure to meet here. She is hungry …
Some Truths About Sustainability
The S word came up during the Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit in a big way during a presentation by Dr. Frank Mitloehner, Agriculture Air Quality Center Director, University of California, Davis. That word is sustainability. He talked about research he conducted that debunked the “Livestock’s Long Shadow” report that was published by the FAO in 2006. That report had …
Cattle Farmer And Social Media Expert
Cattle rancher Debbie Lyons-Blythe talked social media at the Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit. We follow each other on Twitter. Find her @DebbieLB. She was here to encourage people not to be afraid of social media and make some suggestions on how to use it to advocate for agriculture. She starting blogging and considers her blog, Life On a Kansas …
College Aggies Online Awards Announced
The winner of the College Aggies Online scholarship competition is Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, represented at the Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit by Jacob Nyhuis. In the photo Jacob is accepting the school’s $750 award. The award also included his costs to travel to the Summit. I interviewed him after the presentation and you can hear him talk about participating …
Nebraskans Believe Farmers Take Care of Animals
Protecting and growing agriculture amidst the activist conflict was the topic of the first panel discussion at the Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit. Nebraska Senator Tom Carlson was a panelist and he made it very clear that animal rights activists are not welcome in his state. He says that when these groups come into a state, they don’t know the …
Government Regulations Top Of Farmers Minds
Kansas Senator Pat Roberts, ranking member, Senate Agriculture Committee, addressed the Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit. He spoke to a number of issues that included the farm bill and burdensome and troubling government regulations. Sen. Roberts is seen here receiving some cowboy cookie mix from our moderator, Jason Shoultz, America’s Heartland. I’ll add some audio from his remarks later since …
Speaking Up For Animal Agriculture
The past Chair of the Animal Agriculture Alliance is Dr. Elizabeth Parker, Chief Veterinarian, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Dr. Parker welcomed us all to the Stakeholders Summit of the Animal Agriculture Alliance and I caught up with her on our morning break. Dr. Parker says that when she took over as Chair for the Animal Agriculture Alliance her goal was …
Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit
The tenth Stakeholders Summit of the Animal Agriculture Alliance is underway in Arlington, VA. The Executive Vice President is Kay Johnson Smith who welcomed us just a little while ago. I spoke with Kay before we got started to learn more about what the Alliance does and get a preview of the program here. She says the AAA is a …
USDA Wants Input on Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement
The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service is requesting comment on the creation of a voluntary National Leafy Green Marketing Agreement that would assist all segments of the leafy green industry in meeting commercial food quality and safety requirements. To reflect the different climates, production practices and markets handling leafy green produce, USDA is proposing that there be eight regional zones represented …
Farmers Suing Army Corps Over Levee Breach
Over 100,000 acres of prime southeast Missouri farmland is under water today after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers blew up a levee on the Mississippi River Monday night to save the town of Cairo, Illinois from flooding. The action was taken after attempts to stop it were exhausted by Missouri officials. The picture is a screen shot of the …