We’re about to kick off National Farm-City Week in Lancaster, PA. The event is an annual symposium that includes a luncheon. “The purpose of this Symposium is to explore friendly methods that can help assist the urban media when preparing news or feature stories that could significantly and negatively impact farmers, ranchers and the many agribusiness industries. “ Of course …
RFA Loves NAFB
There were lots of ethanol issues to discuss at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting annual Trade Talk event in Kansas City last week. The topics included the lame duck session of Congress, importance of renewing biofuels tax incentives, doing more to invest in cellulosic ethanol, labeling for E15 at the pump, just to name a few. Renewable Fuels Association …
Vilsack Non-Comments on GIPSA at NAFB
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was asked three times about some aspect of the proposed Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) rule during a press conference last week at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting meeting in Kansas City, and each time he said he could not comment specifically about the proposed rule during the comment period. But, he did …
New NAFB Officers
New NAFB president Lindsay Hill (ABN Radio) accepted the gavel from Greg Akagi (WIBW/Kansas Ag Net) during the Friday night president’s banquet to symbolize the beginning of a new slate of officers for the farm broadcasting organization, even though it will be the end of the year before it officially changes. One new regional vice president was elected on Friday. …
Kansas Senator-Elect Visits NAFB
Current Rep. Jerry Moran (R-KS), who is now Senator-Elect for that state, stopped by the NAFB meeting on his way out to the nation’s capitol on Friday. The new senator, who is a great advocate for agriculture in Congress, took time to do interviews with farm broadcasters and addressed the Awards Luncheon. Jerry says he is a big fan and …
Latest NAFB Research
The latest research on who is listening or watching what in farm broadcast media was presented Friday morning at the NAFB annual meeting by the great Teddy Haller. Not surprisingly, Haller’s latest research found a continued increase in the internet as an information source for farmers and ranchers. “That consistent rise of the internet is not necessarily meaning the decline …
Super Successful NAFB Foundation Auction
A brand new record was set for the NAFB Foundation’s annual fundraising auction Thursday night – $22,295! Not sure how much it beats the old record by, but last year the total was about $13,000, so this was a biggie. A big reason for the huge success this year was the generosity of two NAFB past presidents – Evan Slack …
Secretary Vilsack Beyond the Mic at NAFB
Farm broadcasters at NAFB Thursday went straight from Trade Talk to a 45 minute press conference with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The secretary addressed a number of issues – from Veterans Day to rural development to biofuels and took quite a few questions on several topics. He did get a couple of questions about the GIPSA rule, but still refused …
Informa GIPSA Rule Study Results
This morning at the NAFB convention a press conference was held the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), the National Turkey Federation (NTF) and the National Meat Association (NMA) to release the results of an economic analysis of USDA’s proposed livestock and poultry marketing regulation – the so-called GIPSA rule. I’ve posted the audio of …