German Agriculture Society DLG

Chuck Zimmerman

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 …

Ag Groups, Audio, International

Serving Peanuts To Farmers

Chuck Zimmerman

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 …

AFBF, Ag Groups, Audio, Peanuts

Cabela’s At AG CONNECT Expo

Chuck Zimmerman

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 …

Audio

Mike Rowe – Advocate for Agriculture

Cindy Zimmerman

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 …

AFBF, Audio

Secretary of Ag Vilsack Addresses AFBF Annual Meeting

Chuck Zimmerman

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 …

AFBF, Audio, USDA

Wrapping Up AG CONNECT Expo

Chuck Zimmerman

The chairman of the management committee for AG CONNECT Expo is Martin Richenhagen, AGCO President/CEO. I spoke with him about this year’s show which is now winding down to its last hour. Martin said that one of the differences for this show from last year was having a lot more visitors and he credits having other organizations holding their meetings …

AEM, Audio

Consumer Food Habits Study Presented at AG CONNECT Expo

Chuck Zimmerman

What do consumers think about food? Betsy Freese, Living The Country Life, told AG CONNECT Expo attendees about the results of recent survey results from the Better Homes & Gardens magazine editors. They mainly focused on women readers and their food habits in the last two year. Betsy says that between 2008 to 2010 they found that the economy had …

Audio, Food

Smartphone Technology Education at AG CONNECT Expo

Chuck Zimmerman

One very well attended education session at AG CONNECT Expo was on “Smartphone Technology: Unleashing Agriculture.” The presenter was Neil Mylet, Loadout Technologies. He started his company right after graduating Purdue to develop intelligent smartphone technologies to allow phones to command and control and be part of industrial processes such as grain handling. Neil was encouraged by the turnout at …

Audio, Technology

AFBF President Meets the Press

Cindy Zimmerman

American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) president Bob Stallman fielded questions from the press for 40 minutes on Sunday afternoon at the annual meeting in Atlanta, covering a wide variety of topics. Several questions centered on the legal action AFBF intends to take against EPA over the regulation of the Chesapeake Bay total maximum daily load (TMDL), a so-called “pollution diet” …

AFBF, Audio

Going Mobile To Teach Children Where Food Comes From

Chuck Zimmerman

Out on the AG CONNECT Expo floor in the AFBF trade show pavilion you’ll find the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau’s Mobile Ag Ed Science Lab. This is one of a number of mobile classrooms to teach children where their food comes from. The Lab is a project of the PA Friends of Ag Foundation. I visited with Tonya Wible, Program Director …

AFBF, Ag Groups, Audio