In this week’s program Cindy and I do a review of some of the ZimmComm activity of late and look ahead. We’re going to continue to roll down the agriblogging highway this summer. Actually Cindy gets to do a little extra in coming weeks while I recuperate from this pneumonia bug. In fact, we recorded the program in my hospital …
Grains Council CEO Looks Back and Ahead
Ken Hobbie has been with the U.S. Grains Council for 34 of the organization’s nearly 50 year history and things have changed quite a bit over those years. “When I first came to the council, we were focused on two primary market regions, Western Europe and Russia, they were taking more than 50 percent of the grain that we exported …
Economist Envisions “Golden Era of Agriculture”
Jim Wiesemeyer of Informa Economics told more than 300 attendees at the U.S. Grains Council‘s 49th Annual Board of Delegates Meeting in San Diego this week that there may be a few more tough years for the economy but there will eventually be a light at the end of the tunnel, and farmers will flourish. “Once the US and world …
Corn Growers Work With Grains Council
Leaders from the National Corn Growers Association were among those in attendance at the U.S. Grains Council delegates meeting this week in San Diego, including First Vice President Darrin Ihnen of South Dakota and Chairman Ron Litterer from Iowa. I talked to Darrin about a number of topics, including how NCGA works with USGC. “We work very well together,” Darrin …
Students Share Experiences of Grain Mission Trip
The U.S. Grains Council’s 49th Annual Board of Delegates Meeting luncheon on Monday featured two college seniors who shared their experiences as participants of the recent International Collegiate Agricultural Leadership (I-CAL) annual mission to Vietnam and China. Amy Berry, senior at the University of Wyoming, and Michelle Euken, senior at Iowa State University, told more than 300 attendees of their …
Being Part of the Journey
One Nebraska farmer’s wife got a greater appreciation of the impact U.S. agricultural producers have on the global economy when she was able to be a part of America’s Heartland “Journey of the Corn.” During the spouses breakfast at the U.S. Grains Council delegates meeting on Monday, Lori Tiemann shared some of her journey to Taiwan and China with her …
Opening New Markets is Focus of USGC
Rick Fruth is a corn grower from Ohio who serves as vice chairman of the US Grains Council and he says the continuing development of international markets is the main focus of their organization. “We’ve seen markets back in the 70s that were very important to us – western Europe and the former Soviet Union – evaporate and we’ve had …
USGC Partnership with USDA FAS
The administrator of USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service Michael Michener spoke to the US Grains Council delegates meeting this morning in San Diego about how the partnership between FAS and USGC helps to open markets for US agricultural products. “Over the years, FAS and the U.S Grains Council have formed a vital link between government and U.S. agriculture to maintain and …
US Grains Delegate Meeting Underway
The U.S. Grains Council 49th Annual Board of Delegates meeting got underway this morning with the issues session. Chairman Jim Broten of the North Dakota Barley Council welcomed the delegates to San Diego and the official start of business. The general session gets underway shortly, starting with USDA Foreign Agriculture Service administrator Michael Michener giving an update on “Increasing Trade …
Beef Checkoff Pays Off
The Beef Checkoff Program returns about $5.55 in value to beef producers for every dollar they invest, according to the latest economic study, which looked at the ROI for the program from 2003 to 2008. Dr. Ron Ward, professor emeritus for the Food and Resource Economics Department at the University of Florida, did the study, which measured the impact of …