The American Phytopathological Society (APS) is the first meeting I have heard about having to move because of the flooding in Nashville, but I am sure there are lots more, just not many ag-related.
The APS meeting, which I attended last year in Portland, Ore., is still being held August 7-11 but they don’t know where yet. They sent this notice out to potential attendees, “As many of you know, the city of Nashville and the Gaylord Opryland Resort, the site of the 2010 APS Annual Meeting, recently sustained severe flood damage due to unprecedented rain in the area. The Gaylord Opryland Resort is currently closed for repairs and is not expected to reopen for several months. The 2010 APS Annual Meeting is not canceled, but can no longer take place in Nashville. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes and we are doing our best to make a smooth transition to a new location over the original meeting dates.”
Meanwhile, the CMA Country Music Festival is scrambling to find new hotel rooms for people who were planning to stay there for the event June 10-13. The Music Festival is still being held as planned – but it will be interesting to see how well they can get the downtown area cleaned up for that event, since the flood impacted all of the Festival’s downtown venues. CMA has announced that 50 percent of the net proceeds of 2010 CMA Music Festival will be donated to the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee for flood relief. We have attended the festival, formally known as Fan Fair, for the past three years to cover the New Holland-Michael Peterson Celebrity Tractor Race, but that was already not happening this year so we are not planning to attend.
If you haven’t seen it, this YouTube video shows flooding at the Opryland Resort – it’s pretty ugly. Officials are not putting a dollar figure on the damage, but it is likely to exceed the $50 million flood insurance policy they had and the hotel will probably be closed until October.
The 4th annual New Holland/Michael Peterson Celebrity Tractor Race was another rousing success at the CMA Music Festival. Not only is it a great promotion for New Holland and a fun way for fans to see some of their favorite stars in the tractor seat, it also raises money for the 
Here are two biofuels promoters. Chuck Leavell, Rolling Stones (left) and Joe Jobe, CEO of the 
The CMA Music Festival in Nashville featured some well-known country legends like Reba McEntire and the Judds, so it was a perfect place for New Holland to display its own country classic, the 
The 2009 New Holland Celebrity Tractor Show, hosted by Michael Peterson, has concluded and we have a two time winner!
It has been a great day of country music at the CMA Music Festival in Nashville, TN. We got to watch Michael Peterson perform at Hard Rock Cafe before heading over to LP Field for the evening concert.
This year being not only my first CMA Music Festival but also my first time In Nashville, I really didn’t know what to expect. I knew there would be country music stars but was unaware of all the other attractions going on downtown. This festival brings in so many companies with booths and prizes that one day really isn’t enough! There is so much to do from watching the flying dog show to watching street performers like the 
One of the great things about the CMA Music Festival is the opportunity to meet stars of the stage. Michael Peterson introduced me to Ricochet. They were in the kickoff parade and will be competing in the New Holland Celebrity Tractor Race on Sunday.
Sharing a booth with New Holland at the CMA Music Festival in Nashville this year is the 
APHA is the second largest horse breed registry in the United States with nearly 100,000 members and Ginger says they are a very exceptional horse. “The color really sets them apart, they’re basically a stock horse with color and each one is unique – no two are alike, they’re like a snowflake,” said Ginger. “They’re very fun to ride and they can do all sorts of things.” 
For the third year in a row I got to sit in the studio with Joe Jobe, National Biodiesel Board (left) and Michael Peterson (right) while they were guests on the 
This evening the CMA Music Festival had a storm issue at the LP Field concert. The second act was Reba McEntire and she was just getting started when they had to clear the field. We got to see Brooks & Dunn and then a couple songs by Reba. It was very disappointing and I’m sure most fans stayed underneath the stands in the hopes that they might restart the program. We decided not to wait and returned to our hotel. It was a nasty storm and we had tornado watch to go with it.
In this week’s program we’re going to hear all about how well the New Holland Celebrity Tractor Race, hosted by Michael Peterson, is working for the company. I sat down with Gene Hemphill, New Holland Public Affairs, and we talked about this project that we’ve been involved with for 4 years now. Gene says he and Michael took the idea to the CMA about a year before the first tractor race and were welcomed to become CMA Music Festival participants. The event has grown to the point that, outside of the evening concerts, it’s now one of the top attended events during the festival.
You’ll hear Gene say that this project has accomplished a lot of things for New Holland as it has developed. Besides just the race event and all the celebrities New Holland is also able to support the FFA, work with Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board and Chuck Leavell, keyboardist for the Rolling Stones and interact with people who fit the ideal demographics for the company and its products.
Michael Peterson recruited Carly to ride on in the parade with him here at the CMA Music Festival. 
In case you’re wondering if that really works, there are pictures in the photo album from Cindy when I took this photo of her. 
New Holland and Michael Peterson showed their support for the FFA here at the CMA Music Festival once again. The officers of the Westmoreland FFA chapter rode with Michael in the kickoff parade. Before we got started I interviewed them. They’re north of Nashville about 45 minutes. 
The CMA Music Festival is underway in Nashville, TN. My good friend Michael Peterson was a crowd pleaser in the opening parade this afternoon. He and I found a cool place for an interview after the parade.
AgWired goes country this week at the 2009 Country Music Association’s annual summer Music Fest, commonly known as Fan Fair. Once again we’re sponsored by