He says his job was to talk about why agricultural markets have been so wild the last several years and why they’ll continue to be volatile for years to come. He says one of the reasons is an “ordinary garden variety one” which is weather. Sometimes people forget that he said. He says they’re watching agricultural land markets vary carefully. And of course he mentions farm policy and the farm bill and the efforts in Washington, DC recently. When it comes to tight corn stocks he says the smallest piece of news is having an impact on markets and he expects that to continue for the next several years. Hear some more of his outlook in my interview.

You can listen to my interview with Patrick here: Patrick Westhoff Interview

St. Louis Agribusiness Club Meeting Photo Album

The highest overall grade went to Newt Gingrich, who scored straight As on every single policy issue. Second in the class was Rick Santorum, who had mostly A’s but faltered under farm programs in the areas of crop insurance and conservation. President Obama received a grade of B, as did Mitt Romney, but the rest of the four major Republican candidates got no more than a C minus. Rick Perry received that grade, while Michelle Bachmann was close behind with a D+ and both Herman Cain and Ron Paul got Ds. Cain in particular failed miserably in the energy policy category and farm programs – getting straight Fs in all those areas.

“Our purpose wasn’t to endorse any candidate, but instead to give farmers a tool that they could take with them to the caucuses in January,” said Iowa Corn Growers senior policy advisor Amanda Taylor. The survey for candidates was developed in conjunction with the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) to include ten questions directly related to agricultural issues.

ICGA president Kevin Ross noted that only half of candidates responded to the survey, so the Corn Caucus used other methods to determine the grades. “We tracked interviews, speeches, media quotes and all things related to agriculture, including voting records of candidates who held office,” he said. The candidates who did return the survey were Obama, Cain, Gingrich and Santorum.

Find out more about the Corn Caucus project results from the ICGA website, and listen to a press conference this morning about it here: Iowa Corn Caucus Results

“After all, for decades this bill has been about a whole lot more than just farming. It’s been about energy, it’s been about nutrition, it’s been about jobs. Now, some may keep calling it the Farm Bill out of convenience, or maybe even out of tradition; but I think we’re doing it a disservice,” Vilsack said.

The secretary acknowledged that fiscal and political realities will have an impact on the outcome for any legislation in the coming year. “So our priorities must be clear. We simply need to do more with less,” he said.

Read the secretary’s speech here.

AGree is funded by Ford Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation and The Walton Family Foundation.

So what do you think about this new organization?

The Republican budget plan would cut farm program spending by $30 billion over the next decade to “reflect the economic reality of record-high farm income by restructuring farm programs, saving taxpayers money and increasing farmer independence.”

Net farm income this year is forecast to be the second-highest recorded in the past 35 years. Production costs have risen, but income has risen faster as prices for major commodities such as corn and soybeans have outstripped even the rising cost of energy. The top five earnings years for farmers in the last 35 years have occurred in the last decade.Yet, at the same time, numerous overlapping government programs exist to provide income support to farmers.

With crop prices – and deficits – hitting new highs, it is time to adjust support to this industry to reflect economic realities.This budget proposes two major reforms to achieve this: First, reduce the fixed payments that go to farmers irrespective of price levels, to reflect that soaring commodity prices are reducing the need for high levels of farm-income support. Second, reform the open-ended nature of the government’s support for crop insurance, so that agricultural producers assume the same kind of responsibility for managing risk that other businesses do.

Corn growers say they are willing to take a proportionate share of budget cuts to get the deficit under control.

“These cuts are significant, but so is our nation’s out-of-control budget deficit,” said National Corn Growers Association President Bart Schott in a statement. “What is important is that farmers are not singled out — the cuts proposed for agriculture are proportional to those proposed for other areas of the federal budget. We know this is just the beginning of the budget discussion. No matter the outcome, we are committed to working with the House and Senate Agriculture Committees to fashion a farm bill that provides farmers with risk management tools that are there when they truly need them.”

The latest report from the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri shows there will be good farm incomes in the U.S. this year … a record $99 billion in 2011 … but it won’t be the biggest driver in an expected 4 percent increase in consumer prices. FAPRI’s director, Pat Westhoff, that distinction belongs energy costs.

“[High oil prices] are probably the biggest reason for the year-to-year changes. The higher energy costs we’ve seen in recent months do increase the cost of transporting and processing the food. And those are a big share of the overall consumer food dollar.”

Westhoff points out that while the amount of money American farmers will be making this year will increase, still only about 20 cents of every food dollar goes back to the people who grow and raise that food.

Westhoff says crop producers should have a good 2011, with livestock producers getting more of a mixed bag. “The positive is we have seen higher prices for cattle and hogs. But they’re also facing much higher feed costs this year.”

He adds that strong international demand for U.S. farm products will buoy the ag sector with cattle prices expected to go up and tightening corn stocks, helped by advancements for the ethanol and biofuels sectors, will keep those prices higher as well.

Westhoff cautions farmers that FAPRI doesn’t have some kind of crystal ball, and producers should expect some volatility.

“If you’re a producer or someone using agricultural products, you’re going to want to be very active in risk management these days to make sure that you’re able to handle different contingencies that might come up over the course of the next couple of months.”

Listen to my entire conversation with Westhoff here: Pat Westhoff, Director, MU FAPRI

You can listen and download the press conference here: Bob Stallman Closing Press Conference

Stallman told us that delegates voted to “maintain a strong farm income safety net, address dairy price volatility and urge greater oversight of regulatory actions by the Environmental Protection Agency.”

As Congress prepares to draft a new farm bill later this year and in 2012, the delegates reiterated their support for extending the concepts of the 2008 farm bill.

“The 2008 farm bill has worked as farmers and ranchers have weathered market ups and downs over the last four years,” said American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman. “It’s important to maintain a program that protects our nation’s food, fiber and fuel supply and the consumers who rely on agriculture’s productivity.”

“EPA’s regulatory reach continues to metastasize at the expense of our ability to produce food, fiber and fuel, and EPA often does not recognize the contributions that farmers and ranchers have made to reduce soil loss and produce more with less land, water, nutrients and other inputs,” said Stallman. “We need more common sense and less negativity toward production agriculture in the enforcement of the nation’s existing environmental statutes.”

2011 AFBF Annual Meeting Photo Album

The leadership is at the head table with all the voting delegates in front of them. There are multiple screens showing the policies being debated and corrections or changes are made live. After votes are cast the final version goes to the staff who will prepare a final book of the new policies.

We’re supposed to get a summary of what got passed and a look to the future for AFBF policy in the coming year at a press conference following today’s meetings. We’ll have that for you later in the day.

2011 AFBF Annual Meeting Photo Album

During the recent NAFB convention Trade Talk session this was one of the items that came up in my interview with Gregg Doud, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Chief Economist. Gregg is pictured here being interviewed at Trade Talk by Julie Harker of Brownfield while NCBA’s Mike Deering looks on in the background.

Listen to Gregg describe where things currently stand on the death tax issue: Gregg Doud on Death Tax

Keeping up the pressure, a number of ag groups will join with NCBA in a press conference tomorrow at 1pm EST.

Speaking on behalf of NCBA is Scott Bennett, a junior at Virginia Tech University and an active participant in his family’s operation, Knoll Crest Farm, in Red House, Va. The American Farm Bureau Federation; the American Soybean Association; the National Association of Wheat Growers; the National Corn Growers Association; the National Cotton Council; the National Farmers Union; the National Milk Producers Federation; the National Pork Producers Council; and the Public Lands Council will also participate in the news conference.

To watch the event live, go to NCBA’s policy blog at www.BeltwayBeef.com.

In this week’s program I’m featuring a couple of interviews from Trade Talk at the NAFB convention. Here’s your chance to hear what the issue priorities are for two of the major farm groups, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and National Corn Growers Association. I interviewed NCBA Chief Economist, Gregg Doud and a NCGA 1st Vice President Garry Niemeyer. Please enjoy this week’s program and learn about the important issues facing cattle and corn farmers: ZimmCast 282 - Interviews with NCGA and NCBA

This week’s program ends with some fun music from Music Alley since it’s Thanksgiving week. It’s called “I Heart Thanksgiving” by Robert Lund.

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsors, Novus International, and Leica Geosytems for their support.

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“More central as root causes have been structural adjustment, free trade, and policies extracting surplus from agriculture for industrialization, all of which have destroyed or eroded the agricultural sector of many countries. No one factor can be pinpointed as the cause of the global food crisis. It is the confluence of these conditions that has made the contemporary food price crisis so threatening and difficult to solve,” writes Bello.

One area of focus in The Food Wars, is how US and EU agriculture and agrofuels policies are hurting those very people they are indirectly supposed to be helping. At one point in the book, Bello describes the “capitalism versus the peasant” and details the move to corporate farming – even in the U.S. He cites a statistic about US government subsidies for agriculture, “currently, 38 percent of producers who provide 92 percent of US food receive 87 percent of all farm program payments.”

He then proceeds to explain how the family farm manages to persist among the growing number of corporate farms.

From there, Bello outlines how many corporate players favor the World Trade Organization’s efforts (WTO) to phase out farm programs that subsidize farmers and allow the dumping of US grain abroad. He then notes that, “the United States has steadfastly refused to significantly reduce, much less dismantle, its farm-support programs, which transfer some $40 billion a year to the agricultural sector from consumers, firms and taxpayers.” He says that this stance ultimately equates to free trade for the world and protectionism for the US.

Obviously, Bello explains the above in great detail in the book but ultimately, he segues into the idea that as we enter the world of deglobalization, there may be an opportunity for peasant and small-farmer based agriculture serving local and regional markets to play a starring role in how the production of food is organized and orchestrated.

Bello does a good overall job of trying to address all the factors that contribute to the rise and fall of food prices. In his conclusion, he offers some ways to help people take control of their food security and points again to small farmers or peasant-based farming as a good model to develop local or regional sustainable alternative economies.

Preceding the event, the National Association of Wheat Growers will host a reception for congressional staff members to experience the event and meet with representatives from their individual state wheat commissions.

You can listen to my interview with Senator Grassley here: Interview With Senator Grassley

You can follow the Senator on Twitter.

Farm Progress Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2010 Farm Progress Show
is sponsored by: and

Kelly told us that she believes we can have viable agriculture and a restored Chesapeake Bay. She says that what she has seen on the tour shows that farmers are doing what needs to be done to control things like nutrient loss. She acknowledges that urban development is a real concern for her agency. Kelly Shenk Presentation

Before the tour got back on the bus I spoke with Kelly and asked her about one of the key concerns I’ve heard expressed from farmers that their best management practices and conservation improvements aren’t being accounted for in the Chesapeake Bay Model. She says that state government and perhaps FSA should started collecting data on this to provide to policy makers. Kelly Shenk Interview

Conservation In Action Tour 2010 Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Conservation In Action Tour is made
possible by and the

This reached an interesting level last week when Rick Tolman, CEO, National Corn Growers Association (ZimmComm client) published an editorial taking the American Meat Institute to task for joining in a coalition with groups like the Environmental Working Group, National Resources Defense Council and Friends of the Earth. These groups are well documented (pdf) as being extremists with an agenda harmful to agricultural production. They also have their own relationships with other extremist groups like the Humane Society of the United States. Rick says in his editorial, “As the self-proclaimed representative of the “companies that process 95 percent of red meat and 70 percent of turkey in the U.S. and their suppliers throughout America,” AMI really should avoid such curious connections.” I think that sounds very logical. You can listen to an interview with Rick on this subject here: TolmanAMI4910.mp3

Now here’s where I can provide you with an example of how social networking is useful. I tweeted a link to Rick’s editorial and asked AMI for their response. They tweeted me back a link to their response within a couple days. It is attributed to J. Patrick Boyle, President/CEO, American Meat Institute and starts out by saying, “AMI remains committed to our opposition to ethanol subsides and tax credits, a position that is supported by a broad cross-section of producers, processors, consumers and, especially, American taxpayers.

In fact, the federal government has pumped as much as $1.95 per gallon of taxpayer money into subsidies for the production of corn-based ethanol.” The response lists the issues they’re concerned about. So kudos to AMI for creating a response and responding to my request!

However, I have to point out that they didn’t mention their relationship with these extremist groups at all, which was the main focus of Rick’s editorial. I really don’t understand it anymore than Rick does. Seems very counter productive for their members. They’ve helped fund an ad in “The Hill” (pdf) which suggests that ethanol is bad for rural America. Kind of hard to justify that folks. That ad campaign is also funded by the Grocery Manufacturers Association which has aggressively used rhetoric and mis-information to blame ethanol for high food prices. The ad promotes a website called FollowTheScience.org which I’ve heard said should be called FollowTheMoney since it’s mostly a collection of anti-ethanol documents or studies that were funded by the supporting groups and that includes AMI.

It’s also interesting to note that AMI represents meat processors and packers yet their response seems to suggest they represent farmers and ranchers, “American ranchers and livestock producers are the best in the world at what they do – they can compete with anyone on the planet. And they’re not opposed to competing for corn, as long as they can compete for it on a level playing field.”

I think it’s an unfortunate situation. I’ve spoken with lots of corn farmers and beef producers on this issue. In fact, there are quite a few who do both. It is certainly a divisive issue. How would you solve it? I invite your comments and suggestions. But keep it friendly okay?

Post Update: NCGA CEO, Rick Tolman, has published a statement in response to the AMI statement. It’s title, “It’s Not About Ethanol.”

Andy Olsen, a policy advocate for ELPC an organization that has been a public supporter of the program since its inception in 2003, said, “With the help of farmers, ranchers and rural small businesses, America can make great strides toward solving its energy problems. REAP is creating economic development, energy independence and a cleaner environment one farm at a time.”

The program has also generated new rural businesses. After Glen White slashed his energy costs by installing a solar water heating system on his Indiana farm, he began selling and installing solar energy systems on other farms and homes in the area.

Since 2003, REAP has funded over 3,000 clean energy projects, in 50 states that cover the clean energy spectrum – wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and energy efficiency. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees the program receives applications for more than three times the amount of funds available, and in February, President Obama raised the funding levels to the highest amount ever to $109 million.

You can download Farm Energy Success Stories here.

President Obama has signed legislation providing fiscal 2010 appropriations — $121 billion — for the USDA, the Department of Health and Human Services, and other agencies.

The article says that 80 percent of the funds will go to school nutrition programs and food stamps.

Of the remaining HR 2997 funds, slightly over $23 billion will be spread among programs for agricultural research, conservation, food safety, housing assistance and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Some $290 million, aimed at helping undergird the struggling U.S. dairy industry, will fund dairy farmers with direct support. An additional $60 million will be used to purchase dairy products for food pantries and nutrition programs.

Fox News Anchor Bret Baier will offer insights on what to expect from the Obama Administration and Congress at the Washington Insider Breakfast during Worldwide Food Expo 2009, to be held October 28-31, 2009, at Chicago’s McCormick Place.

As one of Fox News Channel’s top Washington anchors, Baier has colorful anecdotes about traveling with and covering the President of the United States. With humor and insight, Baier will share exclusive, behind-the-scenes stories about trips on Air Force One, the inner-workings of the West Wing and what it’s really like to be a part of the White House press corps.

Baier is host of FOX News’ Special Report w/Bret Baier, a daily program for political news, and is a former chief White House and national security correspondent. Baier’s extensive reporting experience has brought him through the halls of the Pentagon, the war fields of Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the campaign trails of elections past and present. Fresh, current and straightforward, his breadth of journalistic experience gives him the ability to offer in-depth insights and perspectives on the inner workings of government.

The Washington Insider Breakfast will be held Friday, Oct. 30 from 8-9 a.m. at McCormick Place and is part of the AMI International Meat, Poultry and Seafood Industry Convention and Exposition. Tickets for this event are $150 per person and available here.

Here’s an excerpt from the UNEP release.

The world cannot continue with “business as usual” and there is a profound need for a successful conclusion to the current negotiations on both climate change and trade opening.

Sounds like the same old, “the sky is falling” story to me. But I’m sure this report will be quoted and pointed to by all the global warming wackos out there ad nauseum.

Post Update: Alert Twitter follower @etcattlewoman pointed me to a great piece on the Wall Street Journal about the growing skepticism worldwide of man made global warming. It’s worth a read.

A hundred years ago one man wrote a book that changed America. The man was Upton Sinclair. The book was “The Jungle.” It exposed the scandalous rancid health conditions inside the country’s meat processing plants and led to the passage of landmark federal legislation that regulated health and sanitation in meat processing for the first time in our history.

A heart stopping new documentary, “Shall We Gather at the River” has just been released which exposes a huge health and environmental scandal in our modern industrial system of meat and poultry production. The health and environmental damage documented in today’s factory farms far exceeds the damage that Sinclair could have imagined a century ago. Some scientists have condemned current factory farm practices, calling them “mini Chernobyls.”

I don’t think this calls for action as the movie has come and gone; however, let this be an educational moment on the increasing number of individuals who don’t like the way their food is raised in this country. What can we do to earn the trust of the consumers again? Where do we start. I’ll tell you one thing…it starts with me. It starts with one letter to the editor, one positive photo, one great blog post, one conversation in the coffee shop. I’m not going to let dramatic video productions stand in my way and tell my story. It starts with me…

One of the key individuals involved with this project is Larry Combest, former U. S. Representative from Texas. He was Chairman of the House Ag Committee and was directly involved in farming his whole life, although he’s not currently actively farming. So he’s sure got a good background on the subject matter.

I spoke to Larry this morning and we talked about why this new project has come about, who’s behind it and how they plan to help educate the media about agriculture. I found out about it this morning on Twitter. You can follow their feed here. He says HTFUS is a project of FarmPolicyFacts.org which he became aware of during last year’s farm bill efforts. One of the things HTFUS will do is respond to any and all media articles about agriculture that are not factually correct or are very biased. He says this is an outreach effort to the media to make sure real life farmers are given a voice.

Of course they’ve got a website and you can already watch video with a real life farmer telling his story. A very diverse group of organizations has come together to support this project and Larry says more are considering joining in.

This week’s program ends with music from the Podsafe Music Network. It’s a song titled, “Take My Hand”, by Dr. Mic and the Brain Ninjas. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 219 (30 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:Interview with Larry Combest - ZimmCast 219

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Up first after opening comments is Mark Maslyn, Executive Director, Public Policy, American Farm Bureau Federation. He’s seen here getting all fired up in an interview with Tricia Braid Terry, RFD Radio. That’s what we need in our nation’s Capitol these days, passionate spokespersons for agriculture.

Mark speaks about the mixed results of the opening month’s of our new administration. He says some things are encouraging and some are troubling which you might say about most administrations. On the troubling side he mentions the environment and proposed increased rules and regulations. Climate change regulations are something he thinks should not be ruled on until a lot more questions are answered. On the encouraging side he’s pleasantly surprised at moves on international trade.

Next up in the program is an interview with Ken Hobbie, President/CEO, U.S. Grains Council. I hadn’t spoken with Ken in quite a while so I asked him to tell us what’s new with USGC. We started off talking about the potential impact of H1N1 on demand and Ken says he hopes that consumers will listen to the fact and we can move past it. Another thing that Ken says they’ve invested a lot in is distillers dried grain promotion internationally.

This week’s program ends with music from the Podsafe Music Network. It’s a song titled, “Pearls and Swine”, by Drunken Prayer. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 218 (20 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:Interviews with Mark Maslyn and Ken Hobbie - ZimmCast 218

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar. You can also subscribe in iTunes

He talked to us about how biofuels policies are affecting commodity prices and trade but he says there are a lot of other factors affecting export volume. For example, he says that even though we’ve been using more corn to make ethanol we’ve still been able to increase the amount of corn we’re exporting at the same time. However, whether we have biofuels policies or not other factors will come into play like weather, the price of oil and foreign demand.

You can listen to my interview with Seth here: ff-global-09-meyer.mp3

You can download the interview with this link (mp3).

You can find photos from the conference here:
Transition To A Bio Economy Conference: Global & Trade Issues Photo Album

Keith and I chatted via Skype today and I’ll warn you that we just didn’t have a good connection or time to do it all over so the quality leaves a lot to be desired. Keith sounds way better than I do. But then that would be the case no matter what.

It sounds like the budget is high on the list of items that’s being worked on right now and there is certainly action taking place in both the House and Senate on the administration’s proposal. Agriculture spending is under review and the administration’s proposal on it is very controversial because of items like phasing out direct payments over 3 years to producers with income over $500,000. Sounds like farm lobbyists have their work cut out for them.

Keith also talks about Cap & Trade, the effort I think is potentially devastating to businesses, farmers included. As he points out, there’s disagreement over whether we even have a climate problem so why we need to talk about taxing businesses without scientific agreement on this issue is beyond me. But it’s a good example of the non-ag type legislative issues that agriculture has to be very aware of and involved in to have its voice heard.

Keith brought up a point about the image agriculture has inside the beltway and via news coverage nationally and the need for an ongoing attempt to foster a positive, informed public about farming. I sure think we need it and we included in our discussion how new media mechanisms, like the ones driving our business, can assist in this effort.

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 213 (19 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:Interview with Keith Good - ZimmCast 213

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar. You can also subscribe in iTunes

Recently, Annie and her family established the Dairy Discovery Tour, an agri-tourism venture that opens up their farm for tours. Schools, churches, foreign travelers and the media have come to tour the farm and learn more about food production. Recently, the Oesch family even hosted a neighbor night, with over 600 attendants at the farm. The event included a meal, a guest speaker and guided tours. The tour is so popular that during the summer months, Annie and her family welcomed over 75 groups and 3,000 visitors to their operation. These are true advocates for agriculture, and they are doing a great job of incorporating a new marketing approach to their thriving business.

Interestingly, Dr. Wes Jamison, a professor of animal welfare at the University of Florida, thinks that farms shouldn’t clean up before visitors arrive to the farm. Jamison spoke last night, and his topic was titled, “Animal Producers from Mars, Animal Lovers from Venus: Directing Agriculture through the curves of ethics, attitudes and expectations.” Dr. Jamison’s speech entered us into the minds of our opponents to better understand the reasons for this movement that is progressively changing the face of food production. Although Jamison gives props to operations like the Oesch family’s, he thinks the industry needs more transparency and openness to survive the animal rights movement and gain the trust of consumers, once again.

“Don’t just show them the pretty side of the farm,” said Jamison in his keynote speech. “Show them death; show them dirt; show them the rough side of food production. If we try to hide these things, the animal rights activists will expose and exploit these things for us. We need to be open and honest and tell our own story.”

So, what do you think? Should I start posting dehorning, castrating, vaccinating, weaning and calving videos on YouTube? Will this transparency backfire, or is it the secret to ending this movement before it’s too late? Curious minds want to know…

Giving us his take on this was Thomas J. Erickson, Vice President, Government Affairs, Bunge North America. He says that since the incoming administration seems to have a lot of public support it will be interesting to see how elected leaders and others interact with it. So developing relationships will be a big part of the initial activity we’ll see. He’s also looking to the upcoming USDA Planting Intentions Report to provide an important signal about American agriculture that will be looked at very closely in Washington.

I wonder when our first interaction with the new administration will be. I sent an email to the transition team last week suggesting that they convert the presidential limo to run on ethanol but haven’t heard anything back on that yet.

You can listen to my interview with Tom here: slac-erickson.mp3

Other Gateway resources include links to glossaries, listservs and newsletters, online photos and images, and event listings related to agriculture and public health.

You can count on seeing some live video via AgWired Live TV and lots of photos and interviews. My coverage will be sponsored by the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council and AgStar Financial Services. I’m betting some additional sponsors will come on board too. If you’re interested please contact the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council.

Now that I’m going to be in Minneapolis for the convention, I’m working on media credentials for the RNC itself. This is proving to be a challenge but one I’m certainly going to continue to work on. If I’m going to be there early in the week I think it would be great to stay longer and find interesting stories about rural America and agriculture.

My coverage is planned for AgWired and Domestic Fuel primarily but I’m sure I’ll find content we can use in a variety of other outlets we contribute to as well.

I’ve just started working with the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council on logistics for the venue that AgNite will held at (The Depot) but assuming I can get credentialed for the RNC, here’s what their venue looks like (Xcel Energy Center):