The potential for increasing yields exists everywhere if you ask Michael Doane. Michael is the Sustainability Team Lead for Monsanto. He spoke at the Monsanto discussion on sustainability on the 2008 Farm Progress Show last week. After his speech, I caught up with him and we spoke more about how he thinks the world will answer the global food demands of the future.
While Michael says a big portion of global food needs will be met in developing countries that have a huge potential for improving crop yields, he says there is still a lot of opportunity for increasing yields in the already yield-efficient U.S. Modern technology such as biotech, Michael says, means farmers in the U.S. still have a landscape that’s wide open with opportunity.
“If you just look at some of the yields that have been achieved in some very optimized conditions, it suggests that we’ve got a long ways to go before we’ve tapped yield potential [in the U.S.],” Michael said. (more…)
I just found out that I’ll be live blogging AgNite during the Republican National Convention. This is going to be very cool and a lot of fun. There’s an impressive list of companies and organizations already supporting this opportunity to showcase American agriculture to a national audience.
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):
We like to pack as much into a trip as we can, so this morning we left Tampa early to get to Orlando for the Florida Farm to Fuel Summit where Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer was speaking.
I got a chance to sit down with him and chat for a few minutes, and since this was mainly for programs I produce for Southeast AgNet, the questions all centered around Florida agriculture. We only had a few minutes and he had already hit on every other topic from energy to the Farm Bill to trade in his remarks. Schafer made a couple of other Florida stops after Orlando - in Gainesville and Jacksonville - so I asked him about that.
It was nice to finally get to meet the Secretary since Chuck has already had that pleasure a few times. Being at the summit also allowed us to gather content for Domestic Fuel and cover the meeting for another client, the Renewable Fuels Association. RFA president and CEO Bob Dinneen addressed the group and I will be using some of the audio we gathered here to do a podcast for them. So, we killed quite a few birds with this one trip!
Listen to my interview with Secretary Schafer here:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Investment in Africa is spurring economic innovation and growth throughout the continent. There’s no question about that for the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer.
“Make no mistake about it,” Schafer said. “Investment in agriculture, investment in the structure of agriculture to move food to the market, is an investment in Africa’s future.”
Schafer urged private sector investors to build stronger partners and markets in Africa at the 2008 U.S. Africa Agribusiness Forum Friday. The ag secretary said in order to truly develop a successful farm to market infrastructure in Africa, the private sector must get involved. Schafer pointed out that much of Africa lacks the basic fundamentals needed for thriving agriculture markets. He said things as simple as storage, refrigeration, a consistent supply of electricity, expertise in where to sell and how to sell simply don’t exist in many African regions. (more…)
The poorest of Africa spend 70 percent of their income on food. That’s the reality the Deputy Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development Africa Bureau put before the 300 attendees of the 2008 U.S. Africa Agribusiness Forum this week. That’s the reality that Franklin Moore wants the public and private sectors in the U.S. and Africa to face. Franklin says Africa’s food problems are a part of a worldwide problem.
“The world’s in the midst of a global food crisis unlike any other food crisis,” Franklin said. He says the poorest one billion are living on just one dollar a day, while nations around the globe are experiencing high food prices. That means, he says, the poor are having to choose between food, health care and school. Franklin says a significant part of the global population is spending more than half their income on food. And again, in Africa, he says, the poorest are spending 70 percent of their income on food.
All this, Franklin says, is the result of “fundamental imbalances in supply and demand, particularly of major food staples.”
Franklin says the good news is, correcting these imbalances opens up a wide spectrum of opportunity to transform and help modernize African agricultural systems through private investment. Not just private though. Franklin urges companies and governments to work together and engage in public private partnerships in an effort to reduce global hunger.
During his speech at the forum in Chicago, Franklin talked about what the U.S. in particular is doing to help this effort. He also outlined food crops that are crucial to the African food supply and where and how he sees public private partnership can make a real difference not just in African agribusiness but in the African quality of life. Franklin says the African demand for food staples is $50 billion a year and that demand is expected to double by 2015. Plus, he adds, Africa is the most rapidly urbanizing continent on the planet.
There are solutions to this global food issue though and Franklin urges companies to rise to the challenge. Franklin outlined many specific solutions in his speech. You can listen to it here:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation is an organization dedicated to reducing poverty worldwide. Ambassador John Danilovich, CEO of MCC, says a large part of the MCC mission lies in Africa. He says the MCC is partnered with 17 countries around the globe in an effort to reduce poverty through sustainable economic growth. Ten of those countries are in sub-Sahara Africa, drawing in 70 percent, or 4.2 billion, of the 6 billion dollars in grants MCC has to offer.
The ambassador says he’s proud of the opportunity the MCC has to play a large role in the development of agribusiness in Africa.
“African countries continue to convert their great promise into an engine for sustained socio-economic growth. It’s exciting to see the positive change,” John said.
John added that he believes Africa possesses a strong entrepreneurial spirit that is fostering dramatic reforms and new opportunities for investment and growth throughout various sectors of the African economy.
The ambassador spoke at the 2008 U.S. Africa Agribusiness Forum. You can listen to John’s entire presentation and a follow up question and answer here:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The energy sector is, as Nigeria’s Honorable Peter Odebunmi puts it, “the bane of our non development.” Peter is a Representative of the Federal Repbulic of Nigeria. He says Nigeria lacks an adequate energy supply, which increases costs and makes domestic goods uncompetitive in the global market. That’s why, he says, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua plans to declare a state of emergency within Nigeria’s energy sector. The hope, Peter says, is to drive more investment in the country’s energy resources.
Water is one resource of particular importance for Peter. He explains Nigeria is not properly managing its existing dams. Peter says his country needs to develop its water infrastructure because Nigeria’s access to safe water is still considerably low. He adds that a working water infrastructure is key to developing African agriculture and empowering the African people.
The 2008 U.S. Africa Agribusiness Forum is meant to facilitate such development. Peter says representatives from countries all across Africa are met with public and private investors in Chicago to learn how American agribusiness works and apply what they learn in Africa.
Peter says, right now, Africa faces constraints in technology and financing because members of parliament, or Nigeria’s representatives of the people, do not have access to what he calls “elitist” information. Information, he says, that reveals how to attract foreign investment.
Producing surplus and exporting that surplus is one of the key concepts Peter says he has learned more about during the forum. Peter want to take the concept of value-added agriculture to Nigeria, encouraging local, family farmers to produce a surplus so Nigeria can increase its exports.
I spoke with Peter during the forum. You can listen to my interview with Peter here:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Changing the African vision from one of short-term pay-offs to that of long-term success was one of the key issues for panelists at the “Education and Knowledge Building in Animal Agriculture” breakout session. The session was one of fifteen being offered at the 2008 U.S. Africa Agribusiness Forum. The workshop, sponsored by Novus International, featured a panel of experts that addressed the needs and means for improving education and first-hand know-how for creating “robust agribusiness value-chains” throughout Africa.
And, robust agribusiness in Africa is a very real possibility offering real opportunities if you ask Dr. Jerry Nelson. Jerry is a professor of plant sciences at the University of Missouri-Columbia and served as the panel moderator.
“Africa probably has the most agricultural potential than anywhere we’re looking at right now,” Jerry said.
Thad Simons, the president and CEO of Novus International highlighted the ultimate goal: “providing safe and secure food all over the world.” He added that performance and sustainability were critical for realizing that goal.
The panelists looked at how to drive that performance and sustainability in Africa. Sergio Beliver, sales manager for Europe, Africa and Middle East at Novus International, stressed the importance of education. He said Africans need to be educated not only in the processes, management and technology needed for modernizing Africa’s agricultural industry but also in long-term vision. He says farmers need to be taught to recognize the value in a more secure future instead of looking for quick pay-offs in the present. That’s something Dave Harlan, director of Global Animal Health & Food Safety at Cargill Inc. also stressed.
“It’s not about capturing a high price, but locking in a price that people can live on,” Dave said.
Dr. Shaukat Ali Abdulrazak, secretary National Council for Science and Technology in Kenya, also echoed Sergio’s call for more education. Shaukat said his country needs personnel that is both educated and trained in modern farming techniques, management and the development of necessary infrastructure. He conceded that one major challenge is “short-sighted politicians” who only consider programs that fall within the parameters of the term they serve in parliament. He says politicians in Kenya tend to have an agenda that expire when their term expires.
But, Shaukat says Kenya does have government initiatives and national development plans that should attract investors. He stressed that leaders in the public and private sectors of both the U.S. and Africa need to work together to build off of the positives that already exist. Shaukat says leaders and experts need to “make lemonade out of the lemons we have.”
Tasir Olawale Raji, the permanent secretary with Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, agreed. He said its crucial for African countries to move with other developing countries throughout the world, so Africa won’t be left behind. And, to do that, Tasir said leaders and experts need to focus on those that are already on the job in Africa, building upon “already acquired experience.”
Jerry highlighted the critical agricultural “lemons” so-to-speak that countries throughout Africa need to work on including land, water, electricity, energy and marketing. Jerry said African countries must develop the needed infrastructures and the continent’s agricultural industries must exists within those infrastructures. The continent should work as a larger unit to develop a strategy planning mission with each country, Jerry said, offering its own unique approach and contribution.
The entire panel discussion is available here on AgWired.com. You can listen to the discussion in two parts here:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
There is money to be made in Nigeria. Dr. Isa Yugada, Executive Governor of the Bauchi State in Nigeria assured every potential investor of that at the 2008 U.S. Africa Agribusiness Forum. Isa highlighted Nigeria’s natural habitat for a diverse selection of crops including tomatoes, sorghum, maize, millet, rice, cassava, beans and more. He added that Nigeria possesses poultry, livestock, fish and timber industries and already produces a surplus in certain cash crops including sugarcane, cotton, ginger and sunflower.
Isa acknowledged that there are challenges and risks involved with investing in Nigeria, but he says he believes those risks and challenges are no different than those investors would find in any other country in any other sector.
“I don’t believe that there is any country that does not have risks or there is business that you go into that does not have risks,” Isa said.
Nigeria is also in the development stages of a new dam. Isa said the dam that his country is currently planning would be the biggest dam in Africa at eight km in length. He said this dam would make over 140,000 hectares of land available for farming through irrigation.
Isa urged investors to take advantage of the opportunities Nigeria has to offer in agribusiness. He assured businesses of both the public and private sectors that Nigeria is an emerging environment for investment and agriculture.
You can listen to Isa’s remarks here:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
My good friend Tom Dorr, USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development, was our opening speaker for day two of Farm Foundation’s Transition To A Bio Economy conference. He was glad to see the golden ZimmComm microphone once again! We visited for a while before the session got started.
He says that rural policy is more important and timely a topic now than it has ever been, especially as we’re coming off the finalization of the 2008 Farm Bill. Some reasons include the huge growth in the deployment of broadband internet access and the demand for food and energy. With growth in rural communities people are starting to think differently when it comes to policy issues like conservation.
He pointed out that 95 percent of all rural income is off farm and that there haven’t been any new jobs in agriculture in recent years. So he says we need to look at unique uses of local resources for development but that development creates demands on infrastructure like water and sewer. He says that by meeting goals of replacing oil with renewable energy sources we’re creating a significant rural investment opportunity. So the question he poses to communities is “Are they willing to step up?”
Dorr has a long history with the Farm Foundation since he was a member of the round table prior to his appointment in Washington, DC. He also talks about the Foundation’s rural development opportunity tours and one that’s planned for this summer in Europe where he’ll be participating in a farmer to farmer dialogue.
You can listen to my interview with Tom here:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The executive director of the National Biodiesel Board is not just a country music fan, but also a country music singer… well, for his wife and kids at home at least. But today, Joe got a bit more exposure than a home audience. He performed live on the Dave Nemo Show on XM Radio with renowned country music singer/songwriter Michael Peterson.
Michael and Joe also delved into energy issues, renewable fuels and where all that fits in with public policy. Joe says the National Biodiesel Board is aiming to have biodiesel replace five percent of the national supply of diesel fuel. He says that is equivalent to the amount of diesel the U.S. if refining and importing from in Iraq. In other words, he says the National Biodiesel Board is aiming to replace the diesel fuel we get from Iraq.
Some critics arguing against renewable fuels point out that the alternative fuel sources will never fully replace the need for oil. But, Joe says that’s not the point, “That’s like saying if you can’t do everything than you shouldn’t do anything.” Joe says The National Biodiesel Board simply doesn’t share that frame of thought. That’s why it has launched the BioTrucker Fuel Card. The card offers card holders cash price on all biodiesel fuel at 5,000 participating locations and special discounts at select truck stops all without any transaction fees. Those interested can sign up for the card at BioTrucker.com.
Both Michael and Joe lauded the farmers that make up the nation’s ag industry. Joe says agriculture is a powerful industry that fosters cutting-edge, technological innovation. “Ag is slow to move but powerful to respond,” Joe said.
You can listen to the entire broadcast of the Dave New Show with Michael and Joe here:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
I also got some videos of Michael and Joe while they were singing and strumming their guitars. You can watch the videos here:
I really enjoyed getting to talk with our USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development, Tom Dorr, this evening. He was our keynote speaker at the CUTC.
He told corn growers and all the attendees that they’re doing a great job. He also said that there are challenges ahead like the recent Grocers Association attack on ethanol. He says that’s making it difficult to get the facts out to the media.
He points out that we’ve been through substantive increases in demand before like back in the early ’70’s with the Russian grain robbery that led to fears about escalating food prices. He said that no good deed goes unpunished and that we’ve had the good side of the cycle and now we’re going to have to suffer through the other side. He says it’s difficult to fight a well financed opponent that’s less inclined to deal with facts as opposed to dealing with emotion.
Here’s my interview with Sec. Dorr:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Nebraska’s Governor, Dave Heineman, stopped by the dinner for Lincoln, NE area influencers that was part of the My Real Life Tour. He posed for a photo with his wife and Michael Peterson.
The Governor spoke very highly of Michael and what he’s doing. They held a joint press conference earlier this week that I couldn’t make so I was glad to have an opportunity to meet him here.
I spoke briefly with Governor Heineman and asked him his thoughts on the Tour which you can listen to here:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Wow. What a morning here at the BASF Media Summit. After doing some live video streaming, interviews, pictures and recordings we got to have lunch with USDA Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Bruce Knight.
Bruce talked about the farm bill of course. He used a description from a story in the Washington Post which called the current proposal “an overstuffed turkey.” When he was asked about so many farm groups coming out in support of the proposal he basically said that if he was a special interest group he’d be pretty pleased with it too. However, he said that just because a lot of groups support it, that doesn’t make it good for Americans.
U.S. beef is at the heart of the classic “American” dish and it can certainly be sorely missed when traveling abroad… especially in Southwest Asia. But, 1st Lieutenant Peter Shinn of the National Guard’s 185th Air Refueling Wing found one Iowa couple who’s trying to bring local beef to troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
One Iowa couple is making sure U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are getting a taste of home. And they’re doing so with help from an extensive network of volunteers, and from the Iowa Air National Guard’s 185th Air Refueling Wing.
Ted and Dee Ann Paulsrud of Danbury, both of whom are long-time members and leaders of the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association (ICA) are now leading an initiative to get Iowa beef sticks to U.S. troops in southwest Asia. The ICA took on that effort shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. But the program proved costly, both in time and money, and ICA decided to drop the initiative a little over a year ago. Dee Ann Paulsrud, now widely known as “The Beef Stick Lady,” picks up the story from there.
“It started a year ago in November [2006] when my husband was retiring off the Iowa Cattlemen’s board for District VII Director,” she told Brownfield. “They no longer were going to do it at the state level. They already had done it for four years and then, they were aborting the program. Well, we didn’t want to do that.”
So the Paulsruds took up where ICA left off. And Dee Ann Paulsrud said they’ve developed an all-volunteer beef stick processing and distribution system, all aimed at getting Iowa beef to American fighting men and women in Southwest Asia. (more…)
You can listen to Sec. of Ag Schafer voice one of them here:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
I’m curious if any radio stations or networks use these. It was my experience before getting out of farm broadcasting on air that psa’s didn’t get used much. Is it worth taxpayer dollars to produce and distribute them anymore?
It’s a sign to me of how much information is online when I keep finding organizations and websites I’ve never even heard of. I dare say I do spend a little bit of time in the Google world. Here’s one called the United States Agricultural Information Network (USAIN).
They just finished up their annual meeting which this year had the theme of “Tradition in Transition - Information Fueling the Future of AgroBiosciences.” Here’s what USAIN is:
The United States Agricultural Information Network is an organization for information professionals that provides a forum for discussion of agricultural issues, takes a leadership role in the formation of a national information policy as related to agriculture, makes recommendations to the National Agricultural Library on agricultural information matters, and promotes cooperation and communication among its members.
This morning NAFB members are getting fully updated on the farm bill as well as other issues here in the Russell Bldg. First up on our program was Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, who was looking a little tired as he took the podium.
The Senator told us that he expects (hopes/dreams) that we’ll actually have a farm bill by today or tomorrow after the House and Senate conferees spent all day yesterday, including meeting with the Administration, on hammering out a final agreement. We’ll see. However, he did provide the group with quite a few numbers and statistics on what we should expect from the final bill.
I asked him what specialty crop producers could expect and you can hear his answer here:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Okay, this is my last post with Secretary Schafer here at the NAFB Washington Watch. While I was streaming it live, taking stills and recording audio I also shot a video clip so you can see what the room is like when we meet here in the USDA board room.
I know there’s a story about the huge table that we sit around but I just don’t remember it. If you know the source for the table please leave a comment.
You can download and listen to the first 10 minutes of the Secretary’s remarks here: Secretary Schafer’s Remarks (10 min MP3)
Or listen right now with this link:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
I just completed the first test of AgWired Live TV with the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Ed Schafer, addressing members of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. I didn’t have time to pre-advertise it but I did record his opening remarks which you can watch here. I think you’re going to be seeing more of the future of farm broacasting.
AgNite is a celebration of America’s Food and Agriculture Industry, an event held in conjunction with the 2008 Republican National Convention. Pictures are included from a Feeding America food aid packing event held early in the day at Second Harvest Heartland.
An IRON Solution
I learned all about IRON Solutions and IRON Search at the Farm Progress Show.
IRON Solutions has new capitalization and is working with the Farm Progress Companies to publish printed inserts of their equipment listings. Listen to my interview with President/CEO Darwin Melnyk.
The potential for increasing yields exists everywhere if you ask Michael Doane. Michael is the Sustainability Team Lead for Monsanto. He spoke at the Monsanto discussion on sustainability on the 2008 Farm Progress Show last week. After his speech, I caught up with him and we spoke more about how he thinks the world will answer the global food demands of the future.
2
I just found out that I’ll be live blogging 
I got a chance to sit down with him and chat for a few minutes, and since this was mainly for programs I produce for 
My good friend Tom Dorr, USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development, was our opening speaker for day two of Farm Foundation’s Transition To A Bio Economy conference. He was glad to see the golden ZimmComm microphone once again! We visited for a while before the session got started.
I really enjoyed getting to talk with our USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development, Tom Dorr, this evening. He was our keynote speaker at the CUTC. 
Nebraska’s Governor, Dave Heineman, stopped by the dinner for Lincoln, NE area influencers that was part of the My Real Life Tour. He posed for a photo with his wife and Michael Peterson.
Wow. What a morning here at the BASF Media Summit. After doing some live video streaming, interviews, pictures and recordings we got to have lunch with USDA Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Bruce Knight.
At NAFB’s Washington Watch we all received psa’s from NASS for the 
It’s a sign to me of how much information is online when I keep finding organizations and websites I’ve never even heard of. I dare say I do spend a little bit of time in the Google world. Here’s one called the 
This morning NAFB members are getting fully updated on the farm bill as well as other issues here in the Russell Bldg. First up on our program was Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, who was looking a little tired as he took the podium.
Okay, this is my last post with Secretary Schafer here at the NAFB Washington Watch. While I was streaming it live, taking stills and recording audio I also shot a video clip so you can see what the room is like when we meet here in the USDA board room.
I learned all about IRON Solutions and IRON Search at the Farm Progress Show.
