A FOOD FIGHT got underway today with dairy farmers and beef producers joining forces to fling facts in the face of food foes. The main message is to Give Thanks for food and farmers as we prepare for the holiday season. Giving thanks can even get you a steak – actually, an Omaha Steaks Ideal Gift Collection of steaks and …
Boehringer Ingelheim Closes Fort Dodge Deal
Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc. (BIVI) has closed a deal with Pfizer to acquire a significant portion of the Fort Dodge Animal Health business. The acquisition, which includes products in the U.S., Australia, Canada and South Africa, as well as two manufacturing and research facilities located in Fort Dodge, Iowa, significantly increases the size of Boehringer Ingelheim’s companion animal and cattle …
Vermeer Rolls Out the Rancher
Vermeer had cow-calf producers in mind when they designed the new Rancher 665 round baler. According to Vermeer Forage Marketing Manager Dan Belzer, the new Rancher 665 baler design fills a niche many cow-calf producers have been asking for – basically, the ability to produce bigger bales with a “right-sized” baler that requires less horsepower. “Now, with a minimum 60 …
Ag Students Key to Correcting Food Critics on Campus
College students with agriculture backgrounds are finding the need to defend modern agriculture and correct misinformation about food production that is being worked into class curriculums. Some classes are now requiring students to read books like “Omnivore’s Dilemma,” watch movies like “Food, Inc.” and see presentations by critics of modern agriculture like Michael Pollan. Sarah Downing, a junior at the …
Consumers Trust Farmers, Still Hold High Expectations
Consumers still trust farmers; they just need their confidence restored in some aspects of the food system. Those were some of the conclusions from a “consumer trust” survey commissioned by the Center for Food Intregity. Highlights from the survey were presented last week at the 4th Annual 2009 Food System Summit in Kansas City. Geni Wren summed up the conclusions …
CLEANmp Provides Help With Nutrient Management Plans
Helping livestock and poultry producers develop and implement plans to limit their environmental impact is the goal of a program called Comprehensive Livestock Environmental Assessments and Nutrient management plans, or CLEANmp. The program, which is managed by the Missouri-based Environmental Resources Coalition, is designed to provide services to all types and sizes of livestock and poultry production operations west of …
TIME for Yellow Journalism
If you look up the definition of “yellow journalism” you should find a picture of last week’s TIME Magazine cover story – which was renamed “Getting Real about the High Cost of Cheap Food” – after first being headlined “America’s Food Crisis and How to Fix it.” Wikipedia gives several characteristics of yellow journalism that fit this attack on modern …
New Book on Animal Rights vs. Animal Welfare
Hot off the press, this book is one you aren’t going to want to miss! I’m ordering my copy right now, and I’m looking forward to a thought provoking read. If you are interested, you can order a copy from the Animal Ag Alliance at a discounted price. Check it out, and happy reading! Can’t wait to discuss it later… …
Meat is Bringing Sexy Back
Is meat getting sexy again? Here’s one case in point. This provocatively posed porker is part of an ad campaign by Rachachuros Seasoning that also includes similar sexy shots of a duck and a chicken. Another case in point: Top Chef ’s Padma Lakshmi steamy Carls Jr. burger commercial that got quite a bit of attention when it came out …
From Rainy Plains to Dry Mountains
Well, I’m finally here for an exciting week at the 2009 Cattle Industry Summer Convention. I’m writing to you from the News Room at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Denver. I’ve ditched the rainy plains of South Dakota for a much more summery mountain climate of Colorado. Before the week kicks off, I thought I would give an agricultural update …