If you’re in or around Illinois on June 25-26, I would love to meet you. Tomorrow, I’m hopping on a plane to head to the Illinois Beef Association Summer Conference to present my workshop, “Table Truths in a New York Minute.” My workshop dives into the tips and tricks for utilizing online tools and social networks to tell the agriculture …
Next Generation Rancher
Lee Kopriva always knew he wanted to be a cattle rancher. From a young age, he played an active role in his family’s cattle operation, Kopriva Angus. After graduating from South Dakota State University (SDSU) this May, Kopriva is now following his dream of raising quality seedstock for producers, and he is one of the few students in his graduating …
Pork Producer Dedicated to Sharing Ag Story
It’s certainly not news to anyone in the agriculture industry that livestock producers, especially pork producers, are hurting. According to the National Pork Producers Council, pork producers, who prior to the announcement of the H1N1 “outbreak” were already losing money, have seen losses accelerate to an average of $17.69 on each hog marketed since May 1, 2009. Total losses have …
Climate Change and Animal Agriculture
UC-Davis Air Quality Extension Specialist Dr. Frank Mitloehner presented his views on animal agriculture and climate change during the World Ag Congress last week in St. Louis, and then followed up with a presentation on sustainability in livestock production during a roundtable presented by Novus International. Dr. Mitloehner talked about the United Nations report that claimed livestock produce more greenhouse …
All American Beef Battalion Raffle
For some time now, I have served as a volunteer press secretary for the All American Beef Battalion. This organization works to provide steak feeds for troops fighting the global war on terror. Started by Vietnam veteran and cattle producer, Bill Broadie, this non-profit group has served thousands of individuals in its year of service. The goals of the AABB …
Ft. Worth Stock Show & Rodeo President Bob Watt
The President of the Ft. Worth Stock Show & Rodeo is Bob Watt. He also used to be the General Manager but that position is now being done by Brad Barnes who I hope to meet while I’m here. I sat down with Bob in his office this morning to learn all about him and this big show. Bob has …
More Global Warming Wacko-ism
Let’s see, it seems like last year I heard that the greatest threat to the livestock industry wasn’t input costs, ethanol or market prices but wacko animal rights activists. Yeah. There are a lot of them and they sure seem to have lots of money behind them. The latest, besides the post I did this morning, is from LetsActNow.org. These …
Ft. Worth Stock Show & Rodeo
This is rodeo action at its best. It’s the Ft. Worth Stock Show and Rodeo. I got checked in this afternoon in time for the matinee show. If I ever tried this I would wind up being a broken mess of bones. It sure provides a good opportunity to practice shooting photos in extreme conditions though. I got checked in …
Coaching the Novus Team
The key to a winning baseball team is a good coach and if Novus International was a baseball team, executive vice president of marketing and sales Giovanni Gasperoni would be that coach. “Novus was born in 1991, so we celebrate our 18th anniversary this year,” Gio told me in an interview today. “When I came to the states in 1995, …
NCBA Forms Young Producers’ Council
The NCBA is forming a Young Producers’ Council. So I’m helping spread the word. They’ll be meeting in Phoenix at the convention coming up later this month. This is YOUR opportunity to make a difference by joining and helping to spread the word about the newly created NCBA Young Producers’ Council (YPC). YPC was created to encourage more involvement from …