One of the participants in the 2008 World Food Prize symposium who caught my eye yesterday was Dr. Gale Buchanan, USDA Under Secretary for Research Education and Economics. I saw him sitting in on every session I attended, so I caught up with him for an interview about the event and what he thought.
This year’s World Food Prize winners are former Senators Bob Dole and George McGovern, who are being honored for their work to expand USDA’s school feeding program. Dr. Buchanan says it is nice to see USDA’s program recognized for its world feeding efforts. “The department has a vital role to play in addressing these issues,” Buchanan said. “The focus of this conference is not looking inward but looking outward to every country around the world.”
Regarding the issue of being able to produce both food and fuel on a global basis, Buchanan says, “Food is important, it’s what sustains us and it’s got to be at the top of the list, but energy is at the top of the list too. We have to continue working to find ways to ensure we have the amount of food, feed and fiber that we need, but also the energy that it takes to sustain us. Using agricultural products as part of that solution is very important.”
I last saw Dr. Buchanan at the Southern Peanut Growers Meeting earlier this year and, being a southerner, he sees value in the potential for using peanuts to produce biodiesel, for example. “When Rudolf Diesel invented the diesel engine he proposed that his new engine should be run on peanut oil,” Buchanan told me. “And certainly I think peanuts and other oilseed crops have great potential to address energy concerns in the future.”
Listen to Dr. Buchanan’s interview here:
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I am so lame. I was supposed to alert you to the Georgia Peanut Tour before the tour. But guess what? This is the great thing about a blog. It’s archived!
So take a look at what agriblogging professional Joy Carter did. I think she’s raising the bar for you ag group communications managers. I think Joy has been drinking some of that new media Kool-Aid.
Left to right, the trio representing them at the conference were Josh Pitts of Ag Technologies, Trimble regional sales manager Tim East and Brian Kelly with Ag Technologies. I set up my computer at their booth to do most of my work at the conference and enjoyed spending time with these guys.
Tim says they chose to sponsor this coverage because, like precision agriculture, it is “cutting edge - a high-tech way of communicating, getting ideas out and sharing experiences.”
They did spend quite a bit of time talking with peanut growers at the conference about precision technology because it can be a big time and money saver for growers.
Chuck used some of this interview in his ZimmCast this week, I believe, but you can listen to the entire interview with all three here:
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FFA Alumni State Leaders are gathered in Washington, DC and thanks to a new blog, you can keep up with the action.
The National FFA Alumni State Leaders Conference kicks off today. FFA Alumni members will have an exciting week touring Washington, D.C., visiting with their congressional representatives and learning more about opportunities available through the FFA Alumni. The event would not be possible without the generous sponsorship of Tractor Supply Company, Toyota and Farm Credit Services.
This blog has been created to provide information and photos regarding the National FFA Alumni’s 2008 State Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C. Joy Carter with the Georgia Peanut Commission, who is southern region director on the National FFA Alumni Council, is the blog developer and poster - I am sitting in the Panama City airport with her right now as she prepares to head out to DC. The FFA Alum blog address is ffaalumnislc.wordpress.com.
At the Southern Peanut Growers Conference this week, I had a chance to meet up with one old friend I hadn’t seen in over 20 years - and one new friend that I knew but had never met.
Those of you in the ag journalism business may recognize this lady - formally the voice of the American Farm Bureau Federation once upon a time. You knew her then as Michele Brooks, but for the last 20 years she has been Michele Treptow, married to Rick Treptow of the Georgia Farm Bureau. Michele and I spent a few short minutes catching up and reminiscing about the “dot heads” at the 1985 annual AFBF meeting in Hawaii - and the infamous “Saturday night massacre” later that year when Chuck, Gary Cooper and I were forced out of Florida Farm Bureau after getting approval from the board to take their radio network independent. Ahh, the memories!!!
This gentlemen is known as “Mr. Peanut” in the Southeast and he wears many hats in the peanut industry. Tyron Spearman has been the peanut industry reporter for Southeast Agnet for at least as long as I have been reporting for them - but we had never met until this meeting. It was a great pleasure to meet him and get a chance to chat. He is extremely well respected in the peanut industry.
The SPGC was one of the very best conferences I have ever had the pleasure of attending. The agenda allowed for free afternoon time on the beach, the general sessions were very informative and well attended, the food was great, and the blues bash closing dinner and entertainment was great fun. This group is really a family and they obviously enjoy getting together at this great venue in Panama City every year. I will have more information about the conference in future posts. Not having internet access in my room was a drawback, but I had great access in the conference center.
Farmers and others in agriculture are just like everyone else these days. For the vast majority of us, computer usage is becoming a part of our everyday lives, if it hasn’t already taken it over!
That’s why the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation made the decision to use the new media tools of blogging and podcasting to reach out and provide information on this year’s Southern Peanut Growers conference to anyone and everyone who has access to the World Wide Web on spgc.wordpress.com.
Joy Carter with the Georgia Peanut Commission, who is also editor of Southeastern Peanut Farmer magazine and responsible for outreach to media and growers, came up with the idea of using the blog for conference coverage.
“We wanted to open the door for more farmers and industry representatives not able to attend the conference to be able to see who the speakers are, see photos from the conference and hear more about issues within the peanut industry,” Joy said. The website is also being promoted to agricultural media who can download the photos and audio to use.
Joy says the Georgia Peanut Commission has also had great success in educating producers about legislative issues with AmericanPeanuts.com.
Listen to an interview with Joy here:
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Southern peanut growers know the place to party and this week that’s Panama City, FL. While I get ready to go west to Denver, Cindy is attending the Southern Peanut Growers Conference. In this week’s program you can hear several of her interviews. We’ve got Randy Griggs, Alabama Peanut Producers, several guys from Trimble and Ag Technologies, the companies sponsoring the conference blog we built and Wesley Powell, past president of the National Peanut Buying Points Association. Wesley talks about grilling peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
The program this week ends with music from the Podsafe Music Network. Since we’re talking peanuts, you get to listen to “Peanuts” from one inch from midget. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.
You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 179 (18 min MP3)
Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:
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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
Sounds like a drink almost, doesn’t it? Cindy’s lounging around on the Gulf of Mexico at the Southern Peanut Growers Conference, eating grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Can you imagine?
I tried something new today that I had frankly never even thought of eating before - grilled peanut butter and jelly. Don’t know why I never thought of it - after all, I like toast with peanut butter and jelly. But, grilling gives it a much richer flavor that, as Wesley Powell of Bainbridge, Georgia says goes great with a tall glass of cold milk for breakfast. Add some sliced bananas and you have yourself an “Elvis” sandwich!
Powell is past president of the National Peanut Buying Points Association, which grills up these tasty morsels every year at the SPGC. He shares his secrets to making the perfect grilled PB and J in this interview:
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You can see these delicacies on display at the conference.
Another ZimmComm-developed website is now online. This time it’s the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation and the blog is for their annual conference. You’ll be able to follow all the nutty action in Panama City when Cindy gets there this weekend.
All the proceedings with pictures, audio interviews and more from the 10th Annual Southern Peanut Growers Conference July 13-15 in Panama City Beach, Fla., can be found on the site. The conference coverage is sponsored by Trimble Agriculture/Ag Technologies, LLC.
Over 500 peanut producers and industry representatives are expected to attend the conference, which includes educational sessions focusing on legislative issues, peanut grading, marketing peanuts, and research. One highlight of the conference is a Congressional simulation program, where participants play the role of a Congressman to obtain an idea of how Washington works.
The Southern Peanut Farmers Federation contracted ZimmComm New Media of Missouri to design and develop the site and provide on-site coverage of the convention.
Pre-conference information has already been posted and continuous content will be added starting with the kickoff of the convention on Sunday, July 13. Audio interviews from the convention will be posted for immediate playback and as a special series of podcasts that will allow people to download and listen to them on personal audio players. The interviews can also be used by radio stations or other media outlets.
One of the participants in the 2008 World Food Prize symposium who caught my eye yesterday was Dr. Gale Buchanan, USDA Under Secretary for Research Education and Economics. I saw him sitting in on every session I attended, so I caught up with him for an interview about the event and what he thought. 
This year’s World Food Prize winners are former Senators Bob Dole and George McGovern, who are being honored for their work to expand USDA’s school feeding program. Dr. Buchanan says it is nice to see USDA’s program recognized for its world feeding efforts. “The department has a vital role to play in addressing these issues,” Buchanan said. “The focus of this conference is not looking inward but looking outward to every country around the world.”
I am so lame. I was supposed to alert you to the 
New technology and new media are a perfect fit, so it is fitting that 
The National FFA Alumni State Leaders Conference kicks off today. FFA Alumni members will have an exciting week touring Washington, D.C., visiting with their congressional representatives and learning more about opportunities available through the FFA Alumni. The event would not be possible without the generous sponsorship of Tractor Supply Company, Toyota and Farm Credit Services.
At the Southern Peanut Growers Conference this week, I had a chance to meet up with one old friend I hadn’t seen in over 20 years - and one new friend that I knew but had never met.
This gentlemen is known as “Mr. Peanut” in the Southeast and he wears many hats in the peanut industry. Tyron Spearman has been the peanut industry reporter for 
Farmers and others in agriculture are just like everyone else these days. For the vast majority of us, computer usage is becoming a part of our everyday lives, if it hasn’t already taken it over!
Southern peanut growers know the place to party and this week that’s Panama City, FL. While I get ready to go west to Denver, Cindy is attending the 
Sounds like a drink almost, doesn’t it? Cindy’s lounging around on the Gulf of Mexico at the 
Another ZimmComm-developed website is now online. This time it’s the 
You get to learn what's new with companies at NAFB's Trade Talk.
