RFA Ethanol Podcast

Producer Thoughts On Egypt

Chuck Zimmerman

The U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission Team has concluded visiting Egypt. Tomorrow it’s on to Jordan. Before finishing today we sat down for our debrief which includes documenting our observations and making recommendations based on what we saw. Those will be provided to USGC in the form of a final report. I have updated the Eqypt photo album from our …

Ag Groups, Audio, Corn, Grains, USGC

Mixing His Own Buffalo Feed

Chuck Zimmerman

Now that the modern form of open feedlot management has come to Egypt there are an increasing number of producers using the system. One of them is Ashraf Taha, pictured on the right. The U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission visited the El-Amel Feedlot this morning to see his operation. He had very few animals left after having just sold most …

Audio, Corn, International, USGC

Rainbow Over Desert Buffalo

Chuck Zimmerman

It is very rare to see a rainbow in the desert according to the people the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team was meeting with at the time. We were on location at the water buffalo feedlot and dairy when we saw this storm on the horizon. It arrived just as we were ready to leave and this was what …

USGC

Feeding DDGS To Water Buffalo

Chuck Zimmerman

The Chairman of the Egyptian Buffalo Producer’s Association is Dr. Saad Alhayani (pictured left). He also owns and operates a very new open water buffalo feedlot and dairy. The U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team toured there this afternoon. I’ve got lots of photos in the photo album. These cute, sweet, little creatures are very different than your average bovine. …

Audio, Beef, Corn, International, USGC

Improving Beef and Dairy Herds In Egypt

Chuck Zimmerman

Presenting information at Cairo University on the Cattle Information Center was Dr. Samy Abou-Bakr. He describes that there are two different water buffalo dairy and feedlot systems. One is old and one is new. In the older model, the herd size is small, handled with lots of labor and very little if any records are kept. In the new, the …

Audio, Beef, Corn, Dairy, International, University, USGC

Cairo University Ag School

Chuck Zimmerman

The first stop for the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team today was Cairo University and specifically the ag school. Our first presenter was Dr. Rabie Ragab Sadek who gave us an overview of the Center Information Systems Center of Egypt. The project was created to develop a cattle information system that would provide statistically representative, adequate data for cattle …

Audio, Corn, Education, International, University, USGC

Moroccan Market

Chuck Zimmerman

Only the seasoned professional agriblogger can handle taking photos, conducting interviews and shooting video clips, then editing them, uploading them and getting them posted, especially in a foreign country. Video is the toughest part. Listen to the muezzin call during midday prayers while the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission walked through a market in Casablanca, Morocco.

USGC, Video

Improving Feedgrain Access In Egypt

Chuck Zimmerman

In Egypt, the Agricultural Minister Counselor for the United States is Jonathan Gressel (pictured center). He met with the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team today at a late lunch and we really appreciate him taking time for the visit. John says his primary mission is market access and development for U.S. products. He says that currently Egypt is an …

Audio, Corn, International, USDA, USGC

Egypt Grain Inspection Lab

Chuck Zimmerman

The Executive Director of the Regional Center For Food and Feed is Dr. Mohamed F. Emara. He was our host this morning for a tour of their Grain Inspection Lab. I remember touring the lab on my trip here with USDA back in 1999. RCFF operates three regional feed grain laboratories, one in the Giza headquarters, one at EI-Oekheila Port …

Audio, Corn, Grains, International, USGC