Commodity Classic Gets Nitty Gritty

Cindy Zimmerman

commodity classicGetting down to the nitty gritty is part of what Commodity Classic is all about. It’s also about people who make their living off of the dirt. So, it’s fitting that the Grammy Award-winning Nitty Gritty Dirt Band will be on the Evening of Entertainment stage at the 2010 Commodity Classic convention and trade show in Anaheim, California.

Members of the American Soybean Association, the National Corn Growers Association, the National Association of Wheat Growers and the National Sorghum Producers will enjoy the band’s best known folk rock songs like “Mr. Bojangles” and “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” as well as music from their recently released CD Speed of Life. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has been making music and entertaining audiences for more than four decades.

The theme of the 2010 Commodity Classic is “Cruising to Success” and it will be held in Anaheim March 4-6, 2010.

Commodity Classic

Twitter DM Attack

Chuck Zimmerman

Twitter DM SpamSpammers, those who are lower than pond scum, are really hitting Twitter hard right now. I’ve received over 30 spam Direct Messages (DM’s) from people I follow this morning and I know my followers have received one from me. You can read an article on PC World about it. It’s a phishing attack to try to get you to click through to who knows what. If you get a DM that starts out with “this youz??” then just ignore it.

Apparently the only thing you can do is change your password (to a better one) in the hopes that will prevent it from happening to your account again. However, I did so this morning and when I tried to log back in I’m getting a message that I’m locked out. So I’ve got a Twitter support ticket going. We’ll see how long this takes. In the meantime I’ll just use our @AgWiredLive team account so please follow me there until we can get @AgriBlogger back in shape. Thanks.

Uncategorized

Give Up Meat To Save the Planet?

Amanda Nolz

Fall-Reggie A group called the Vegetarian Society is standing up once again attribute global warming and the end to the universe to meat eaters. The article, Climate chief Lord Stern: give up meat to save the planet, published in Times Online, urged folks to turn vegetarian in order for the world to conquer climate change.

In an interview with The Times, Lord Stern of Brentford said: “Meat is a wasteful use of water and creates a lot of greenhouse gases. It puts enormous pressure on the world’s resources. A vegetarian diet is better.”

He predicted that people’s attitudes would evolve until meat eating became unacceptable. “I think it’s important that people think about what they are doing and that includes what they are eating,” he said. “I am 61 now and attitudes towards drinking and driving have changed radically since I was a student. People change their notion of what is responsible. They will increasingly ask about the carbon content of their food.”

This is absolute bogus and total hypocrisy. I recently compiled a top ten list of ways that meat production is beneficial to the environment, and I firmly believe that agriculturalists are the original environmentalists, serving as stewards of the land and care givers to the livestock. And, more importantly consumers should feel confident in serving a well-balanced, wholesome meal (that includes animal protein) to their families. It’s amazing how a few animal rights activists and trendy green advocates can create a buzz so big with their banter that they can actually change mainstream public perceptions on the good, wholesome food we eat. Thanks for the soap box. Now, here is a few statistics from my list…

1. American agriculture is sustainable for the future. In the United States, 98 percent of farms are family farms. Today’s American farmer feeds about 144 people worldwide. 2009 versus 1960: 1.8 million less farms are feeding a U.S. population that has increased 61 percent. (Explore Beef)

2. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the entire U.S. agriculture sector accounts for only 6 percent of annual U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Of this, livestock production is estimated to account for 2.8 percent of total U.S. emissions. (EPA Climate Change Report)

3. If livestock production disappeared tomorrow, wouldn’t we just be transporting more tofu around? And wouldn’t we just be plowing and fertilizing the land to supply PETA’s vegetarian utopia? (Center for Consumer Freedom)

4. Grazing animals on land not suitable for producing crops more than doubles the land area that can be used to produce food. If 1955 technology were used to produce the amount of beef raised today, 165 million more acres of land would be needed – that’s about the size of Texas! (Explore Beef)

Food, Media, Sustainability

Contact Janice For NAFB Job

Chuck Zimmerman

NAFBIf you’re interested in becoming the next Executive Director of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting then contact Janice Dahl, Anchor Management Group.

NAFB will post the position on its website at www.nafb.com by November 1 and expects to be interviewing for the position in December, said President Pam Jahnke.

All queries regarding the position should be directed to Anchor Management Group at 314-503-7580 or jdahl@anchormanagement.net. Candidates are asked to hold their resumes until the job is posted and to reply directly as requested.

No inquiries should be made to the NAFB Board, members of the Search & Select Committee, or to the NAFB office.

NAFB

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

    Blogger Buzz

    Amanda Nolz

    Earlier this week, I wrote about Obama signing HR 2997 into law, another emergency stimulus package that, this time, could assist dairy producers. I was checking the news yesterday, when I came across this blog post about my blog post. Oh, how fun blogger buzz can be! Here is the post that was on KELO by Madville Times (who isn’t afraid to say what he thinks and doodle pictures as he sees fit, by the way!) Thanks for the nod, Madville Times!

    ThuneMilk I learned from Amanda Nolz that President Obama just signed into law more stimulus… for farmers! HR 2997 is actually the appropriations act for agriculture, rural development, the Food and Drug Administration, and other federal programs. It includes some increases that one would think will be good for South Dakota farmers…

    $4 billion more for food stamps
    $1.9 billion more for school lunches (and breakfasts, I imagine)
    $290 million to keep struggling dairy farmers afloat (maybe Rick Millner can pay his bills)
    $60 million to buy up dairy products for public food programs

    And Senator John Thune, champion of ending federal bailouts, voted aye on this federal bailout of dairy farmers.

    Uncategorized

    Fighting Food Fright

    Cindy Zimmerman

    ncgaThe National Corn Growers Association is fighting back against food fright scare tactics with some of their own.

    The NCGA started a viral email with a Halloween theme and links to the two videos that address some of the top food fears. The email links to a couple of new videos from NCGA that are filled with facts about food production to counteract the “urban legends” that family farmers have been gobbled up by giant corporate monsters that are ravaging the land and poisoning us with unsafe food.

    Email Mark Lambert at NCGA to get the viral email to send along to your food friends and foes. It makes a great Halloween card.

    Corn, NCGA

    Blade Energy Crops From Ceres

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Cory ChristensenHave you ever wondered what switchgrass looks like? That’s it behind Cory Christensen, Director of Product Managment, Ceres, who was conducting Sunbelt Ag Expo presentations in the field. He says it’s a first season stand of their Blade energy crop. It was developed specifically for the southeast. Since it’s the first season for this crop they won’t harvest it at Sunbelt until next year. A mature yield for the crop is about 8 tons per acre of dry matter.

    Switchgrass is native to the United States everywhere east of the Rockies. Ceres, has been working on varieties that will yield better in different growing environments though. Cory says that they don’t expect it to displace corn in Iowa but in the southeast with the difficulties in cotton and tobacco it becomes a viable alternative on open acres. He provides some estimates of what the crop can mean financially as the market for a fuel crop like switchgrass develops.

    Cory describes the current market as a “developing market.” They have a map that shows developing opportunities where plants will be located to process energy crops. He says that biomass is a local business so you need to be located near a biorefinery. He also points to the USDA’s Biomass Crop Assistance Program that provides monetary assistance to facilitate the transition of eligible land to energy crops.

    You can listen to my interview with Cory below:

    Sunbelt Ag Expo 2009 Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of Sunbelt Ag Expo is sponsored by Growth Energy.

    Agribusiness, Audio, Biofuels, Energy, Ethanol, Sunbelt Ag Expo

    Boehringer Ingelheim Closes Fort Dodge Deal

    Cindy Zimmerman

    BIVI logoBoehringer 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 portfolios and strengthens the company’s position as a leading vaccine supplier.

    BIVI George HeidgerkenI talked with BIVI president George Heidgerken about the acquisition. “We’ll be expanding our business significantly, in fact, doubling our sales in the United States,” George says. “The product assets we’ve acquired from Fort Dodge are a broad range of strong brands in the cattle vaccine business. This is part of our long term strategy to improve our product offerings and our capabilities for the U.S. cattle producers and the U.S. cattle market.”

    The cattle vaccines included in the acquisition include the Triangle®, Pyramid®, and Presponse® vaccine lines. Pharmaceutical products being acquired include Cydectin® (moxidectin) for cattle and sheep as well as Polyflex® (ampicillin sodium). The dairy portfolio includes the key brands Today® and Tomorrow®.

    “With regard to the brands we are acquiring, it’s business as usual,” George added. “The producers and veterinarians and distributors who handle and benefit from these wonderful brands will really see no significant change.”

    Listen to or download my interview with George here:

    Animal Health, Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Livestock